Supermotard - Motorcycle.com

In the late seventies to mid eighties, ABC featured something on Wide World of Sports that would quickly become their most popular show of the period. In a made-for-TV series, called Superbikers, showdowns between the top professional roadrace, dirt track and motocross heroes took place at Southern California's Carlsbad Raceway on a track made of both twisty

But as times change so do people's interests. And with the resurgence of big bore, moto-worthy thumpers and bikes like KTM's Duke -- which was built as a turn-key 'motard racer for the street -- interest in the series is enjoying quite a resurgence in various parts of the country. People are once again longing to see big thumpers backed into corners, trailing smoke, leaving black stripes, only to slide the rear end on the way out of the turn, continuing the plume of smoke, the stripe of melting rubber, all with the front wheel in the air. It's like nothing else, really.

The first question we had was, "do we get down on our knees or put our leg out moto-style?" The reply was, "whatever." Great, we were only 10 minutes into this and were already beginning to wonder just how high somebody can highside a dirtbike on pavement. Unfortunately, there's no right answer to what style works better, or so we're told. But since we were on what is basically a dirt bike and we wanted some cool photos, we thought we'd try to perfect the leg-out style. Besides, it was a long way down to the pavement with our knees; better safe than sorry, right?

Instead of you leaning into the turns, stay on top of the bike and push it down beneath you. Ever seen a motocross race? Do what they do: Outside elbow up in the air, inside arm almost straight, applying downward pressure on the inside grip. The dynamics of the chassis are well-suited to deal with this type of input. Do things correctly (it does take a little acclimation time) and you'll be slippin' and slidin' with the best of 'em pretty quickly. Just be careful when you get back on your street bike; people will look at you funny if you ride around with your elbows up and your leg sticking straight out. It's not such a good idea when lane-splitting, either.

With our very own slide master, Roland "Sideways" Sands on board the YZF, still wearing his leathers but now capped off with a motocross helmet and motocross boots, we had all the makings for a good show. The beautiful sounds emanating from the GYT-R titanium and carbon fiber muffler were offset by the screeching protest of the tires as they skidded along the hot asphalt, searching for traction in what is referred to as a "hackie." That's 'Motard-speak for letting out the clutch after a downshift (or two) without blipping the throttle. This causes the rear wheel to slide since it spins at less than road speed and, just like Aaron Yates likes to do, this helps to get the bike turned in towards the apex while still scrubbing speed. It's quite a sight to see. No wonder the popularity of this sport is on the rise again.

In today's roadracing world -- everything from a local 600 supersport race all the way up to the World Superbike ranks -- the fast guys are the riders who don't mind riding "loose" on the bike, letting it move around beneath them. Supermotard is a perfect combination of dirt bike muscle and street bike finesse that will make you a much better, more competent rider on your sport bike. Not to mention, it's a whole lot of fun.

GYT-R Parts and Accessories as found on the YZ426F: