Sumo guys, any input?

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FlaXB9R

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Thinking I really want a Sumo now my Buell has sold but don't know anything about them. I grew up riding dirt and love dirt just being so close to the city leaves few options anymore for riding. Sold my last (personal, still have kids) dirt bike prior to buying my Buell 4 years ago. Haven't even had any real exposure to sumos other than having one blow by me on the dragon last year. That experience got the wheels turning and now that I've been in the market for a new bike I've ran across serveral on CL and started doing some research and watching videos, now can't help but think that is one thing my life has been missing and need to fill that void.

Here's a couple bikes available in my area, any input/recommendations would be greatly appreciated....

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4876324076.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4887068148.html

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/mcy/4882228649.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4886218203.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4869574165.html

or should I look to build one?

Thanks
 
Building one is awesome, but you will almost never get your money out of it if you make it exactly how you want. I've had a bunch of sumos and out of those, the ktm 450smr is going to be the most fun. They are high performance and require a little more maintenance but are very easily maintained and I have seen them go 20k miles without a top end rebuild. They are also sohc which makes valves adjustments very easy. The ktm's with the rfs engines, like that 05 450smr have are the best 450 class supermoto for street duty.

The duke is more of a streetbike than anything, its heavier and is ugly imo. The lc4 engines like in the last link and the duke with the black engines are known to have crank bearing failures, the silver engined lc4 engines are good, I had a bike with one of them, shakes more than a paintshaker but runs forever and great power, on the heavy side though.

If you're gonna be mainly on the street, I'd say stay away from two stroke. They will be a little lighter but don't hold up well on the street. plus you have to mix gas, and they don't go very far on a tank.

The 560smr also has the rfs engine and will be just about as reliable as the 450smr. They are the two bikes I'd look into out of those choices. If you have any more questions feel free to pm me. I've worked on those engines and had a couple ktm, a yamaha, a suzuki, and had experience with a kawasaki supermoto. Also check out supermotojunkie.com, some great info on there.
 
Great info, thanks. The two you recommended are the 2 I've been most interested in, the 2 smoker I know wouldn't be ideal but damn it's bad ass... the others were just to show a couple other options to get the best input. I've been reading a lot on supermotojunkie and a couple other sites. Actually can't stop reading/researching....
 
Yeah a 2 smoke would be a lot of fun, but I could only ever see using one on a track. But definitely check out those two smr's if they are actually smr's though, they will be kickstart only. Which as long as everything is right engine wise they wont be hard to start. The exc's had electric and kick. And that 450 in the links definitely has some nice aftermarket stuff on it.
 
To build on what Buellstuff said you're gonna run one of two paths. Fast with compromising some reliability(more frequent rebuilds, valve adjustments, ect) or reliable with compromising some performance(heavy, less power to weight, ect). To give you an Idea about the differences my buddy converted his wr450 and it was an awesome bike. You probably saw him on it at the dragon last year. He changed his oil 3 times that trip(about every 100-150 miles of hard riding). I have a Ktm 690 SMC, great bike imo, which needs an oil change about every 2000-3000 miles depending on how I ride it. Trade off is it heavier, but its something I commute to class on and ride around town.

From what you have listed I would look at the 450 or 560. They are both great bikes with good engines.
 
Buy or build a 450 class supermoto and you won't be disappointed. Bullet can tell his buddy with the wr that thats ridiculous and stop being paranoid about oil changes. I change my wr450 about every 1000 and it comes out a beautiful gold color.
 
Yeah especially with the ktm's they have 2 filters and some screens, oil changes every 800-1000 street miles is just fine. On the 690 or 625 smc's every 3000 miles. Street miles aren't near as tough on them as dirt. I had 14,500 on my ktm 525 supermoto when I sold that and 21,000 on my ktm 625smc when I sold that. Both on stock motors. They are pretty reliable for what they are.
 
Biggest advantage of a yamaha motor is the fact that you are getting the 5 valve head. Out of any supermoto conversion valve shimming and valve replacements are one of the largest costs. The 5 valve head has more longevity and almost eliminates this worry. My 2003 has been in the dirt since new and street soon after and the valves have been adjusted one time. They are still original and have not been replaced.

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I've been riding for over 20 years on almost as many bikes. I first got into Su-mos ~5years ago with a little KLX250sf & I was hooked right away. Not even my litre bike delivered as much street fun.

I've now been on a BMW G650x-moto for ~2 years & it's the ideal all-rounder for me. I can run through the same sets of twisties ~10-15 km/h (6-10 mph) faster than I could on my XB12Ss. I commute urban traffic with it every day. I take it off-road. It tops out at over 180 km/h (110 mph). I'll even do short over-night touring trips with it!

I strongly recommend a Su-mo any one interested in the most fun form of motorcycling!

