950 Supermoto Chronicles

Thank you very much! I'll be doing the fork seals very soon and I'll go ahead and do all that.

Is the factory valving in the forks good or would suggest an upgrade?

Search a many a pages back and you'll encounter the suspension discussion saga.

Those wheels are really trick looking

Your welcome,

Re: valving. It's 'good' but maybe not good enough. Really depends on you. I'd suggest setting up a good baseline. In your case that sounds like seals, bushings and fresh oil, set the sag and start with the stock suggested clicker settings,. See how you like that. Get the fork working to factory spec first. Opinions very quite a bit on the stock WP performance. I found my fork to be lacking, too much high-speed compression damping. I then set off on an oddessy to tweak it to my liking, one I haven't finished nearly two years later. You could also send your fork off to be reworked but until you have an idea of how well it performs stock, you will not know what mod direction to go in.

NM

There comes a time that a man has to make some changes to his life and here goes: I just sold my 990 SM and I just miss her...

Let's see what will be next for me! :)


All the best luck for everyone!

With Effigy leaving I suppose I should introduce myself.

I bought a 2006 950SM in bone stock trim last February and since then have literally read through every post on this thread. Holy cow. Thanks to all the good information posted here I've made a couple of what I believe are wise purchases.

690SM screen - more wind noise (slightly) I'm 5'8" and there is no buffeting, minimal wind on chest, though a slight push on upper shoulders.
Superduke front fender
Evolution Clutch slave
Moto-overland rear rack
Proper springs front and rear for my weight.
Vacuum fuel pump from alternate cycle in BC

I've not installed everything yet, but I'm puttering around here and there to get it together. Because I live in Canada there haven't been a lot of chances to ride so far but I've managed to put on a little over 700km. The mileage isn't great (but you knew that). The fun factor makes up for it by a long shot (you knew that too).

I'm making the switch from sport bikes for a couple of reasons, the primary is that I managed to give myself a fairly severe lower back injury at work as a result of bad ergonomics and extended working hours. This means the leant over position of a sportbike wasn't viable for me for more then 10 minutes at a time. After which I needed upwards of an hour to recover (no fun at all). And I'm WAY to young to be living like that. So after a whole season of almost not riding at all I took a chance on the 950 and I freaking LOVE it. Riding is fun again.

Second reason is that it's no fun to ride a 600 at legal speeds... it's work to hold the bike back and honestly I don't like tickets not that I've gotten a lot.

So a couple pictures.

I'll look into that ...

I love ADV rider... everyone (for the most part) so nice and helpful... Never had trouble out of the KTM guys though ...

Those wheels came on the bike when I bought it but I looked them up and they are over $2200 :eek1:eek1:eek1... the front wheel weighs 7 pounds and the rear is 12... I really like them but I'm not sure they are worth what the PO paid for them

I'm going to see how it does after I cure the bounce... I think my brakes are also pulsing because I think my pads have absorbed some of that damn leaking fork oil ... But just one of those thinks... grabby brakes and bouncy suspenders and I still love the bike ...

Another issue I have is it's kind of hard to start... It runs GREAT but starting it is a pain... I think it's getting too much fuel because it likes to blow some blue smoke out of it when I do finally get her fired off... that may have something to do with being a 2006 model and only have 8000 miles on it ... Any suggestions on what to look for first?

What is your starting method?

On mine I've found using half to full choke, depending on how cold it is, and hitting the button will fire it within two attempts. I Never twist the throttle when cold. When it's cold, say under 55F I'll get water vapor out the back until the engine warms. Never seen any blue smoke out of mine. Once the engine is warm, zero choke, zero throttle, just hit the button and it fires right up.

Good luck,
NM

I start on half choke and try it there then I go to 3/4 then full but it never seems like it helps anything.

Mine likes to crank a while and you can smell the gas. Sometimes it starts right up when it's cold and sometimes it's a bitch but after I ride it for a while and then stop for just a few minutes... for example just to get gas... It is hard to start even still.

Does the fuel pump click when you turn the key?

How old are the plugs?

Whens the last time the carbs were pulled and cleaned? Obstructed pilot jets will make starting more difficult.

Click?? what should it sound like?

I'm not sure how old the plugs are but I would be willing to bet they are factory (I just got the bike about 4 days ago with 8000 miles)

I'm going to bet they have not been pulled and cleaned but I don't know ... I'm going to get to all that when I get my 990 ADV back together.

When line pressure is low the pump will make a dit dit dit sort of sound until pressure is up.

Id guess a carb clean and sync would make a noticeable difference

My plugs are originals. I'm at 12,000 or so.

Hi Pistolero,

You may still have the charcoal cannister hooked up which can cause hot start problems. Look on the right side of the engine for a rubber hose hanging down with what looks like a metal valve stem cap on its end. Pull the cap and squeeze on the hoses and see if anything comes out. When it does not want to start when hot, wait a while then open and hold the throttle steady at about 1/4 turn and hit the start button. Don't twist the throttle unil the rpms smooth out.

My start routine is the same as Natty's and it almost always fires up within 2 tries when cold.

Mine does the dit dit dit thing

Mine still has all that I'm sure. (Canister and the lot) I am planning on talking it all off and putting the block off plates on the engine like my 990 has.

It has to be properly cold before I need any choke at all. No throttle, no choke, starts straight up. Never had a bike that needs this little choke before.

Give it a go.

I'll try it. Thanks for the heads up.

A view from the saddle. Recent rains had the Flint Hills nicely greened up and the roads were tacky and fast. Got in some 6th gear therapy!

Pics like this make me miss Kansas.

I'm thinking of replacing bigger tank for my 950 SM '06 17L to SMT 21L tank.
Technically, can this be done? If someone have done that, what would be the modification needed?
Would it be a direct Plug & Play?