If you are using it for the street I would get a KTM LC4 based engine or the new Husky 610SM. The maintenance is very similar to your R1 which consists of pretty much nothing comared to the 450's. You can also go with the DRZ which is pretty street friendly but lacking the power of the 600's and just as heavy. I owned a Duke II and a 625. I would def. go for the 625 over the Duke, it comes set up with everything and has all the updates.
new bike advice
I just sold my R1 and I'm looking at an SM for the street. I really like the 450's but I'm not sure if I should get something larger for the street. I live in downtown Chicago and will mainly use the bike on city streets where you rarely break 50. Every street has a stop sign or light every block or so. I won't ride on the expressway much, maybe once a month for about 20 miles and that's it. Mainly I'm looking for something light and fun to blast around city traffic on. Will the 450 be a good choice or should I look at something bigger, a 625 or a duke?
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OK, this is only my opinion, from my perspective so if someone doesn't agree please do not burn me down. I am only trying to offer advise from my perspective.
If you are a sport bike guy the Duke or SMC will seem, very narrow, focused, light, and torquey. Around town it will be easy to turn and burn and a real blast to ride. Sport bike guys may find dirt based 450 conversions a bit of a handful and sort of twitchy.
Dirtbike guys will think the Duke and SMC are fat pigs (they are compared with off-road bikes) they will seem a little soft and wallowy and will not have the snappy quick revving engine of a 450.
I think dirt bike guys appreciate the focus a 450 conversion brings to the street, but since they are dirt guys maybe they expect a little less livability in their bikes than street guys do.
I ride both street and off-road (woods/desert, not MX) and just bought an 05 SMC, I had some concerns that it would be "too soft" and had second thoughts that I should have bought a SMR 525 and converted it too the street. After my first ride I knew I had made the right choice for turn and burn street use and general raising hell. The SMC rocks for this, but I will never do more than a 100 mile day on it and it will probably never see track use.
If you have any ideas of racing, do a 450 conversion or a SMR. The SMC or Duke would be an exercise in frustration if you want to be competitive. (maybe OK if you do not care about being a rolling chicane for everyone else)
Also the magic button makes street riding easier and safer. Big singles, even perfectly tuned ones, do stall from time to time under hard braking or when the throttle is first cracked.
Any SM will be a perfect choice for the urban canyons of Chicago, much more so than your R1.
Grab a handful of brake slide through a 90 degree intersection, wheelie out & grab the next gear, 75 mph and a ton of fun.
The R1 is so powerful and composed at 120 it almost seems relaxed.
If you are a sport bike guy the Duke or SMC will seem, very narrow, focused, light, and torquey. Around town it will be easy to turn and burn and a real blast to ride. Sport bike guys may find dirt based 450 conversions a bit of a handful and sort of twitchy.
Dirtbike guys will think the Duke and SMC are fat pigs (they are compared with off-road bikes) they will seem a little soft and wallowy and will not have the snappy quick revving engine of a 450.
I think dirt bike guys appreciate the focus a 450 conversion brings to the street, but since they are dirt guys maybe they expect a little less livability in their bikes than street guys do.
I ride both street and off-road (woods/desert, not MX) and just bought an 05 SMC, I had some concerns that it would be "too soft" and had second thoughts that I should have bought a SMR 525 and converted it too the street. After my first ride I knew I had made the right choice for turn and burn street use and general raising hell. The SMC rocks for this, but I will never do more than a 100 mile day on it and it will probably never see track use.
If you have any ideas of racing, do a 450 conversion or a SMR. The SMC or Duke would be an exercise in frustration if you want to be competitive. (maybe OK if you do not care about being a rolling chicane for everyone else)
Also the magic button makes street riding easier and safer. Big singles, even perfectly tuned ones, do stall from time to time under hard braking or when the throttle is first cracked.
Any SM will be a perfect choice for the urban canyons of Chicago, much more so than your R1.
Grab a handful of brake slide through a 90 degree intersection, wheelie out & grab the next gear, 75 mph and a ton of fun.
The R1 is so powerful and composed at 120 it almost seems relaxed.
Thanks for the replies. I don't plan on racing, as I don't have the time to commit to it. You're dead on about the r1. It had too much power to be fun in the city. I'm thinking about a Husky SM510R. I'm worried a Duke or 625 will be too heavy. Besides, the red/white/black 510 is gorgeous.
The Husky is awesome, I've had them before (lived in a different area) and they performed well, were bulletproof mechanically and had the bling factor of being way different than the big Japanese 4.
If there were a Husky dealer around here I would have purchased one of those instead of the SMC.
If there were a Husky dealer around here I would have purchased one of those instead of the SMC.
The SMC is only maybe 60 or 70 real world pounds lighter than a R1 and maybe only 20 or 30 lighter than the hottest 600. It seems lighter because of how narrow it is and most importantly how wide the bars are. I think the wide bars make the most difference, you just have a ton more leverage.
