One of the highlights for any kid viewing the original Batman series was the great vehicles Adam West (Batman) and Burt Ward (Robin) had at their disposal. The Batmobile, Batboat, Batcopter and Batcycle were all interesting creations. While that original Batmobile will always remain a very cool car the original 1959 Harley and 1966 Yamaha Catalina sourced Batcycles are certainly a long way from cool in this day and age.
Why are we talking about Batman on a motorcycle site you ask? And fair question!
It was spending some quality time with KTM’s 950 Supermoto that brought the subject to hand. Its svelte black lines and large orange lettered KTM signage on its flanks had me thinking this would make one hell of a cool 21st century Batcycle! Replace the KTM lettering with the famous Batman symbol and I could imagine our beloved caped crusader riding this hooligan machine on one wheel chasing down the Joker, Penguin and Riddler to deliver some trademark ‘Biff’, ‘Pow’ and ‘Thwacks’ as captioned in the original series. While riding the KTM 950 SM I never once pretended I was in Batman themed leathers while hunting the bad guys. Honest!
Anyway, to the Batcycle!
I hadn’t expected too much from KTM’s big Supermoto machine. The Austrian company’s first large capacity road going motorcycles had woeful tank ranges. And those tiny tank ranges actually came as quite a relief as they gave you a chance to rest your buttocks between stints! So with the Supermoto hinting at being a slimmed down even more aggressive variant, I had reserved myself to the fact that I was in for lots of service station visits and bruised buttocks during my time with the SM.
Instead the SM proved the most comfortable and frugal KTM machine I have ever ridden!
I once had the fuel light on an early KTM Superduke glowing a warning in 85km, and after covering a similar route at a similar pace on the 950 Supermoto I had used less than half a tank! And after a simple run across the dams from Serpentine through to Mundaring on the original 950 Adventure I had taken to standing on the pegs such was the punishment its hard seat delivered to my butt. On the 950 Supermoto I covered 650km in a day and was none the worse for wear! So while I expected the Supermoto to be even less practical than its forebears, it actually proved to be by far the most practical, comfortable and downright enjoyable roadbike KTM has yet produced! Don’t worry, there is still a fairly wild side there for the asking but as far as day to day manners go the 950 SM is a ripper of a bike. Maybe the Austrians are actually getting the hang of this roadbike making lark.
On bumpy, tight and challenging back roads the 950 Supermoto proved the ultimate weapon. My favourite run from Balingup through to Nannup is a tortuous test of any machine and the KTM was such a weapon that it provoked whoops of delight escaping the lid of my Shoei. The big, wide motocross style bars made levering the 191kg machine in the tight turns a joy. However the bend of the motocross bars did bring on a little arm pump when the red mist descended which was quite surprising. The bars are adjustable though, and I am sure on a different setting in the clamps that trait could be tuned out easily enough.
The radial mounted four-piston Brembos proved to be absolutely superb. One finger on the lever is all it takes to bury the front tyre into the tarmac and threaten to pitch the rider over the bars. Once the brain is tuned to their ferocity those stoppers prove to be nothing short of amazing. Surprisingly though for a Supermoto styled machine, the rear brake is quite weak and wooden in its feel, a trait that seems to be par for the course for rear Brembos.
A comfortable and perfectly padded seat, a 300km touring range and the availability of an excellent range of touring accessories makes the 950 SM ready for the city or the country. The only black mark against the machine in a touring role is a lack of wind protection, but the KTM is certainly no worse in that respect than any other naked bike, and it’s a lot better than many.
The only criticism that can be levelled at the machine in a day to day commuting role is that in carburetted form the 950 SM can be a fickle beast in the mornings. Inner city riding could also perhaps benefit from a few more teeth on the back sprocket to make for slightly more pleasant getaways from the lights. Sixth gear is tall enough to easily cope with shorter final drive gearing.
Once warmed up and ready for action though the 950 SM fuels beautifully and is responsive at all rpm. It had been quite some time since I had ridden a CV carburettor equipped big bore roadie and it reminded me that fuel injection is not always the be all and end all. The direct connection between throttle tube and carburettor without the intervention of any electronics was quite a revelation and in some ways actually added to the riding pleasure. If a well tuned automatic fast idle system was fitted in place of the manual choke lever on the left bar, the induction system would be just about perfect.
