950 Supermoto Chronicles

[Aleong1967]

Has anyone done a dyno run on their 950 Supermoto yet?

Last Saturday LeoVince Exhaust in Richmond , Calif. had a free Dyno-Night.

In my bike's current form, full Akro Evolution exhaust with jetting it ran a

93.17 HP at the rear wheels.

My jetting is still alittle off, so I'm hoping next time I"ll get closer to 100 HP.

[flashash]

Thanks for the response on the sliders!!

The next question I have is will a stock super enduro exhaust fit onto an SM? ( I might be able to get one very cheap if it will bolt up!!)

[Chuckracer]

See page 59...

[Jhon]

Lost my clutch lever action about thirty miles from home the other day. It was possible to shift up and down the box fairly smoothly, but coming up to junctions anticipating openings in the traffic flow was a bit nerve-wracking.

Thanks to the wisdom in the forum I was pretty sure that the problem lay with the clutch slave.

Sure enough when I stripped it down I could see the hairline crack in the back of the piston allowing the fluid to leak out.

The bike was due a main service last weekend so I repaired it with some epoxy and a reinforcing washer - enough I hoped to get it down to the dealer where they had an uprated replacement.

Examining the replacement slave I could see where Magura had reinforced the back of the piston behind the ball, hopefully eliminating the tendency for the spring pressure on the ball to overstress the metal and cause the crack.

The bike is a few months out of warranty but the dealer said that he would try and get KTM to cover the cost of the replacement. Fingers crossed, 'coz adding that to the cost of the service wasn't cheap.

The valves were fine and needed no adjustment (about 9000 miles). I got the torque limiter replaced FOC and a recall on the rear brake and clutch done as well.

It was cold on the way home but the roads were quite and I was sitting about 90 most of the way. When I pulled in off the carriageway I could feel the bike stumble low down before it picked up cleanly. I pulled over and it was hunting and missing low down and I thought 'Fuck - what now?' (Bad coil? blocked jets? mechanic screw-up? - the usual doomsday scenarios. )

By the time I got home a few miles on the back roads the problem had cleared and she pulled clean and strong from tickover.

Then it struck me - I wonder if it was carb-icing? I've heard that the SMR is prone but wonder if any of you guys have experienced this on the SM?

I haven't had the problem since.

[Chuckracer]

Makes sense to me!

[Conner]

Mine had similar symptoms as the pump started to slowly fail. Pull off the cap and take a look at the points.



Conner in Sacramento

[aeronaut]

What year bike, and what was the outside air temp?

Originally Posted by Jhon

Lost my clutch lever action about thirty miles from home the other day. It was possible to shift up and down the box fairly smoothly, but coming up to junctions anticipating openings in the traffic flow was a bit nerve-wracking.

Thanks to the wisdom in the forum I was pretty sure that the problem lay with the clutch slave.

Sure enough when I stripped it down I could see the hairline crack in the back of the piston allowing the fluid to leak out.

The bike was due a main service last weekend so I repaired it with some epoxy and a reinforcing washer - enough I hoped to get it down to the dealer where they had an uprated replacement.

Examining the replacement slave I could see where Magura had reinforced the back of the piston behind the ball, hopefully eliminating the tendency for the spring pressure on the ball to overstress the metal and cause the crack.

The bike is a few months out of warranty but the dealer said that he would try and get KTM to cover the cost of the replacement. Fingers crossed, 'coz adding that to the cost of the service wasn't cheap.

The valves were fine and needed no adjustment (about 9000 miles). I got the torque limiter replaced FOC and a recall on the rear brake and clutch done as well.

It was cold on the way home but the roads were quite and I was sitting about 90 most of the way. When I pulled in off the carriageway I could feel the bike stumble low down before it picked up cleanly. I pulled over and it was hunting and missing low down and I thought 'Fuck - what now?' (Bad coil? blocked jets? mechanic screw-up? - the usual doomsday scenarios. )

By the time I got home a few miles on the back roads the problem had cleared and she pulled clean and strong from tickover.

Then it struck me - I wonder if it was carb-icing? I've heard that the SMR is prone but wonder if any of you guys have experienced this on the SM?

I haven't had the problem since.

[Jhon]

Originally Posted by aeronaut

What year bike, and what was the outside air temp?

It's a standard 2006. The outside temperature was about 8 deg C (which is about 46F) and the air felt quite damp (when it wasn't just plain raining).

I've experienced carb-icing on our Ducati Monster before and I know it's dependant on temperature and the amount of moisture in the air.

The fact that the miss cleared after getting on to the back road where my speed was lower and I was up and down the throttle more, makes me believe it is carb-icing. It's the first time I've experienced it on the SM.

I'm stripping the bike down just now fitting a single can exhaust so I'll check out the contacts on the fuel pump.