I road an lcr 640 for a year after selling my gsxr 600, and i loved it. Still would be riding it now if i dident buy a car. They actualy arnt the heavy, about 80 lbs heavyer then a done up 450, but on the street it dosent seem like it. They seem very planted and lots of fun, wheelie machines and a hundred times more fun at low speeds. I use to ride my 600 at atleast 130kph, now i can ride my lcr at 90 *speed limits 80* and still have a blast.
if i were u i would go with LC4 motor cuz its bulletproof, some people on thumpertalk have close to 40k miles with noproblem so u know that tells u that u can ride it for a longass time :thumbup:
You have to realize you can put 10,000 miles a year on a LC4. Can you do that on a 450 or 510? I highly doubt it unless you do some serious wrenching. Just something to think about, even 5,000 miles a year can be a lot for a full blown race bike.
I ride the Crap out of my 525sx with just a four speed everyday
Wheelie and in general ride it pretty hard as I also came from an R1
No problems, and Kick start is just fucking Cool.......Sissies with there Batteries and shit....I don’t even have lights, just fake ones
Change the Oil and if something sounds funny fix it before it breaks something else and when something does it’s an easy to fix Thumper
80 pounds is some serious weight, 525 same as a 450 just a little more ass
Light tards Making Decent Power are fucking tight
Wheelie and in general ride it pretty hard as I also came from an R1
No problems, and Kick start is just fucking Cool.......Sissies with there Batteries and shit....I don’t even have lights, just fake ones
Change the Oil and if something sounds funny fix it before it breaks something else and when something does it’s an easy to fix Thumper
80 pounds is some serious weight, 525 same as a 450 just a little more ass
Light tards Making Decent Power are fucking tight
You reminded me of something I've wondered about for a long time. What exactly do people mean when they describe a bike as "twitchy"? Does it mean the throttle is very touchy? Does it mean that the steering responds to the tiniest input on the bars? That the bike wiggles around a lot in response to unevenness in the road surface? Or what?SCQTT said:Sport bike guys may find dirt based 450 conversions a bit of a handful and sort of twitchy.
I've had someone call my DR650 twitchy, and I honestly don't see that myself. But my experience with other bikes is pretty limited, so I don't have much of a basis for comparison. (Outside of some short demo rides on a track, the only bikes I've ridden extensively were both made around 1980.) Another friend, who is used to sportbikes, said the DR would be hard to get used to because it moved around so much (as in the frame, etc. flexing) at speeds over about 35 mph. Again, I don't feel whatever it is he's talking about.
Can someone enlighten me?
PS...I apologize for hijacking your thread!
NP on hijacking the thread. Hopefully you get an answer.
Thanks for all the responses. After finding out that titling the 510 is a hassle, I'm going to go with an SM450R. I realize maintenance will be higher and the bike less ridable, but I'm only going to use it for short jaunts. I'm really just looking for a way to make my 5 mile urban commute more exciting.
On to the next issue, are there any good sites/faqs about riding technique, especially coming from a sportbike? Also any good info on suspension setup?
I'm excited to pick the bike up and get going. My R1 was really pointless around the city and I'm glad there's another option out there. I think SM will only continue to grow as more people realize how much more useful/ridable an SM is compared to a 160hp liter bike.
Thanks for all the responses. After finding out that titling the 510 is a hassle, I'm going to go with an SM450R. I realize maintenance will be higher and the bike less ridable, but I'm only going to use it for short jaunts. I'm really just looking for a way to make my 5 mile urban commute more exciting.
On to the next issue, are there any good sites/faqs about riding technique, especially coming from a sportbike? Also any good info on suspension setup?
I'm excited to pick the bike up and get going. My R1 was really pointless around the city and I'm glad there's another option out there. I think SM will only continue to grow as more people realize how much more useful/ridable an SM is compared to a 160hp liter bike.
Err, one more thing. What mods would you guys recommend? How's the stock silencer? Is there a restrictor to remove on the slicener/airbox/intake/etc? How about the stock jetting?
My 02 R1 felt like a rock I hit 186mph but it was Top Heavy and well Heavy
My 525 sx at 90mph feels like it has its own agenda, but it doesn’t weigh anything I don’t care if the wheel is sideways dragging on the ground
Gas it a little and it doesn’t matter, you look like a pro to some guy on a Busa or some turd like that..........That is why motards rule and Sport Bikes (though I still have a 600) are weak and not vary stimulating unless doing a wheelie though I do miss Slowing down time.........running from on the interstate
Then again running from them on a motard is twice the dash
My 525 sx at 90mph feels like it has its own agenda, but it doesn’t weigh anything I don’t care if the wheel is sideways dragging on the ground
Gas it a little and it doesn’t matter, you look like a pro to some guy on a Busa or some turd like that..........That is why motards rule and Sport Bikes (though I still have a 600) are weak and not vary stimulating unless doing a wheelie though I do miss Slowing down time.........running from on the interstate
Then again running from them on a motard is twice the dash
I guess the twitchy thing is hard to quantify. Maybe it is a combination of many things, and maybe it is a good idea for a new thread.
