Why Supermoto could be for You
We all know that supermoto is dirt bikes with slicks on , right?
A mixture of road racing and motocross. So why should you give supermoto a go? What’s in it for You?
Well you will definitely cover a wide skill base, If you ride supermoto then you are learning both road racing skills, motocross skills and also how to handle a bike with slick tyres on dirt, and then dirt covered slicks as you arrive back on to the asphalt.
So there are a lot of skills being learnt which will make you a better rider on whatever other bike you ride.
To make things even easier to understand I thought it best to break the benefits down into categories as to the type of rider you already are:-
If your a Road racer or track day rider.
Many RR riders train on SM, they just miss out the dirt, so the SM bike is the perfect weapon for your local Kart track. Spin the laps there and perfect your skills for the big bike.
Ok, so your not going to be doing 200mph, but supermoto still feels real fast and depending on the type of kart track, you can reach a ton up easy and it will feel really quick. Supermoto bikes accelerate fast and compared to a RR bike they are light and manoeuvrable so hustling them around a tight kart track becomes a lot of fun. You will learn so many RR skills, corner entry and exit, braking, backing it in, and you will become a master of wheelies as an SM bike just loves to point at the sky.
So you are covering all these skills at a fraction of the cost of RR, a good second had SM can be picked up for £5000 and if looked after maintenance costs are low. Tyres are still expensive but you can use then for days rather than sessions. The cost of your local Kart track is normally £20 to £50 all day and you can normally get on a kart track most days of the week rather than having to wait for your next trackday.
The real difference for you Road racers is when you lob it down the road. No more expensive repair bills that prematurely stop the days riding and send you home, or worse, to hospital. The SM bikes are made to crash, just pick them back up again and off you go. The speeds are lower so the chance of injury is a lot lower and SM bikes are very hard to high side, due to all that suspension travel the high side gets absorbed by the shock, rather than launching you into a low earth orbit.
I used to be a road racer, once I rode a supermoto bike i lost all interest in road race bikes. SM Rocks!!!
If your a Motocrosser, Enduro rider, or any type of off roader.
You’ve already done the hard part. All those dirt skills set you up perfectly for supermoto, as the hardest part of SM is getting a bike with slick tyres through a dirt section. You will actually be surprised how much grip you have in the dirt, if its well prepped dirt and has just been watered then grip levels are amazing and you even leave a blue line where your laying down the rubber and pulling wheelies off the turns. The best part of SM in the dirt is the tyres don’t rip up the track, they actually pack it down and smooth it out, so the dirt section usually improves during the day rather than deteriorating like in most MX races.
Due to the fact that the dirt section doesn’t rut up, you find that crashes and therefore injuries are a lot less frequent than in MX. Your body also gets a much easier time and isn’t being pounded constantly by, bumps, jumps, ruts and roost. Most MX’ers excel at SM because of all this.
Then there’s the asphalt, the fact that you can ride the SM bike, MX style on the asphalt has the off roader feeling at home pushing the bike down underneath them into turns, the confidence is soon there and all of a sudden your enjoying some road race action, and it feels great!!!
If your a techie (nerd)
If you love the technology and bling side of bikes then trying to set a SM bike up to work in both the dirt section and on the asphalt will keep you going for years. To get a bike to work well in both sections requires a lot of understanding. You also have an immense amount of RR, SM and MX bling and go faster parts that you can add to your bike. together with customized graphics and seat covers you can turn a standard bike into a work of art.
In SM the engine counts. You need those extra horses to pull you alongside someone on the straights before launching it sideways into the next corner in an insane out braking manoeuvre. So if you love tuning, you will love SM.
If your a beginner or just like to ride your bike on the road.
For all the reasons above you really need to try some supermoto. As well as being good fun its a great way to improve your understanding of how to ride a bike fast and safe. A couple of days riding supermoto with some good instruction will set you up for life as you will know how to get the best out of yourself and the bike. At Supermotoland.com I train beginners to experts and everyone goes away faster and with a whole new set of bike skills for the road and the track. Make yourself a better and safer rider with a bit of SM action.
Right now your all convinced (no excuses) just check out the supermotoland website, facebook page or instagram account and see what we are up to before you book your supermotoland training experience. A Couple of days with us is worth a couple of years trying to work it out for yourself…….I promise you.
Written by Mat Ford-Dunn #90
(2 x Spanish SM Master Supermoto champion and Instructor at Supermotoland.com)
If you would like more information on our Supermoto training deals then just email us at race@supermotoland.com
