Here's my latest addition. Don't quite own it yet (cant fit in the garage just quite yet) but that shouldn't be an issue soon as, as soon as I get it its getting stripped down to the frame for a ground up rebuild into a supermoto. Lost the 660 last year (not going through that story again) and miss the Hooliganism of the KTM. Got the wheels lined up and on the lookout for the a full akra system (if I can find one) - and then followed by a shed load of powder coating and blingy orange bits... Anyway - its nice to be a KTM owner again....if you'd ave said to me 20 years ago youll have a garage full of euro bikes id have laughed. But here we are...
I really want to have a go at doing some Supermoto. All the 'experience day' schools seem to have closed. If I knew somewhere I could do it near London then we would probably get ourselves a bike.
New wheels turned up.... And we're off... Bike turning up tomorrow.... Akra on Monday.... Strip down commencing soon... Very soon.
Just in case anyone thought I'd had died a death it hasn't.... If anything it's had more money poured into it than anything else on two wheels I've ever owned. Just waiting for the engine to be rebuilt then I can get started reassembling it.... Here's the build thread... 525 exc 2005 Stuff I haven't addressed yet: 1. The front brake.... The whole lot needs upgrading, cleaning and recoating 2. Clocks.... Want to do something special... Got choose ideas but not sure yet...
My next project is going to be a late steel framed CR250 EVO. plan is to build something road legal (hence the starting with the evo) I like the alloy framed bikes but i honestly think the late steel framed bikes are the better lookers and for the road would be slightly less extreme. i also appreciate any CR250 on the road is going to be a compromise and quite impractical, but i just prefer the steel framed bikes i think. I may change my mind when working on it. I want the bike to be a usable track bike and local B road weapon which is fine for a 20 mile sunday blast and back. Reliability is sort of key, hence why sticking with the 2 stroke, even for single ring, they cost less to rebuild and maintain than the later 4 stroke motors.
yep - what are they like to get spares for....the reason I settled on the 525 was that it was pretty well the Ford Escort of their range - just about everything bolts on to them! theyre a well known engine plus once in supermoto guise I think theyre among the best looking ones....the engine is going to be pretty well standard apart from the pumper mod and tail pipe but theres a few upgraded parts going into the gearbox ( which should make it a bit more reliable ). If you looked at the thread my main area of concentration is coatings....trying to make it as corrosive resistant as possible...but, that's the bit that's costing at the moment...being a little bit bullish about it I think mines going to look one of the best out there once done....
Spares are readily available for the 250 Honda's and they are typical honda too reliability wise. I think the YZ of the same era made more power but was not quite as reliable. i personally think the Honda is the looker too. Regarding the KTM, well i did take a sniff at the 525, it is a pretty bike. how heavy is it may i ask ? the one i sat on felt quite heavy. the other option was the Aprilia 450, but reliability seems questionable.
I stopped short of the 450/550 - absolutely beautiful looking bike - the engines need to be breathed on by a bloke called "cal550" I believe on the supermoto forum - once he's stripped and overhauled the motor reliability goes right up - the earlier ones were the problem ones as aprilia (at the time) used the wrong sealant to put the crankcases together - they were truly awful - I think once hes done one he leaves tell tale signs down the line so you can see that he's had it. Nice but need a tad too much service work....I don't mind servicing and oil changing but not every 200 miles or so.... Weight: I got it out the van, wheeled it into the garage and took a spanner to it immediately...so I don't know how heavy it is or will be...
Well, its almost done....the electrics have taken forever and is the last stumbling block. As the vid shows its all there apart from the clocks randomly cutting out, which my mate hasn't got to the bottom of yet. I did some tidying up of the wiring under the seat and a couple of protection fuses. Engine is a bit lumpy but im waiting for a bit of dry weather to just nip up the road to load the engine a little. Where the tray sits on top of the subframe is probably restricting the airflow so ill be drilling the side panel and backing it with mesh to get some more air in through the side. Sorry for sounding like Farmer Barley-Mo but I am really a Geordie...
Just to add my next project (providing I don't end up in the divorce courts) is to the pretty well the same type of thing to an 1100 hyper but keep it...
Heh - well I keep getting told I sound bristolian but I cant ever hear it myself but then you never can....I was born in Barrow-in-Furness...yep- chuffed with the way its gone but it took way longer than I thought....which ill allow for when I get my next duc....
hear yah, i keep getting told i sound like a choob.?:smileys:. really envious of people that can find the time to do that properly. nice one.
Well, its funny as most of the time spent wasn't actually in the garage.....from August last year to December was sending stuff off..... 1 day to strip it. A couple of days cleaning stuff A day to clean up the garage after the strip down and box up everything that was staying with me. From August to December was essentially boxing stuff up and sending it off to be cleaned, blasted, stripped, coated etc etc I dropped the engine off in mid August and it took til end of nov to be stripped, crank cases sent off for coating and then back to be rebuilt. once id got everything back at my house it took 5 hours to build the thing back up (that was this time last year) from then til now has been wiring. I can do basic wiring jobs but this was a complete loom build which my mate at work has done (he's and electrical engineer with a zzr so to him it was fun.) But, he works off site a lot (in Scotland - couldn't be further away could it!) and couldn't work weekends, so, I get him for maybe 3 to 6 hours a week in the evenings if that - which is why it took so long to wire up....ironically he was supposed to be over tonight but is just loading his car to go to - you guessed it - Scotland again as he's been told he's got to attend a meeting....
I couldn't wait....went out on it yesterday....electricals are not quite finished but I can ride it....awesome, pulls really strong, looks like its gonna be fun! slight coolant leak but that was fixed in 2 mins....not fitted the handguards yet (didn't have the right size bolts!) and haven't decided on stickers yet....either none, minimal or full on blingy (which is what supermoto's tend to be) the style if you will....
Couldn't find a ti header but apparently there's no performance difference... Just weight... Which I suppose technically gives you more performance...
