Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128245
2004 KTM Supermoto Bikes The m otors are very similar between the SMC versions a nd the SMR versio ns, but the SM R has a six-speed gearbox instead of the SMC's fourspeed. ( bikes and t he 525c c b ikes was j u st as you would ex p ect, more power. The top-end o n th e 525 obviously pulls a lot harder, but corner exits demanded some restra int with t h e 01' th r ottle ip roc ating mass in the m oto r. We j ust felt that t um-in is a little m ore c risp . If y o u are lo o k ing for a ra c e-ready mach in e to contest Supermoto Championship events , o r you r loca l regional series, the SM R range is hard hand. The 525s hav e highside w ritten all over them , but t h ey sure are fun when a lon g straightway appears in fron t of you . The 450s requir e a lot more shiftle v er work than th e torquey 525. On the 525 , o ne could stay in the same g ear for long sections of t ra ck without bogging t he motor, but the 450 would fall on its fa c e if it wer en 't kept in th e sw eet spot in th e rev range. Although the b ikes all w eigh about the same (the SMCs are a li ttle lighter ) , the 450s seemed to handle a little sweeter th an th e b ig bikes, p ro ba b ly due t o less rec - to bea t. The b ikes are ready to rock and roll right out of the box . On th e other hand, if y o u just wa nt t o g i ve the sport a try , o r j u st want to rac e o ccasio n all y and c a n' t affo rd a de d ica te d b ik e, th e 450 o r 525 SMCs are t he perfect f it, as t h ey come w it h a set of m oto cro ss whe el s , tires a nd brakes in ad d ition t o the su permoto se t up . The SMR series for th e ser io u s racer o n ly c o st s $ 200 m ore t ha n th e SMCs , but t he SMC seri es see ms lik e a g reat ba rg ain for someone j ust gett ing into th e sport . eN ~!liJr;w~[fjJ© t!l!l[JD&J7]90 lifJD@ [§)OW@[J@(]fJ@@CP The 450 and 525 SMR are specificall y designed for supermoto, at least insofar as how they are delivered to the customer. There are a handful of differences between the SMR and the SMC that make the SMRs better suited for competition. For starters the 450 and 525 SMRs have six-speed gearboxes instead of the four -speed clusters on the 450 /525 SMC line. The motors are the same specification. but the final-drive ratio on the $MRs is taller and comes with a smaller 45 -tooth rear sprocket instead of the 450/525 SMC's 52 teeth. The suspension is another area where the specifications differ. The 450 /525 $MRs use upside-down WP 48/2 MA/PA forks , whic h have just under a half -inch less travel - 11.4 inches to the 450 / 525 SMC's 11.8 inches. Out back, the suspension is a different specification as well. Th e 4 50/525 SMRs have only 12 inches of travel com pared to the 450/525 SMC's 13.2 inches. This of course lowers the entire bik e accordingly , with the SMR's seat height dropping from 36.4 inch es (on the SMC) to 34 .2 inches. The final suspension-relat ed change of note is that the steering angle on the 450/ 525 SMRs is a half-d egree steeper, 26.5 degrees com pared to the SMC's 27 degrees. With the SMR's top speed, due to the tall er final-drive ratio, bett er brakes are in order. The 45 0/525 SMRs feature 31 0m m wave rotors instead of 260mm rotors on the SMCs, while six -p lston Berin ger cali pers are used instead of the already impressive four- pot Brembos on the SMCs. Last but not least, the SMRs come with Renthal handlebars instead of the tapered alum inum bars on the SMCs. KTM also lists a variety of option al extras that are available for their SMR and SMC series of bikes incl uding: 16.5-inch wheel sets, a full line of afterma rket brakes, engine upgrades, electric starter systems, and even big bore kits which take the 525 up to 540 cc. 66 J A N U A RY 7 ,2004' cue I The 450 and 5 2 5 SMR m odels come w ith sa -p iston Be ri nger calipers an d 3 10mm wave ro tors, w hile t he SMC version s ge t four-pi st on Brembos and 2 6 0 mm rotors . e n e vvs We also had the opportunity to ride the street -legal LC4-powered 625 SMC. Complete with mi rrors, headlights , tum signals and dual-sport tire s, the bike offers the ulti mate in street supermoto attitude. If you don't actually want to race supermoto but want a sweethand ling comer carver to terro rize your local twisty roads, thi s is the bik e for you. Unlike a typ ical dual sport , the 625 comes with 17-inch rims , big brak es, decent tires and every thing you need to be highway legal. Riding the 625 on both the championship tra ck and the Xplex track required a little more effort due to the bik e's additional weight, and the fact that it was the only bike we rode that wasn't mounted with slick tires. Beyond that the bik e was a blast to ride. Our only complaint was that one of the bik es had a tendency to jump out of gear under hard acceleration (which is another reason we were apprehensive about jumping the metal step-up doub le on it. The tires worked really well and inspired a little more confidence in the dirt section. The 625 would make a great urban com muter and has mor e than enough power to feel confident on the freeway . We can 't imagi ne how m uch fun a bike like this would be in a city like San Franci sco. In short, the 625 is the ultimate supermoto poser bike , and there's nothing wrong with that . 625SMC U STPRICE $6298 DISPLACEMEN T 625cc Liquid-cooled, ENGINE TYPE single-c ylinder four -stroke BORE x STROKE 101 x 78mm COMPRESSION RATIO 11.7:1 CARBURETION Keihin MX FCR 4 1mm IGNm ON Koku san Digital 4K3 TRANSMISSION Five-speed STAR TING SYSTEM Electri c FUEL CAPACITY 2.3 8 gal. WHEELBASE RA KEffRAIL SEAT HEIGHT FRONT TIRE REAR TIRE FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL FRONT BRAKE REAR BRAKE FINAL DRIVE CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 59 .45 in. 27°/ 99m m 35.83 in. 120/70-17 160/60- 17 10 .43 in. 12.2 in. Disc Disc Chain 29 1 1 bs.