My initial though was MX bikes have a shorter wheelbase, but a quick check of modern hardware shows cutting edge sport bikes with significantly shorter wheelbases than MX machines.
So basically wheelbase (shorter being faster handeling) seems not to really contribute to the twitchy feeling in street converted MX to sport bike comparisons.
This is what I have it boiled down to. Only my opinion!
Wider bars, much easier to have little inputs have large results.
Rider weight, on an SM the rider is a much larger percentage of the overall weight of the bike/ rider combination. Any movement in the saddle has a greater chance to upset the chassis dynamics.
Example a 150 pound rider is 27% of a 550 sport bike rider package (400 pound machine)
The same rider on a 230 Lb SM is 39% of that bike/rider combination of 380 pounds
Gyroscopes, lighter wheel / tire combos on SM are much easier to deflect off line when you have less spinning mass (this combined with wide bars really makes a difference)
Spinning engine mass, hard to describe the effect this has on handeling, but if you ever ridden a 410 Husky back to back with a 610 they are worlds different, but basically the same bike with different size pistons. The 410 feels lighter but they are about the same weight. The mass of all the spinning internal engine parts makes the 610 seem more stable, but also slower turning and heavier.
Any other ideas?
My initial though was MX bikes have a shorter wheelbase, but a quick check of modern hardware shows cutting edge sport bikes with significantly shorter wheelbases than MX machines.
So basically wheelbase (shorter being faster handeling) seems not to really contribute to the twitchy feeling in street converted MX to sport bike comparisons.
This is what I have it boiled down to. Only my opinion!
Wider bars, much easier to have little inputs have large results.
Rider weight, on an SM the rider is a much larger percentage of the overall weight of the bike/ rider combination. Any movement in the saddle has a greater chance to upset the chassis dynamics.
Example a 150 pound rider is 27% of a 550 sport bike rider package (400 pound machine)
The same rider on a 230 Lb SM is 39% of that bike/rider combination of 380 pounds
Gyroscopes, lighter wheel / tire combos on SM are much easier to deflect off line when you have less spinning mass (this combined with wide bars really makes a difference)
Spinning engine mass, hard to describe the effect this has on handeling, but if you ever ridden a 410 Husky back to back with a 610 they are worlds different, but basically the same bike with different size pistons. The 410 feels lighter but they are about the same weight. The mass of all the spinning internal engine parts makes the 610 seem more stable, but also slower turning and heavier.
Any other ideas?
Hmm, I'd been wondering more what twitchy felt like as opposed to what caused it. You're basically saying it's an exaggerated response to very small inputs, whether from the bars, a shift in the rider's weight, or the road surface, right?SCQTT said:Wider bars, much easier to have little inputs have large results.
Rider weight, on an SM the rider is a much larger percentage of the overall weight of the bike/ rider combination. Any movement in the saddle has a greater chance to upset the chassis dynamics.
Example a 150 pound rider is 27% of a 550 sport bike rider package (400 pound machine)
The same rider on a 230 Lb SM is 39% of that bike/rider combination of 380 pounds
Gyroscopes, lighter wheel / tire combos on SM are much easier to deflect off line when you have less spinning mass (this combined with wide bars really makes a difference)
Interesting point about the rider's weight as a percentage of the overall mass. That could explain why (besides just being used to it) I don't really feel the kind of movement that other people seem to feel on my bike. Fully geared up, I weigh about 130 pounds, but most of the others who've ridden my bike were closer to 200 pounds.
Twitchy huh????? its all types of factors. The main ones been things like the bikes rake/trail, wheel base and suspention settings. The 98/99 model R1 is a killer for been twichy. The new ZX10 is also the same. Wobble and Weave are also factors that make up a 'twichy' bike. Different tyres on different bikes also. Its VERY hard to even think about explaining it. Read keith Codes books, that will explain all.ro-monster said:You reminded me of something I've wondered about for a long time. What exactly do people mean when they describe a bike as "twitchy"? Does it mean the throttle is very touchy? Does it mean that the steering responds to the tiniest input on the bars? That the bike wiggles around a lot in response to unevenness in the road surface? Or what?
I've had someone call my DR650 twitchy, and I honestly don't see that myself. But my experience with other bikes is pretty limited, so I don't have much of a basis for comparison. (Outside of some short demo rides on a track, the only bikes I've ridden extensively were both made around 1980.) Another friend, who is used to sportbikes, said the DR would be hard to get used to because it moved around so much (as in the frame, etc. flexing) at speeds over about 35 mph. Again, I don't feel whatever it is he's talking about.
Can someone enlighten me?
PS...I apologize for hijacking your thread!
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