Suzuki makes a DRZ 400 in supermotard trim. Or did. I assume they still do. My intro to motard racing was on a 1991 Husky 610 that I got in trade for a GSXR race bike that hated me. I hated that race bike, too. We tried to kill each other on a regular basis, but neither was successful, so the motard trade was a godsend. I hadn't been on a dirt bike in 25 years, and a '90s Husqvarna 610 is an absolute beast. This one was street legal, somehow. Kick start only, no turn signals, no speedo, no side stand. No battery - just a magneto. Fast doesn't even begin to describe it. It had been built with a desert sled motor, and I assume somebody had used it for some kind of racing at some point. When I got it, the magneto stator was dying, which meant that as the bike heated up, it would slowly lose power and would eventually stop working. I didn't know this, but even so, it was a good trade for the GSXR.
Fast forward about two weeks. A friend mentioned that since I had a motard now, I should go racing. It's essentially motocross on slicks. Some is on asphalt, but a lot is on the dirt. Being an idiot, I said "sure, why not!" Having not been on a dirt bike for 25 years, and having raced sport bikes on asphalt meant that I had no idea how to deal with dirt bike riding technique, had not encountered things like modern table tops, modern whoops, or anything like that. Plus, I didn't know whether the bike was going to make gobs of power or just quit when I opened the throttle. What could possibly go wrong? I crashed a lot, to say the least, and caught a lot of grief from my friends who were appropriately merciless in pointing out how completely incompetent I was. It was an absolute blast. Unfortunately, the magneto on that bike completely quit shortly thereafter, and I haven't been able to put it back together again. That was about ten years ago. A 1991 Husqvarna is made of pure unobtanium these days. Oh, well. I don't have enough time to do it now, but it sure was fun for one day.
soon