With the comfortable riding position and decent tank range, it had me wondering how well the KTM would fare over a more serious big kilometre day. I had already done a 600km day but wanted to see how the 950 SM fared in the real long haul. A few weeks later KTM got in touch with me about a special deal they were going to offer with the 950 Supermoto. To clear stock of 2007 build bikes they were going to throw in a swag of touring accessories. What a perfect chance to put that big kilometre musing to the test while running the microscope over the accessories…
So kitted up with all the fruit I set out around 2pm on a Friday afternoon from Warnbro to meet some good friends at Williams before continuing down to Denmark for the night.
I followed one of my favourite routes to Williams which of course avoids highways at all costs. From Pinjarra the 950 Supermoto took me up the enjoyable 27km run to Dwellingup. Climbing the scarp was a lot more enjoyable on the KTM than when I did the same trip on a bicycle last year in the annual ‘Race the Train’ event that’s for sure!
From Dwellingup I continued along the Pinjarra-Williams Rd before turning right on the tight and undulating Lower Hotham Rd, at the end of which I turned left for the run through to Williams.
I squeezed 11 litres into the 18 litre tank of the 950 SM after that 170km stint to Williams.
From Williams we headed 40km down the Albany Highway before turning right onto the Boyup Brook / Arthur River Rd. Some 100kms later saw us in Boyup Brook and from there it was onto Bridgetown and along the South Western Highway to Manjimup. This made for a 200km stint over which the 950 SM slurped 13 litres of BP Ultimate.
From Manjimup through to Denmark we took the very pleasant route along the South Western Highway meandering through the Karri Forests of Shannon and Mount Frankland National Parks to Walpole.
From Walpole it was another nice run through to Denmark along the South Coast Highway making it a 188km trip from Manjimup, along which the Supermoto drank 12 litres of juice.
At Denmark, a lovely fillet of Barramundi was washed down with a few too many red wines to put a nice end to a 600km afternoon.
Up bright and early with a somewhat weary head from too much red, it was a brisk 235km run in the rain through to Jerramungup. 16 litres and a meat pie served from a service station attendant that should clearly not be in customer service, helped fuel both myself and the KTM.
Another 110km of dodging kangaroos and eight litres later saw us in Ravensthorpe cleaning off the remains of some kamikaze birds before continuing the 200km leg through to Esperance.
After a bite to eat and some scenic stops around Esperance I left my riding partners and headed back through to Ravensthorpe where this time around 14 litres of fuel had been required for the 220km leg that included some sightseeing and photo stops.
Just out of Ravensthorpe I headed north towards Lake King and onto Newdegate, Lake Grace and Dumbleyung where unbelievably a wheatbelt Triathlon was being held miles from any ocean! They make do in the country though and the swim leg was to be completed in the local pool… Dumbleyung also brought back memories of some infamous Black Duck Rally adventures high on the hill above Lake Dumbleyung before green concerns put an end to what was perhaps Western Australia’s last great bike rally.
That conservative ride through to Dumbleyung, with plenty of photo stops along the way, saw the KTM return a 270km range with two litres still remaining in the Supermoto’s 18 litre tank.
Another 270km saw me arrive home on a balmy Saturday evening. The fridge was raided to cleanse my windpipe before jumping in the pool to do the same to my outsides after leaving home some 30 hours, 2000km and 120 litres of fuel earlier. During which the 950 SM proved itself to be an awesome mount for such a journey.
To the Batcycle!
By, Trevor Hedge
Again, don’t let the model name fool you. The 950 Supermoto is by far the best all round roadbike to ever come out of the KTM factory. It is clearly better in almost every way than the early Superduke and Adventure models. The only real mistake the factory made this time around was calling it a Supermoto.
My only gripe concerning the machine itself really comes from failing to arrive at the perfect rear suspension set-up during my time with the 950 SM. There is plenty of adjustment to be had and I am sure it would only take some fettling to correct the way the machine tended to weave the front exiting faster bends. More preload and some careful tuning of the compression and rebound settings on the shock should be able to dial that trait out. That aforementioned cold morning start routine would also make the day to day commute a little tiresome but once warmed up the KTM is an urban warrior par excellence.
At $18,495 plus on roads the 950 SM is certainly not a cheap bike, but KTM are currently throwing in $1656 of travel accessories to help sweeten the deal. The 37 litre top case with pillion backrest is great and the side mounted throw-over bags are simply brilliant. In fact they are the best soft luggage I have used to date. A tank-bag is also thrown in to complete the luggage package that really turns the 950 Supermoto from urban warrior to excellent open road tourer. This sees the 950 SM kitted up and ready for anything, and makes the 950 SM one of the most versatile machines on the market and another one to add to my post lotto win wish list. Click Here for a gallery of images from our 2000km in 30 hours on the 950 SM road trip to Esperance via the back roads.
