Hi, newbie here.. well, the 3rd incarnation of newbie.

Well, six months of the R1 means ... well i think we've all established what it means

So we went around the houses as usual with "should i get this... "..... "Hmmmm how about this instead"

Over the past 4-5 days we've moved from
"lets keep the R1"

to the RC8, a Superduke, a Husqvarna 510smr and also an Aprilia SXV550.

However common sense won in the end and i'm picking up a Superduke at the weekend... bloody long arse drive... but i think well worth it.

The Superduke brings back good memories of a day out at Cadwell with a load of TRCers, learning to wheelie with the instruction of wheeli god Couchie.. Then the dismay and laughs as the fuel light kept coming on every 70 miles.

The particualr one comes with some nice bits like the Akra exhausts, DNA air filter setup, WP damper and full crash protection all round... So i snapped it up after some discussions on prices.

I'm very much looking forward to getting it.

....welcome

Welcome back

And the best looking SD ever, if I may say that

Welcome back!
I'll have the steering damper and mounting kit when you sell!

Welcome back.

I notice it has:
No mirrors.
Standard footrests with no wear.
Nicely cooked tyres and the front suspension down near the stop.
How'd it get the tyres so nicely worn without hitting the footrests?

Is it for sale yet?

Hey bought as a bike to use for trackdays he states, used at Cadwell and didn't fully gell with it.

I was going to do a deal and trade my R1 track bike but he didn't fancy that, so i've gone down the cash route instead.

It's not for sale....

(this month)

Welcome back.

You got any "bling" from your past incarnations, or you gonna be buying it all again?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ktm-superduke ... 43b305c06d

Have a chat with this guy ^^^^, might be a bargain front end with radial calipers and stiffer forks (from 90nm forks on 05-06 to 95nm on 07>bikes)

SDR shock on ebay sounds like a good price, yeah is slightly longer which changes geomatery however there is a thread on here about a different version of the Nichols Triple clamp which a UK is knocking up which helps geomatery.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19410

Yours is the bike that Mak595 bought for a bloody bargain, thought I recognised it.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19867

And welcome again, seriously though if you come to sell give me a shout, if im in a position to purchase may take it of you

Thanks for the welcome.

I was hoping i picked it up for a bargain, what did he pay for it out of interest lol. Hmmmm i'm very confused.. that states it's a CAT D, however the one i'm getting from him according to HPI is clean as a whistle. Bemused now.

Not that it changes anything

It's arriving on friday via courier after i completed payment today.

edit : He didn't buy that one... he bought another... i understand now. I feel happy again.

FWIW, i overpaid lol. £3325 i gave him, £75 profit hahahahaa. I can live with that

Well the bike is here and it's as expected. It needs a clean, but overall it runs and works sweetly.

The paint on the tank is a bit worse than i expected, but i will address that situation with a plan. Other than that it sounds GREAT !!!! and looks like it should.

Tyres are well scrubbed from Cadwell... lol. Chain and sprocket all good, pads are good on the brakes etc.

Shock spring is probably better than i was expecting, mostly dirt and a couple of marks on the powder coat. I still may swap it out for an almost new Superduke R unit though for aesthetics.

Just need the sun to come out and my lunchbreak and i'll take it for a thrash

Sadly, the bike does have a minor issue of the starter torque limiter, which isn't uncommon on 05-07 generation Superdukes/950's and other LC8 engines.

Bit of a bummer..

Intriguing that.. saw that when reading a few threads earlier.

I took bike into Premier Bikes in didcot who have booked the bike in for a warranty replacement for me. I'm paying labour, KTM are footing the parts. This was in no small part due to the sweet talking blokes at Premier who were on the phone to KTM UK within minutes when i asked them about buying a kit to fit myself.

Well impressed with the lads there.

Well the Superduke has been out for it's debut ride. It will be difficult not to make comparisons to the R1 when doing a mini-review as it's the bike that i've ridden lately, but i'll try my best.

First thing you notice on the Superduke is the riding position... it's much more sit up than the R1 and much easier on the wrists. I know things like this shouldnt' come as a suprise as i've had 2, but in some ways you get used to a bike when owning it, so they do. The noise from the unbaffled Akras is bloody superb... very addictive that i must say.

