The Single Life - Thumpers

My motorcycle life began at age 10 with a 1981 Honda XR80. From then on up to my mid 20's I continuously owned and rode to death a wide array of off-road and dual sport single cylinder bikes.

By now I'm sure everyone here knows I really enjoy riding my LS650 Thumper. Despite the fact it is a beginner class bike I find the sheer crudity of it's design very endearing and an absolute hoot on twisty backroads. A stage 2 cam and big bore kit does wonders for waking this bike up too and some better shocks and tires really let it carve up pavement.

Any other thumper fans in here? Anybody else still riding around on primitive vibey highly fuel efficient old tech bikes of this class?

Let's have a look at the currently available options for thumpers.

Royal Enfield, Continental GT


honda CBR300R


Suzuki Boulevard S40 (Savage, LS650)


Yamaha SR400


Husqvarna VITPILEN 701


Genuine Motorcycles G400C


KTM Duke 390


Suzuki TU250X


Honda Grom


Yamaha TW200


SUZUKI VANVAN 200


Derbi Mulhacen 659


And add to this the potentially dozens of dual sport and motocross/trail bikes available and you'll find there's a good deal of choice and character in the thumper ecosystem.

Hell yeah! You've brought up my favorite class of motorcycles. I'm on DR650 #2, have over 100K miles between the two them. Light, maneuverable, easy to service and with the DR, tons of aftermarket stuff since it's been in production almost unchanged since 1996. There's something to be said for simplicity.

KTM 690 enduro and smc-r. Looking at that smc-r with yearning and desire.

pacaver said:

Hell yeah! You've brought up my favorite class of motorcycles. I'm on DR650 #2, have over 100K miles between the two them. Light, maneuverable, easy to service and with the DR, tons of aftermarket stuff since it's been in production almost unchanged since 1996. There's something to be said for simplicity.

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Now that's a heck of alot of miles - Wow! The Dr650 is a sweet ride. I read somewhere that back in the 90's the LS650 and the DR650 shared the same engine. Maybe that change in 96 you mention?

I've come close to snatching up used DR650's a couple times already. Very tempting....

appliance821 said:

KTM 690 enduro and smc-r. Looking at that smc-r with yearning and desire.

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Dang, this bike means business!


Traction control, with Street and Offroad modes, is standard.
The six-speed gearbox has a quickshifter, as well as a hydraulically actuated slipper clutch.
The new chassis keeps the seat height below 36 inches.
Cornering ABS comes to the 2019 KTM 690 Enduro R
There’s also a dual ignition system with individual timing for each spark.
322 pounds!!!!
Holy crapola!

Certainly has to be the most technologically advanced thumper out there. But no cup holders, heck with it! $12K bikes should come with those....

You forgot my favorite Thumper. Wanda, my CRF250l that I rode solo around the world last summer. Best bike ever!

MartyGarrison said:

You forgot my favorite Thumper. Wanda, my CRF250l that I rode solo around the world last summer. Best bike ever!

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Marty's the man! I bet you did the whole trip on a single tank of gas too

I finally made up my mind for a trail bike. I'm going to get a KLX250S
https://www.kawasaki.com/Products/2019-KLX250

From doing my homework and talking to people in the areas I want to ride trails in this bike has an excellent reputation. Needs better handlebars and pegs right off the bat but at least it's got the adjustable suspension right out of the box. Still looking to see if the big bore kits work with the new EFI - the web is very confusing on this topic...

Savage/S40/LS650 Reviews

For anyone unfamiliar with the LS650 here's some reviews and info I find useful.

