Jeff Ward, a.k.a. "The Flying...
Jeff Ward, a.k.a. "The Flying Freckle," 48 years young and still winning AMA Nationals in style.
Fulfilling Your Superbikers Fantasy Is Just A Wheel Set Away
3 Honda CRF450R Supermoto
The other disciplines in this story may be faster, more graceful or more daring, but nothing comes close to the fun factor of supermoto. And it's one of the easiest forms of racing to ease into.
Whether your background is dirt or street, your skill set is readily adaptable. Knee down or leg out? It's entirely up to you.
Supermoto racing clubs are plentiful, and because races can be held at roadrace courses, kart tracks, in parking lots or even on public roads, there's no shortage of venues. Lever some dual-sport skins onto your stock rims and have at the Sportsman class. Odds are once you've gotten a taste of this outlandishly amusing form of racing, you'll be hooked. Thankfully, transforming your motocrosser into a competent, competitive supermoto racer is a straightforward and affordable enterprise.
The main thing that sets a supermoto bike apart from its motocross brethren is its wheel set. Bolting on a pair of 17-inch hoops opens the door to a wide range of sticky street rubber--a necessity when navigating hairpin turns and fast sweepers. If you're willing to say sayonara to your knobbies, any experienced wheel builder can lace your stock hubs to supermoto rims for around $800.
If you'd still like to be able to ride in the dirt, various online retailers peddle ready-to-roll supermoto wheels (with tires) for as little as $1200. Upgrading the brakes is the final essential step.
 Supermoto is a sort of hybrid,...  Supermoto is a sort of hybrid, rolling all the best aspects of roadracing, motocross and dirt-track into one tire-smokin' sport. |  |  It all comes down to the contact...  It all comes down to the contact patch, and installing streetbike-sized wheels is the only way to gain access to track-worthy rubber, like these 250cc Grand Prix-spec Dunlop slicks. |
Repetitive hard braking will wilt a stock dirtbike rotor like steamed spinach, leaving it blued and warped after a few laps. Bolting on a 320mm disc adds braking power and fade resistance, but requires an adapter to relocate the stock caliper. Most supermoto brake kits come with the adaptor and hardware, and can be picked up for around $275.
That's all you really need to do, and it doesn't have to be that expensive. Specialty shops such as Motostrano (www.motostrano.com) sell complete kits for around $1100, complete with wheels, tires, tubes, rotor, adaptor and even a short front fender. All the other stock components will suffice, although you'll want to dial up suspension damping for better control. For just a few hundred dollars more, the setup can be improved significantly. Racing brake pads, stainless brake lines and a slip-on muffler are worthwhile investments. Plastic sliders on the axles, bar-ends and footpegs will go a long way toward protecting your bike and staying on the local kart track owner's good side when you push that hacked-out corner entry too far. Depending on what grade of rubber you run and how aggressively you ride, tires can last several weekends.
If you have your sights set on AMA Pro racing, the parts list swells considerably. The modifications aren't extensive, but they are expensive. Troy Lee Designs set us up with one of their team's 2009 Honda CRF450Rs (Jeff Ward won on his the following weekend at Southern California's Auto Club Speedway) to see what a money-no-object racer feels like.
A stock engine might be sufficient...
A stock engine might be sufficient for club racing, but the Troy Lee Honda gets the full treatment courtesy of Pro Circuit: ported head, piston, titanium valves and cam.
At nearly $20,000, the Troy Lee Honda is an outstanding performer, as dialed-in as anything we've ridden. "We'll go to the track maybe two or three times in a week, tuning and testing everything to get it working perfectly for the rider," says mechanic David Joy. We were apprehensive at first, but the suspension, brakes, tires and fuel injection were so spot-on that we felt comfortable and in control within a few laps. The Hinson slipper clutch kept the rear wheel tame while dropping gears going into corners, and the worked-over engine, exhaling through a titanium Pro Circuit pipe, was strong enough to loft the front wheel at corner exits. Suspension work was limited to installing stiffer springs and reshimming the damping cartridges.
The Troy Lee bikes run Marchesini forged-aluminum wheels, mounted with ultra-sticky Dunlop slicks. The 16.5-inch front hoop is endowed with an impressive brake setup, which retails for $2500--the single most costly upgrade. The hardware is all Brembo, with a full-floating 320mm rotor, billet-aluminum Monobloc caliper (with four titanium pistons), racing brake pads, master cylinder and stainless brake lines.
Supermoto racing favors riding skill over power, so don't let the exotic parts on this top-level racebike intimidate you. Slap some roadrace rubber on your old motocrosser and get out there!
Honda CRF450R Supermoto
What You Need
17-inch wheels/tires, oversized front brake, axle/footpeg/bar-end sliders
What A Pro Needs
Engine work, exhaust, slipper clutch, re-valved suspension, mag wheels, radial front brake caliper
How much?
$9000 to get your feet wet $19,000+ to run with Wardy and all