The throttle response on the Superduke, well.... not sure what to say... it's DIFFERENT.... Jeez it's very very different. Just a small touch on it and the bike is launching forward and then massive engine braking... it's a quirk of KTM's fuel injection and one you quickly forget at times lol. Around 20-25mph the Superduke is a bit of 'character' i guess.. but that's nothing new with 1000cc twins. However unlike some of the later models, i can hold a constant 30mph throttle without any hunting and missing. So that's obviously a good thing.

Most of my 45mile ride was getting used to the bike, adjusting the levers, adjust my riding style and working out what's going on with the bike. I'm finding it quite hard to nail the throttle up to 9500, dunno why but i guess it's mechanical sympathy, once i get to 7000rpm i'm wanting to change up as the engine roars at me.

THe handling is so dissimilar to the R1's that it's just maddness, it's like riding a horse and a cow... or comparing cheese and fish fingers.. they're just very very different overall.

I think it will take a hell of a bit of getting used to this.... even more so having the track R1, which is now moving into dangerous territory, i can easily see myself riding the Superduke on track a lot.... but that's yet to be seen.

Weeksy. Do your homework mate before you throw an R shock on an 05 bike for aesthetics. If your tracking the bike I would strongly suggest you work with your standard shock. 8-10mm should bother you. It should bother you a lot.

But thanks for the review of the Superduke to a forum of Superduke owners Made my day that.

There was another post i read regarding springs.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18820&p=221819&hilit=shock#p221819

However the figures are all alien to me, so advice on which spring would mirror the standard spring would help me lots.

I could strip mine out and get it blasted and recoated, but i think some of the peeling of current coating is due to corrosion on spring so not sure if that would be a problem when coating mine if i went down that road.

I wouldn't be changing to the R shock for any other reason than the spring being prettier, so a cheaper alternative is always welcome.

The review wasn't a review for you/SD.net per se, just something i copied from my thoughts on another forum.

Weeksy, i'll send you the labour costs via paypal, like i said it never slipped for me but if it's going, it's only fair, i'm not into ripping people off

If you check out peter wileman photography for august 20/21, there's plenty of pics of me wobbling about on it





I was impressed with the sportsmarts i put on, couldn't fault em on track & last for ages. Had a set on my RC8 before i had to sell it for bloody gutters facia's etc for the house

If i was using it as a road bike it would have been a keeper but i found on the track, i was frustrated with holding my own (against some!) in the corners but getting blown away on the straights, i'm just a fat, old lazy git that wants a easy life

Only ridden 3 times on the road this year, just not all that bothered anymore

Spring wise, i found the 160 was ok for my weight (15st) and pace, i would just get it re coated but it's your bike now

Anyway enjoy & order some sunshine for the rest of the year

Just wanted to say, Seller has paid me for the labour charges top job.

I'm late to this thread - have you still got it?

Welcome back mate, that is my favourite colour and vintage of superduke.

Well that was a constructive hour lying on my back

Swingarm underside, underside of engine, exhausts, underside of battery box, batter box whipped off and all wires, connectors etc cleaned and made nice, front of engine done, bottom of yokes, etc etc all cleaned and made nice. We're getting there slowly, but it's never a quick job.

Tyre pressures were sorted... Kick myself up the arse for not addressing that earlier, only 23.5 in the rear and 25.5 in the front, now up to 38 in the back and 36 in front. *THWACK for myself for not doing that earlier.

You'd be better whacking your self again and setting them to 34/34.

34 on track will kill you.

It's not a sportsbike. Factory pressures road are 34/34. Jus sayin.....

Tyre manufacturers will just pump you out an sportsbike pressures coz they think the SD is a big trialie or somethin.

With this bike ignore all mainstream info. It's a bit special this retarded little creature.

welcome back weeksy once bitten you will always return lol

They change dep on ambient temps mate to stop it tearing tyres and I run Metzeler slicks which are a different carcass to the treaded Interacts. They have a very soft sidewall but a hard carcass, opposite of Dunlops, but that's why they slide so progressively. . But hot of proper warmers (my warmers go to 90deg C) anywhere between 26-28 rear and 30-32 front. Which is around 19r 22f cold. 2 psi is the difference between it tearing in a race or lasting two races. After 10laps they definitely drop off though.

I run wets at 25r 30f cold.

Crap, sorry forgot to say, the pressuses where for Cadwell

Once warm they are 25 rear 31 front, you can go quite low on the rear because of the Ntec construction