Thinking electric... again... garage full of parts still

K

Kurlon

Well-known member
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Location
Maine
So, as ice season approaches and the set of KTM ice wheels gather dust in my garage... I'm once again thinking about getting another dirty bike. I've got a 1992 Yamaha WR250ZD that's been heavily reworked already, but it has an odd running issue I don't have the space to try and diag, and at this point I'm pretty confident the answer is going to be a rebuild back to stock bore so... it's collecting dust. Actually, I've got a lot in my garage collecting dust at the moment:
- Warp 9 sumo wheel set for KTMs
- Warp 9 sumo mag rear wheel for KTM
- OEM KTM wheels with ice tires
- Two sets of RAD MFG sumo wheel sets for Yamahas
- 06 KTM SMR front forks sprung and valved for me, with radial caliper
- 92 WR250ZD with 09 YZ450 forks in custom road race offset clamps, Berringer 6 pot sumo brake setup

I don't ride dirt/ice/sumo much any more, but would like the option to be there when opportunities arise, a bike that for the most part can sit and not care about EFI gumming up, etc would be nice, hence thinking electric. I'd like to be able to utilize some of what I've got to maximize my options. (Sumo sadly would be limited, my primary track I have access to has a strict no electric policy so... bah.)

I'd be going EX or SM and throwing a plate on.
- KTM wheels, still just a spacer swap to bolt up?
- Will my 09 YZ450 forks bolt up into the Varg's triples, KYBs but I don't remember what fork spacing is for OEM Yamaha? I know my KTM WP set won't.
- Does the SM change any of the part swap details, does it have a shorter swingarm/altered fork length from the EX, or any other notable changes besides wheels and a four pot radial front brake? Did they widen the clamps ala SMR/FS bikes to get spoke clearance for the caliper?
 
Get the EX. It's going to be much less of a faff to swop between Disciplines. The fact that the brake bracket on the SM is cast as part of the fork clamp means you can't change to an enduro disk and the thread in axle is still an unknown...
 
Kurlon said:
Does the SM change any of the part swap details, does it have a shorter swingarm/altered fork length from the EX, or any other notable changes besides wheels and a four pot radial front brake? Did they widen the clamps ala SMR/FS bikes to get spoke clearance for the caliper?
Click to expand...
The triple clamp is advertised by them to have a 16 mm offset:
whereas in my MX 1.0 I've measured a 22 mm offset.
Besides, from a side view it looks like the SM axle lug has a smaller offset.
I don't know about the distance between the two outer tubes.

I suggest that you check the part numbers of the components that you'd like to be compatible. The swingarm of the MX 1.0, for example, has a part number (SMX1-SR-S-KT) common to the MX 1.2, the EX and the SM, so it shouldn't be shorter in the SM.
 
Kurlon said:
So, as ice season approaches and the set of KTM ice wheels gather dust in my garage... I'm once again thinking about getting another dirty bike. I've got a 1992 Yamaha WR250ZD that's been heavily reworked already, but it has an odd running issue I don't have the space to try and diag, and at this point I'm pretty confident the answer is going to be a rebuild back to stock bore so... it's collecting dust. Actually, I've got a lot in my garage collecting dust at the moment:
- Warp 9 sumo wheel set for KTMs
- Warp 9 sumo mag rear wheel for KTM
- OEM KTM wheels with ice tires
- Two sets of RAD MFG sumo wheel sets for Yamahas
- 06 KTM SMR front forks sprung and valved for me, with radial caliper
- 92 WR250ZD with 09 YZ450 forks in custom road race offset clamps, Berringer 6 pot sumo brake setup

I don't ride dirt/ice/sumo much any more, but would like the option to be there when opportunities arise, a bike that for the most part can sit and not care about EFI gumming up, etc would be nice, hence thinking electric. I'd like to be able to utilize some of what I've got to maximize my options. (Sumo sadly would be limited, my primary track I have access to has a strict no electric policy so... bah.)

I'd be going EX or SM and throwing a plate on.
- KTM wheels, still just a spacer swap to bolt up?
- Will my 09 YZ450 forks bolt up into the Varg's triples, KYBs but I don't remember what fork spacing is for OEM Yamaha? I know my KTM WP set won't.
- Does the SM change any of the part swap details, does it have a shorter swingarm/altered fork length from the EX, or any other notable changes besides wheels and a four pot radial front brake? Did they widen the clamps ala SMR/FS bikes to get spoke clearance for the caliper?
Click to expand...
NO ELECTRICS ON A SUPERMOTO TRACK! are they afraid you will blow your motor and spill slippery electrons all over the road?
 
B. FRANK said:
NO ELECTRICS ON A SUPERMOTO TRACK! are they afraid you will blow your motor and spill slippery electrons all over the road?
Click to expand...

The facility is primarily a NASCAR track, with a full size road course, with lots of various paved access roads/etc that allow for fun sumo layouts to be adapted as well. The track owner has banned electrics, bikes, cars, doesn't matter. The primary concern point: In the event of a lithium fire they don't have a means of quickly and reliably putting it out or a safe place to transport it to later for cool down and eventually disposal. The risk of pavement damage is too high for them. So, until they're happy with the state of crash and fire response, no electric anything will be raced or tracked at that facility. That was my 1.5hr drive option, I used to have a track literally a couple towns over but that got bought out by a guy focused on karts who alienated the sumo community with some even wilder restrictions. My 'closest' option that allows electrics now is a 6hr drive...
 
i know it is sour grapes but when the world does go electric we should boycott the tracks that banned us. when i was 11...1969 i and my friends had mini bikes with 1quart gas tanks. the three of us would fill up sometimes for a dime but always getting change for a quarter. the owner eventually told us not to come back, we weren't worth his time. years later when we all got drivers lisences we would drive our cars and pick ups in and when he asked how much say " sorry i forgot you don't want our business." and drive away.
 
B. FRANK said:
i know it is sour grapes but when the world does go electric we should boycott the tracks that banned us. when i was 11...1969 i and my friends had mini bikes with 1quart gas tanks. the three of us would fill up sometimes for a dime but always getting change for a quarter. the owner eventually told us not to come back, we weren't worth his time. years later when we all got drivers lisences we would drive our cars and pick ups in and when he asked how much say " sorry i forgot you don't want our business." and drive away.
Click to expand...
So, in the case of the local track that pushed us out, us being the sumo community in general, yeah, they're boycotted. The owner has tried to coax some of us back but got no traction.

In the case of the currently active track that says no electrics, I'm not ready to crucify them. They've got a legit concern, there has been some nasty pavement damage at other tracks from lithium batt fires, and all these tracks talk to each other so bad news spreads fast. They haven't said electrics will never be allowed, they've gated it on the availability of the track to be able to rapidly deal with incidents. Looking at MotoAmerica who DOES have electrics racing with the gassers in the Hooligans class, one of their primary sponsors is a fire suppressant company that makes product specifically for dealing with lithium battery fires. The cost is not cheap, cleanup is a mess, so not perfect but the tech is improving. Once it gets to the point that tracks are more comfortable with it and equipped, I expect electrics will be allowed to play.

E-Fire X - Lithium Battery Fire Extinguisher

The ONLY All-Natural Multi-Class Lithium Battery Fire Extinguisher. For use on all electric vehicles, bicycles, scooters and more. Keep one handy and Order yours today!
efirex.com efirex.com

I plan on having one of those extinguishers with me should I get a Varg.
 
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