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should I look to build one?
As noted above, it can get expensive. There's also a lot of little fitment issues you end up encountering which require modification to make work. It's personal preference but I prefer Su-mos engineered from the manufacturer...
 
Just getting into it here. I went with the DR-Z400 because it is bulletproof and I don't want to worry about added costs to beat the crap out of this bike. I don't like changing oil every few hundred miles either. Have not even ridden this bike yet but I know I won't be as nice to it as I was my Buell.

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Have had a DRZ400SM for a while. Great commuter bike that does 85 miles an hour down the express-way. Good in the curves and makes mundane roads fun because it's under powered and you can use every once of it. Low maintenance with great fuel mileage. I always smile when I'm on it.
With that said, it's still a single cylinder thumper. For me I can only tolerate it for an hour at a time. Lots of vibrations at the grips. Seat is like sitting on a two by four on it side after a while. Not something I would take on a road trip.

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Here's a 2005 yamaha wr450 converted to supermoto, a 2004 ktm 525exc converted to supermoto, and a 2003 Honda xr650r supermoto that I've owned. The ktm was definitely was definitely the best one out of these three, I've had a 2006 ktm 625smc too and that was another good one. Drz's are a great entry level supermoto, but once you hop onto one of the lighter, faster ones like I have listed, its hard to go back haha.

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Here are some pics of mine after I rebuilt it. Still a work in progress, but they always are. You weren't a fan of the 650r? I have always wanted one, they look like lots of fun

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I owned the wr426f a little while back, not supermoto'ed. Loved that bike and how quick it was but sold it before maintenance caught up to me. Also hated kick start, needed a magic button like the 450's. Hoping my DRZ with the MRD pipe, 3x3 mod, and jet is a little peppier than I hear the stock is.
 
The 650r was a great bike, kick start only, so like once a month it would act up on me and I'd be kicking just about till my leg fell off. But other than that it was awesome. Did everything I wanted it too with great power, even raced my buddies 450's and a husky 510smr and beat them all. Id buy one again if it had electric start, otherwise I'll just buy another 625smc, they were very similar bikes but the 625 had electric start and better suspension
 
Well the guy with the 450 won't respond. Talked to the guy with the 560 last night via text. Got some info and more pics. Did some more research after talking to him and was reading about the crank/bearing issues in the 560. From what I've read it's damn near inevitable due to the design. Most info I found though is on the 2006 model, does anyone know if any changes made in 2007? Tried texting the guy today to see if the crank issue had been resloved but haven't heard back yet.

Don't have many options on used Sumo's. Looking to stay under 5k if possible. Here are a couple other options any input on them would be appreciated. Expanding options means possible conversion too. On another note there is a Daytona 675 that I'm also interested in and the harder and harder its becoming to find a decent affordable sumo the more the Daytona is become appealing.

http://ocala.craigslist.org/mcy/4844631572.html

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/mcy/4836321227.html

http://daytona.craigslist.org/mcy/4871553384.html

http://ocala.craigslist.org/mcy/4814925731.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4855646643.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4891307489.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4845100129.html

http://orlando.craigslist.org/mcy/4887337559.html
 
That 510 is a pretty much a street legal factory race bike. I don't know much about them but I do know they were top of the line when new. I have a friend that owns one, I can ask him about it if you would like. Other than that I didn't see anything pop out from your list.
 
The xr650l, last link, very underpowered and heavy, not really a good choice in my opinion. The xr650r, only downfall is a kickstart only, that's why I sold mine, but they are awesome all around bikes besides that's. Don't get a Yamaha 426 for the street unless you like rebuilding transmissions or will barely put any miles on it. Also stay away from the yz450, not a good choice for the street, if you want a Yamaha 450 on the street, look at wr450, although beating them on the street, transmission failures can happen too. My buddy's 2005 wr450 blew out 3rd and 5th gear on one of our rides, but other people don't have this problem with them so it might've just been a fluke.

The smr510 is a great bike, a couple of my friends have had them and as long as you are ontop of maintenance then they are solid and 2008 was one of the best years for them, although the price tag is way high and the miles are getting to where youd want to check the top end, usually around 10-15k miles on them is where they need replaced.

I'd also stay away from that 2003 ktm 520, if you want a ktm, the best ones are the 2004-07 450/525 models. In 2003 they still didn't really have everything right.

Sxc if a good bike but the 625's come factory supermotod in the smc model, I had one of them and had 21,000 miles on it still running strong when I sold it. Great bikes, but if you want to sumo that one you're gonna have a lot of money in wheels and suspension to get the same result that the smc comes stock with.

Sorry for the big post, I can go into more detail if you're looking at a specific one, but that's a short run down on each
 
That being said, out of those I'd look more into the the xr650r and the wr450 because they are within your price range, that 510 just seems way too overpriced to really look into more... The xr650r has some nice mods and the wr450 looks pretty clean. What all do you plan on using the sumo for?
 
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