[Chuckracer]

Maintenance Tip SE/SM/ADV: Wash your bike or ride in the rain, or do water crossings? Pull your swingarm and dump the water out of it. Trust me on this...mine had a LOT of water in it, probably a cup, and I'm not a washing freak.

[Wreckluse]

Well, I can finally post in this thread without being a wannabee! Picked up my new 950 SM-R today and brought it home from Edmonton. I had ridden their demo on Tuesday and found it to be all I had expected and more ---the front brakes are more than amazing! Got a good deal (at least for Canada), wrote the dealer a cheque and took posession this morning. With my usual luck, it is freezing here, with a 40 mph wind and too cold for a ride------so back out to the shop with a cold one to start the list of mods.

Wreck

[Chuckracer]

Good on ya mate!!!

[Wreckluse]

Well the liquid-inspired mod list has been started -- influenced more than a little bit by this thread. My main bike since 2004 has been a 03 SV650S set up for sport touring. I want to continue that with the SM and perhaps add some secondary (gravel) road adventures, where the SV did not fare too well, due to a lack of suspension travel. The SM has better stock suspension than my Elka rear/Race Tech front SV . Bonus = save $1100!! As well, WAY more travel. One down side appears to be travel range. At 20 km/liter (Canada--remember) the SV was good for well over 300 km (approx 180 miles). The SM appears to need fuel at about 120 miles. A call to Ken at Alternate Cycle in Kamloops found out that the Aqualine 30l SE tank should fit the SM-R, but if someone would like to chime in here, I would appreciate the input. So, other than the tank, the mods are pretty much what others have done:

service manual (done !! $7.83 Cdn)
SAS
canisterectomy
H2W jet kit
exhaust (Wings, as they are available in Canada and our $ is worth $0.78)
rear spools
16t front sprocket
blanking plates
Scott's oil filter
handguards
kaoko (taking off my 625 SMC)
bar risers (off SMC)
seat (Renazco or ???)
plugs CR8EIX
Evo clutch slave cyl.
spare water pump repair kit
spare fuel pump (check out http://www.alternatecycle.com/ktm950fuelpump.html

In addition, I will build a rear rack and a set of mounts for Pelican 1450 cases, similar to what I did for my SV and a couple of Wee's.

The only item I am having a problem with is a rad protector. I have found nothing on line and don't believe the 950 Adv one will fit. Suggestions are appreciated, or am I going to have to design and build one?

Regards,
Wreck

[wpbarlow]

I don't want to see how long it's been since I posted something about the bike. It was down for almost 2 weeks waiting for the seat to be redone, and then another week due to time commitments and the 2 year service. With all that, I didn't get to ride it until Friday (just to back home from the dealer/service), and then again yesterday for an absolutely teriffic +300 mile pavement jaunt- about 200 of which was ideal 950SM pavement. Whata blast!

First things first- the seat work. Riding back from the dealers on Friday I thought that the folks who modified the seat did the impossible- made it much more uncomfortable. Absolutely terrible, seemed like no "give" at all- the proverbial 2x4 ride. I should put this in context-- I had just finished a 2 hour ride on the SE, so maybe that was making it worse (but I don't think so). I was also wearing armoured jeans with Bohn armoured lowers- not the most comfortable getup (for me anyway). I was feeling pretty down about this, as the seat work was pretty expensive.

I even had some trepidation about using the bike yesterday; as I knew it was going to be a 8 hour in the saddle day. So I put the sheepskin on before I left. I was also wearing leathers. For whatever reason the combo worked and was fine for the entire ride- comfortable in fact. The only time I was conscious of soem discomfort/butt burn was the last hour or so of the day- which was slab.

I left the sheepskin on all day; so I need to check it out without it; as well as with textile clothing that I wear in the winter and summer. Right now, I can't recommend the seat modification. I'll also give the folks a call to talk to them about what they can change to improve it. And report back.

Re the 2 year service- most of the valves were a little tight, and I had the cooling system flushed and added Honda 50-50 mix. I also got a new tire (Sync) installed and added frame sliders (might be doing a rack day next Monday if I can change some work things round).

I noticed one issue yesterday- I wanted to back out the rebound dampning (to 18 from 15 out), but the right fork only goes out 15 clicks. Not critical, but needs to be looked at.

Sill a hoot to ride!

[DocHoliday]

This bike holds it's own against the sport bikes on a technical track (Summit Point, WV- Shenandoah circuit) – perfect bike for the track IMO.



The 950sm makes for extra fun, as a lot of the other sport bike riders think it's a 500 or 600cc motard on the track - then they make a point to find you in the pits later to see what passed them! The scorpion sync’s did all I could ask, though not as gummed up and tacky as the soft sport bike tires, they were confident dragging the foot pegs while under power.



I can't wait to go back and catch another buzz !

[Newbusa]

I just love my SM950 except for the seat, It just kills me, and i have been on a lot of bikes over years, but this one has the worst seat i have ever sat on. Do any of you guys with the 950sm have the Renazco seat? And if so what are your observations of it?