Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Bike #6, one more to go

I'd said that I would limit my collection to seven motorcycles(one for every day of the week, as I had done with VWs (mostly Karmann builds) before I would sell any off(replacing them, keeping the head count at seven).....so I found this Derbi SM50 Extreme
...kinda a rare/sought-after euro Super Motard because they originally can be licensed as "mopeds" for younger riders...where most of my bikes are the more 'iconic' popular bikes, but this is only in the 'style' of a more typical Motard/SuperX bike...this does fill a niche in the lineup, it being a very light weight(maybe only 200lbs at most) run-about for quick short trips.....with its small 2stroke kick start motor, it's alittle screamer as it runs thru it's close ratio 6 speed up to 50 or so mph top speed...tho smallish, it's still a full size motorcycle with 17" wheels for good street rubber....nice quality with braided steel brake lines, great disc-brakes front and rear, and aluminum frame and wheels

I'll polish it up alittle, fix the lights, and see if cleaning all the oil out of the expansion pipe plus repacking the silencer helps quiet it down alittle....as the high pitched wail of this thing is incredible, with the useable powerband only in the 9,000~13,000 rpm range to keep it moving in a "all or nothing" sort of manor...which when it is going, it's a brisk thrill ride, seemingly bagging to be ridden as hard and fast as possible, only happy at full throttle snapping thru the gears like mad, not putting along at any steady cruising rate