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Newb from Montreal

66K views 668 replies 12 participants last post by  fwd25 
#1 ·
Hi,

I'm a newb to riding (been riding for 5 months) and very new to Supermoto. I currently ride a 2003 600 Bandit. But I'm thinking of getting a supermoto. 90% of my riding is city, 10% is highway. I'm in Montreal, Canada where the fscking snow will be flying in no time.

Really happy to have found this forum.

Cheers
 
#538 ·
In case you missed it: http://canadamotoguide.com/2016/07/12/husqvarna-unveils-all-new-dual-sports/ Those look to be street legal !

They say when you first start riding you don't have a clue as to what you like and don't like in a motorcycle. I think this is true. It's almost been a year since I got my license and I know I definitely LOVE dirt bikes. I love the way they look, sound and ride. I find dirt riding to be very challenging. Which is a nice say of saying I SUCK !

I love the challenge of learning to ride them.. What I hate is the ride there and the ride back. I also don't like that because of this, it takes half if not an entire day to go riding. I am a city boy. I love the city. I still train 3 times a week on my bicycle and all my training takes place in the city. I almost never truck out into the country to ride my bicycle.

90% of my motocycle riding takes place in the city. So while I love to learn to ride dirt, city riding is really more my thing. I still head to the sandpit once a week (or at least I try) but I've only done 4 rides that are on trails other then the sandpit. Granted, it's only half way through the summer (or barely) and to head to the trails now is probably a waste given my lack of experience but there you have it. The most fun I have is riding to work and back. It's not the speed, it's just trying to navigate through all the traffic.

Ever watch Royal Jordanian ? https://www.youtube.com/user/royaljordanian Nearly 500K subscribers and the vast majority of his content is just him riding through London. There's definitely a challenge in doing it..

Anyhow, all this to say that I do not regret at all my KTM purchase. I will probably get sumo wheels.. I quit my job mid June. I work for myself now. But it's a good 6-8 weeks before you get your first pay from the client. So we are living off Ramen noodles here until then. ;-) But probably in August I will take the plunge.

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far.

J
 
#539 ·
Best of success in your self employed project shampoo , Getting married , self employed , learning to ride dirt , you definatly have your hand full of challenge

About riding dirt , like your saying lloydstran it is definatly a big plus to have a set of 21/18 and been able to hop over obstacle , should have seen the face of those hardcore adventurer at work when I told them I wanted to sell my set21/18 for a second set of 17 lol , shocking , bottom line my dirt riding is gravel road, some sand and mud , nothing too hard or challenging that would required a 21 inch in the front plus like shampoo said , half the ride is to drive on pavement to get there , actually the most challenging riding I get from this bike is in the winter time with a ski/track kit

So I am hook to the supermoto versatility , if the smc would have been available in Canada in 2015 that is what I would have got , when I saw the 701sm I did think about swapping my enduro , but finally , I am fine with it , Will simply continue to customize it to fit my riding , any way I guess what I am saying is that I will be enjoying the challenge of getting as much dirt riding out of an enduro converted into SM lol ....... .... What ever make a man happy right lol




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#542 ·
I had plan to go Saturday and Sunday , but insteed I got to visit sacre coeur hospital , I got a 6 mm kidney stone on it s way , ouch , but they gave me some good stuff to kill the pain [emoji41][emoji1303]

Hey on the positive side I bought some shims and got my valves in spec , they are so quiet now


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#543 ·
Hey on the positive side I bought some shims and got my valves in spec , they are so quiet now
Great !!!

I had plan to go Saturday and Sunday , but insteed I got to visit sacre coeur hospital , I got a 6 mm kidney stone on it s way , ouch , but they gave me some good stuff to kill the pain [emoji41][emoji1303]
Not great...but yay for pain killers.
 
#548 ·
So much for my optimistic outlook , I saw the urologist and after looking at the scan and all , he say he feel very confident it will come out on it own [emoji15]

I guess Couillard care and Obama care are not so different lol

Any one riding ?


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#553 ·
What wrong with the loonies !!! .....In a few year we will be back on top and you will be sorry you turn down all these loonies lol

Yeah gokart would shake the stone loose alright but also all the rest of my body lol

Anyone have some ride pic ?

Here a pic of a ride I miss when it is + 30 cel



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#555 ·
So @fwd25 has it passed?!

My sister had the same problem. They passed on their own but she said it wasn't fun at all. Hopefully yours will go through like a hot knife going through butter. -:)

A cabbie knocked over my parked Bandit. The muffler got bent. He was cool about and all is OK. I got a new one and I have to install it this weekend.

The Bandit then goes on sale. I have been riding nothing but the KTM. I adore that thing. I've come to the realization that for my needs smaller is better. I think if I dumped the ktm I'd get a Duke 390 or that that BMW G310. The downside of the small cc bikes is they make them with cheaper parts. I'm hoping that won't be the case with the new Husqy coming out.

