Supermotos Vs Wheelies

Remember when supermotos were going to be the next big thing? You know the bastard lovechild of on and off-road fun was all set to sweep the nation, just as it had done in France years ago, where seriously mental two-stroke crossers had slicks stuck on them to turn these vicious off-roaders into, well, vicious on-roaders.

Well, it never really happened over here, and despite interest in the X-Games and established races such as Mettet, a decent domestic race series and our very own world championship challenger, the bikes that were drip-fed into the market failed to spark our imagination. From Husabergs to Husqvarnas, CCMs to KTMs, the single cylinder four strokes that were the vanguard of the revolution, remained interesting for about five minutes. Any hint of a straight saw them chug down it with the enthusiasm of a queue at an obesity clinic, the trick machines often had to be rebuilt more often than Lego at a nursery and when it came to cornering, we soon realized that we couldn't apply our teamed skills to this brand new craze. Emulating the likes of Stephan Chambon and Thierry van den Bosch proved not quite as easy as it seemed. Backing in, leg out, leg in, spinning up, shaking it all about; we didn't really know what to do, so the retreat to what we knew was as likely as it was swift.

So supermoto remained a niche, until manufacturers realised that they could take all the things that people aspired to with supermoto machinery the aggression, the wheelies, the style! And marry them up with more real world desires like speed, comfort and reliability. Extreme naked is probably a better description of the new crop of supermotos, as their inherent weight and size set them apart from machines true to the class.

KTM, with a long legacy in the sport, was the first to take mainstream sensibilities and apply them to a radical package. Having reached the limits of market saturation with its single cylinder machines, the 950SM was unveiled at the end of 2004 and combined the essential look of the smaller KTM "motardswith a dirty big V-twin motor and nigh-on 100bhp. The 990SM is an evolution of this successful concept and carries with it KTM's fine reputation for extreme machinery that is one stop short of the asylum.

Aprilia is another manufacturer with strong links to the sport of supermoto. With a pair of banshee four-stroke Ithe SXV series as its credentials in the market, the Italian firm, like KTM, hopes to promote the Dorsoduro as an everyday supermoto; four stroke fun, with none of the compromises of the generation before. But with the Dorsoduro borrowing much of from the Shiver naked machine, it threatens to be a sheep in a wolf's clothing. Named after a district of Venice, the bike could meet a watery end against such strong rivals. Certainly, its 750cc motor will have its work cut out against the big boys, but if we've learned anything about Aprilia over the years its not to write it off.

BMW is probably the last firm in the world you'd expect to be building a radical, balls-out supermoto machine it's like Mercedes Benz making a dune buggy, but we've been slowly learning to expect the unexpected from the rejuvenated German firm. The HP (high performance) range is testament to what its designers and engineers can come up with, given a day off from their day jobs of building excellent, if a little lackluster, two-wheeled fare. And if the HP2 Megamoto can't change decades-old opinions of the firm, then nothing will. A radical weight toss and enthusiastic use of a tweaked Boxer engine means that, for once, a BMW will be judged on its errant dynamism rather than its inherent practicalities.

Ducati doesn't do off road. Bui it does embrace money and market trends, so with its rivals spotting a gap in this new class, the Bolognan firm was quick to respond, charging the 999s designer, Pierre Terblance, with the Hypermotard's creation. And after the mauling the South African designer faced for his superbike project, the fillip of lavish praise for the mortared has injected huge enthusiasm back into Ducati. Stunning looks aside, Ducati sticks to tried and tested technologies; so a steel trellis frame, air-cooled motor and saucy suspension all combine to add solid substance to the sexy exterior.