Once you get used to riding a supermoto, every other bike will feel heavy and boring, even the blindingly fast bikes. One word you will always hear in regards to these bikes is "fun", which again, is why we're doing this. They do feel really different from "standard" motorcycles so I thought I'd give a few riding tips for anyone that is new to supermoto bikes:
-> Foot out or knee down?
In the early years of supermoto this was a common debate. It was fascinating to watch races because the field would be mixed of mx guys who would ride foot out, and road race guys who would drag knee. For the most part you'll now see almost entirely foot out in the turns style riding as it is easier to flick the bike from side to side. The general consensus is foot out in mid to slow turns, and knee out in the high speed sweepers. That said, knee down or foot out, if you're having fun you're doing it right. If you usally ride a sportbike and want to practice dragging knee that's fine.
-> Trust the front end.
If you come from sportbikes you're used to the feeling of trying to put lots of weight on your front tire, and the tire is pretty close to you so you feel pretty connected. Not so in supermoto, that front end is going to feel like it's a mile away. This can leave you feeling a bit unstrustworthy of the front tire. All I can say is get over it, until you really start pushing it that tire is going to stay stuck, learn to trust it.
-> All that wiggling is ok.
On a sportbike, if you get in a turn and your suspension is moving and your tires are sliding around, there's a very very good chance you are already crashing. As a result when you get on a sm, you can get kinda freaked out when you head into a hard turn and the bike is dancing all over place underneath you. The good news is that the long suspension is taking in all the bumps, so now the bike is moving around instead of loosing traction. A common mistake is for riders to try to firm up there suspension to feel more like there standard streetbike. Learn to like the bike moving under you, it's doing you a favor.
-> Brake hard, brake late.
Unlike streetbikes or dirtbikes, supermoto's can handle rediculously late braking. Practice braking later and later, and you'll see that most speed on the track comes from how late you can brake, corner speed, and how early you can get on the gas, not from horsepower. This advice of course refers to the track, on the street "in slow, out fast" still applies.
-> Play with your gearing.
You often hear how supermoto's don't make very practical daily riders. Well once you go up 2 teeth on your countersprocket suddently the bikes are capable of comfortably cruising at freeway speeds. Sprockets are cheap, and make a huge difference in the performance and liveablility of your supermoto.
-> Countersteer !
One AMA supermoto pro had written on his bar pad "PUSH IT DOWN YOU P*%$#". If you look at a supermoto pro mid turn they are practically sitting on the upperside of the bike, and pusing the inside bar down. You've got tons of leverage with those big bars, use it and countersteering to flick the bike from corner to corner.
-> Shifting.
On the track you can get away with upshifting without any clutch, thus preventing some serious hand crampage. Just remember to get off the gas before the upshift. As mentioned before, supermoto's brake amazingly. Unlike a sportbike at speed, sm's can brake much faster than you can bang down through the gears. So unlike you're street riding you'll do multiple shifts at the same time. Ie on the straight leading to a tight turn you might have it pinned in first. You'll then get on the brakes, bang it down three times into second, then letout the clutch as you brake into the turn.
-> Braking.
If you're coming from dirt, the bike will feel familiar. The biggest adjustment you'll need to make is shifting your braking to the front brake. You'll be using almost completely the front brake heading into turns. Then when you're in the dirt you can go back to braking just like you do with your mx bike using primarily the back brake.
-> Backing it in.
If it's one thing that new supermoto riders want to do is back it in, and don't worry you'll get plenty of practice sliding the bike into corners. The most important thing to realize is that backing it in is a side effect of speed, not a means to achieve it. Meaning as you brake later and later, while turning the bike in, you'll naturally start to drift the rear of the bike. If you're not currently backing it in, you'll start to as you learn to brake later. Lets say you're in fifth going down the straight and you have a second speed hairpin. You'll want to pull in the clutch, bang it down into second while getting hard on both brakes using primarily the front. Let out the clutch while braking, and begin to countersteer/push the bar down into the turn. You'll want to trail brake using the rear until the apex and smoothly transition back onto the gas. When you piece these things together you'll find that the rear will naturally and smoothly start sliding and you'll be backing it in like wardy (given immense talent and a lifetime of training).
source: socalsupermoto.com