Anyhow I have oil changes down to sub 30 minutes and that's only with a small amount of spillage. -:)

I'll be needing new tires soon. I can't decide on if I should get enduro tires or 50/50 dual sport.

I followed a KTM 690 home the other night. Damn that thing sounds great and looks fantastic. Too bad KTM is killing it. The rider was a real KTM rider too. He had to stand up every five minutes to save his ass and stretch his back. He had obviously been riding for at least 20 minutes.:lol:

If anyone wants a Bandit let me know. -:)

J
 
#556 ·
Well I got 3 out but still some to go , look like I could redo my drive way with these lol , yep it does feel like a hot knife alright

That is too bad for the bandit good thing the caby was cool and stick around to pay you a can

yep those duke are very interesting bike !

The problem with a duke as a single bike is forget off road , that why I think supermoto are great , they provide much more flexibility in use

Just found out the go kart track in St Celestin is allowing supermoto on there track from 9 am until noon , here another way to have fun with these bikes


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#557 ·
Pssst, anyone wanna buy a Bandit ? http://www.kijiji.ca/v-sport-touring/ville-de-montreal/suzuki-bandit-streetfighter/1185832334

A guy from Ontario who just moved here came to see it. He wanted to try it and I told him "no cash, no ride". Same rules as La Ronde.. He didn't have any money on him (do you guys go see used motorcycles without bringing cash ?)..

Anyhow, we agreed on a price and we were going to do the swap at the SAAQ tonight. He messages me today to say he has a MAJOR personal emergency and can't make it.

My guess is that emergency is that his bank account didn't quite have the money to pay for the bike..

But, luckily, I have someone else coming to look. I've gotten about 6 replies so far. So I think I will sell it.

I meant to ask you @fwd25, did you get the Seat Concepts cover for your KTM ? I got stuck in traffic going to the sand pit in Mercier yesterday and my ass was KILLING me. I've had enough. I need to get something or I will end up with an ass like a Baboon.

J
 
#559 ·
The Bandit is sold !

Didn't take too long. But I have noticed you meet all kinds of people when selling something publicly. Lots of tire kickers and pretenders and a few serious people.

I went to get on the KTM this morning to ride to work only to find this




Some squirrel stole my breather hose and tried to gnaw off my fuel cap !

I ordered one in aluminum and some PVC tubing plus a few breather tube plugs...

J
 
#561 ·
I have used Cayenne pepper in our flower boxes. Works rather well. But getting Cayenne pepper onto a gas tank is something else. The only idea I have is to grind it into dust and mix it with water and spray it onto the tank.

The other option is to cover the bike.

Or finally just leave the bike on the street. It's now pegged up against my iron fence which is under two large cedar trees.

I ordered a aluminum cap and that should prevent them from gnawing on that. But if they decide to go after the tank directly I am fooked.
 
#562 ·
Their favorite thing is wiring insulation. I had one eat a hole into the bat ray, bet that last bite was tasty. I was thinking a rug with Cayenne infused into the fibers, bike on top of course. But your culprits no doubt will take the skyway. I did the garage at the cabin weekly. One good bill from Honda and Cayenne pepper is a bargain. Bastards ate up the engine loom and the chassis loom. Never touched my Toyota.

What about one of those electronic pest eliminators. The high pitched ones only little critters can hear.

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#563 ·
Hey shampoo what is the status on the squirrels raid on your ktm ? , did you go the cayenne pepper way ?

Went to see some AMA SM race at GP3R , awesome show , if they come back next years I definatly will go again


First pic was the down town competitor parade on Friday evening


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#564 ·
Hello

As some of you have heard, my KTM 350 EXC was stolen. I had a lock on the front wheel. No sign of the lock. So my guess is they lifted it into a van and took off..

I waited three hours for the cops to show up.. Man oh man. So now comes the insurance.

I know where I won't be buying my next bike and that's DuRoy. I would avoid going there at all costs. Here's the shortened version of what happened to me:

1) They knowingly sold me a bike with a defective speedo. (My bike was a demo bike that the owner used and he later told me he couldn't get the speedo to work either and told his guys to order a new one)
2) I returned the speedo and rode the bike without one after that. DuRoy said I should have a new speedo in 1-2 weeks
3) 2 weeks pass, I call nada. I continue to call every 2 weeks.. Still nada
4) After 2 months of waiting, I call KTM Canada. They don't call back but instead DuRoy calls, not happy, and says to call them and never call KTM Canada and that my speedo was back ordered..
5) After FOUR months, I write KTM in Austria in german (my father is german) and ask WTF is going on.
6) A week later, I get a call from the president of KTM Canada and he asks to explain my story. I do. He then tells me the Speedo was NEVER back ordered and that they got my defective speedo but never got a request for a new one. They had no idea why they had gotten my speedo.. KTM Prez calls DuRoy and calls me back and says to call the owner of DuRoy.. "He has something to tell you".
7) Owner of DuRoy apologizes 10 times, offers me a free service, says new speedo is going to be ordered.
8) Wait THREE weeks more and after having called DuRoy every second day (no joke) and after having tracked down a worker at KTM Canada who got the speedo for me, I have my speedo.

A month later, the bike is stolen.

Fun eh ? ;-)

J
 
#565 ·
That is something I just don"t get. Cost to the dealer, maybe a couple phone calls and a little paperwork, JUST DO IT. Here it is the same way, cars ditto. Always seems like the cost is coming out of the service writers own pocket. And how dare you complain about a product he so proudly represents? That's his job when he goes to work for Honda, "Frigg'n KTMs and the junk speedos, had to warranty one every other week. But look how these Honda units look, solid as a rock. And they don't emit a funky orange glow."

Now trucks, Peterbilts, KWs and the ilk, nothing but money to be made. If you have a clutch or transmission problem you hit the lottery. The motor manufacturer will get billed for a leaky crank seal. the clutch manufacturer get billed for a faulty clutch and the transmission manufacturer gets billed for a defective transmission. Triple labour hours and free parts, the new clutch will go into a customers non warranty job and that core will be returned to the manufacturer. Crank seal can be put into inventory. Likewise with a bunch of transmission pieces when all you replaced was an o-ring.
 
#566 ·
I think in the case of DuRoy, the person in charge of ordering parts works in the garage which is not with the main store. They are 2km's away.. And I get the feeling that this particular person didn't give a rat's ass about my problem and just wanted me to go away.

At one point when I called him to ask for a status his reply was "I called KTM, I did my job".

Well no, that's not just your job. You job is to make sure that me, the client, gets his part. You represent KTM. I can't call KTM and order the speedo, you have to. The owner of DuRoy wanted names of whom I talked with. So I suspect he had no idea what was going on.

The guy I talked with from KTM Canada after said they have been having issues with DuRoy. There are two new KTM dealers now in my area. So maybe KTM Canada is looking to squeeze out DuRoy.. Who knows.

I called the insurance company today. Everything so far looks good. I should get a brand new bike or the money to get a brand new bike.

I am currently working at an insurance company on a contract and one of the guys I work with wanted to know what questions they asked me. They asked me if they could do a credit check on me and if I was in the process of selling the bike. These two answers determine whom you get assigned to. Bad credit score + currently selling bike == senior adjuster. It means they have put you on a fraud list. The senior adjuster is usually an ex-cop. His goal is to pay you nothing. They figure you are trying to screw them and if they can build enough of a bad profile about you to illicit doubt in the judge's mind, you can kiss your payment good bye.

Anyhow, that isn't the case for me. But interesting to see how they manage this..

I started looking at Husqvarna.. The 450 or 501.. But there's only one or two dealers near me. Not sure that's a good idea. That 701 sumo is just awesome. But I really want a dirt bike.

J
 
#567 ·
I started looking at Husqvarna.. The 450 or 501.. But there's only one or two dealers near me. Not sure that's a good idea. That 701 sumo is just awesome. But I really want a dirt bike.
The 701 Enduro / 690 Enduro have the dirt tires you want, and are more street friendly, but heavier for dirt riding.

The 2017 Husqvarna's all have TC and a map switch to selection the fueling map.

Only the 450 Six Days has the TC & map switch on the KTM side.
 
#569 ·
The TC on the new huskees looks really great. But I'd be worried of the electronics going wonky and with limited dealers... The thing I like about dirt bikes is great torque, light and generally easy to fix. Yes they require a ton of oil changes and valve checks etc.. but it's not _that_ hard.

Whereas say a Ducati which has all the fun and power and gizmos but damn is that thing expensive to fix and you can't do it yourself. Not to mention lots of issues.. especially with the electronics.

I was poking around yesterday and for the money I should get back from the insurance, I have quite a bit of choice.. I always loved the BMW S1000R and slightly used, I could do it. But what the Hell am I doing to do with a 1000cc engine in town ? It looks good.. sounds good but I never ride the roads on the weekend unless those roads are dirt. I just can't get into weekend rides up to Tremblant or wherever. Maybe when I get over 50.. So that S1000R would just be a poser bike.

So right now, I am pretty sure it's going to be a KTM 500. Next summer we are planning on going to Europe. I really want to see a MotoGP race and I really want do do 3 or so days of Enduro. I just need to get better again on the dirt bike. I am definitely better then a year ago, but still limited to a lot of people in what I can get through. Hopefully another year of practice will help.

@fwd25 I watched that video. That is definitely Romania ! It looks very familiar. Incredible place to go ride. He was fine on dirt roads. But as soon as it got wet and muddy, he was having a very hard time. So ya, if it's dry and a little rocky, you don't need deep knobbies. But the first sign of mud and it gets to be a lot harder. I also think with decent skill that 690 Enduro would be perfectly fine. The terrain we have here isn't quite Romanics. So a 690 should be fine.

BTW, if you ever get something stolen, don't call your insurance company until after you have the police report. The insurance company uses that as a marker for fraud. That is you called to see what you will get back and then later call to say your bike/car/whatever was stolen.

You probably all knew that, but just in case.

J
 
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