This fella bought the bike for his sister, rode it, then decided to keep it for himself
His assessment of the bikes power is accurate for a stock motor. I agree with him it's under appreciated.
https://youtu.be/prvOLe13bj0

Mute the crappy sound on this. Just a good example of the kind of riding and roads this bike is happiest with.

https://youtu.be/fmUvF3wTXvA

This guy has a good point about the suspension on the S40. Progressive shocks help this dramatically! Ryca Motors has progressive fork springs for it too.
I agree with him about it being a really good bike, even for 6' tall people. Easy to mod. Torquey, light and nimble. Big bore and cam adds what feels like 50% more torque. So much that you can ride local roads all day long in 3rd without any shifting and have passing power left when doing 80 on the highway. The stocker doesn't have that.
Also what he says about smaller v-twins compared to this bike is true too. My old lady's V-Star 650 does not have anything like the stump pulling grunt as the LS650.
https://youtu.be/ccNiOigHJ_Q

Here's what the bike sounds like with the dyna muffler in place of the OEM 6 ton bazooka.
https://youtu.be/JK_-ydEDl0g
My favorite is coasting down a highway offramp from freeway speed with this muffler....

This guy isn't out to beat any records but it's a nice video to see form the riders POV.
https://youtu.be/J1kg2FFHnmE

Finally, Ryca Motors has a handful of neat conversions for this bike if you like trackers, bobbers, cafe racers etc.

As cheap as these things are used I think everybody should get one. One ride and your hooked. Invest in some good tires and shocks and go burn up the backroads.
Bump up the main jet if you want a hit of punch at the 3/4 throttle position.

Ryca are clever people.

philthymike said:

Marty's the man! I bet you did the whole trip on a single tank of gas too

I finally made up my mind for a trail bike. I'm going to get a KLX250S
https://www.kawasaki.com/Products/2019-KLX250

From doing my homework and talking to people in the areas I want to ride trails in this bike has an excellent reputation. Needs better handlebars and pegs right off the bat but at least it's got the adjustable suspension right out of the box. Still looking to see if the big bore kits work with the new EFI - the web is very confusing on this topic...

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I had two tanks, the Camel rear on feeding the primary IMS. It gave me some 300 miles of range which I needed in Far East Siberia.

MartyGarrison said:

I had two tanks, the Camel rear on feeding the primary IMS. It gave me some 300 miles of range which I needed in Far East Siberia.

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In the old days, people only went to Siberia if "requested". LOL

In the old days most Siberian tourists never returned. The land of the permanent vacation!

A Gilera NordWest 600 is my current favourite single: I bet the rest of you never heard of it! A recent article in Classic Bike (UK) has been very appreciative of what is the very first motard, made in 1993.

Nick, UK

My New 600 single CCM FT6 stage one remap, 140kg, 63hp

That CCM is pretty! Very nice bike indeed. And that's good horsepower from a single too.

CCM? I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I lusted after this CCM however with no dealer network it was just not a practical bike. They don't make the 450 Adventure any longer as I guess the engine wouldn't pass euro4 emissions.

MartyGarrison said:

I lusted after this CCM however with no dealer network it was just not a practical bike. They don't make the 450 Adventure any longer as I guess the engine wouldn't pass euro4 emissions.

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They are looking at putting the new 600 husky engine in a new adventure bike,
I was at the factory last week, dropping the the new FT6 off for its 1st service and sort the rear suspension out, or lack of it!!

nickwst4 said:

CCM? I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

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Yep not everyones cup of tea i agree, though I personally love the styling on the FT6, they are all hand built works of art. no euro 4 crap on them, no catalytic converters no ABS, just motorbikes.

The spitfire range has been a huge success for CCM, with the original spitfire range of 150 ltd bikes being sold in a couple of days, then the scrambler version of just 250 bikes being sold in two months. All the FT6 and cafe racers are sold out. At the moment CCM are a victim of their own success, they cannot build and get the bikes out to customers quick enough, its proving to be a big problem for them with regards to customers waiting over 12 months.
I personally had to wait for 15months for mine and only got it because i put in writing that i was going to cancel

nickwst4 said:

CCM? I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

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CCM SPITFIRE SIX
306.443 lbs
Power / weight ratio 0.41 HP / kg

I call that beauty