Hello!...and...anything specific to look for when buying SD?

Hello all,

Looks like an excellent forum you've got here, with plenty of banter and stacks of good info.

I'm currently on the market for a SD after many years on supersport bikes such as GSXRs (5!), R1s/RGVs, Firestorm (WHY!) and the like and my fair share of Enduro, MX and Trials bikes (mostly competing) with a Supermoto thrown in for good measure!

I've got my sights on a couple wich I'll view once home from working away next week.
Is there anything SD specific that I should keep an eye out for?

Thanks in advance, absolutely busting to get one bought; cash,hole,burning, pocket!

Cheers everyone!

Nice to hear your joining the elite

I think most of us here came from a sportsbike background, i did but ive had too many back injuries to really ride sports anymore. My original intention was to have the SD as a road bike and then a dedicated trackday bike, but the SD is soooo much fun on track also i havnt bothered

There quite bomb proof TBH. check all the usual stuff youd normally check on bikes, oil, coolent, oil in water as the water pump gaskets are prone to failure on earlier bikes around the 15-20K milage mark!

Check for any fluid leaks around the clutch master cylinder area, if its engine oil it will be a £3 bearing, if its clutch fluid oil (they use hydrolic oil instead of brake fluid) then its the master cylinder seal and your looking at £100 to replace plus labour.

Leaking rear shock.

Check the straightness and any cracking in the powder coating of the the frame lugs where the fottrests bolt on, these bend in a crash. They are easily bent back but its a dead give away!

Any after market parts are a bonus as crash bungs and after market cans are an absolute must (you drop around 8KG getting rid of the stock silencers )

If it has after market cans on, ask if its been remapped by KTM to match. (not a major issue, but nice to no)

If it has clocks like the orange bike at the top of this forum then its an 05/06 bike (many were registered on 07 plates) and this should be taken into account in pricing. the later bikes have a 1 peice rev counter and speedo.

Most important let us no the bikes your considering (adverts) and we can have a look at them and tell you whats right and wrong.

We recently stopped a member blowing his ca$h on a bike on ebay that was supposedly an 2007 with full Ti exhust system. it was actually an 06 bike with standard exhaust and after market cans

Take a stroll through the technical forum and youl see the kind of issues we have.

Hope this helps for a start point mate.

Stew

Welcome mate!

+1 on what Stew said. He only made a typo. He means clutch slave cylinder not master. The master cylinder is the part at the lever. The slave is the part next to the front sprocket cover. If the slave cylinder should leak, just replace it with an Oberon one, they are better and cheaper (about 100 pounds, like Stew said).

Welcome in!

+2 to what Stew said. Good luck with the search, & post up what you find!

That's fantastic gents, cheers for the info.....it's especially good to know there is not a lot to check for over and above the usual. Glad to hear they aren't a ticking timebomb.
There's an obsolute wealth of knowledge on here which is priceless!

I'm hoping the superduke will lure me away from a lifetime on supersports bikes, and just about everyone on here seems to agree that they are the relative mutts nuts! Absolutely itching to get one now!!

I've got it narrowed down to two, I'll post a reply to this link with the details of the one I choose (over the weekend) and any further advice would be mucho appreciated.

Correct me if I'm wrong but a number of you seem to prefer the 05/06 over the facelift model??

Cool,
Thanks again gents!!!
Dave

If you're not sure that you'll like compared to the sports bikes I suggest you go test ride one to give you an idea of what it'll be like. If you do test a new one, put the low down surging/lugging (if it happens) out of your mind because it is an easy fix (if its a used model, it'll mostly have had a bit of tinkering to rectify it already).

It is just a warning because there have been a few people who cannot gel with the bike, or aren't willing to give getting used to the different type of riding than their high revving inline 4s. But as you've no doubt seen, there are a lot of ex sports riders who have been converted over so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Regards to the 05/06 over the 07+, the earlier models were a bit more raw with a sharper steering angle and a slightly different engine with a bit more advance than the newer standard ones (which were also sprung a bit softer). It depends on which you like the look of more for which one is best tbh.

Good luck in your hunting.

A fast ORANGE one for starters,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,would be nice,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hello again!

To cut a long story relatively short, I didn’t get round to buying a SD last summer due to hitting a tree on my KTM 250 EXC during an Enduro. A reasonable excuse me thinks……who needs a left hip anyway??!

So, I’m almost mended (again) and on the market for the elusive SD. Once again I’ve got the money, pocket, burn, hole symptoms so I’ve been trawling FleaBay and Biketrader for a while and got a couple of potentials lined up.

I’ll keep you informed!

P.s…..If anyone knows of a potential purchase let me know, anything considered.

Cheers!!

Bad to hear about your hip, sounds painful.

About SD's, also check:

www.gumtree.co.uk
www.ukbike.com
www.pistonheads.com
www.motorcyclenews.com

Lot of bikes you'll see on several sites but if you're lucky you'll find a hidden pearl nobody else had noticed (that's what I'm hoping for in a few months )