The Supermoto Is Dead

My first hint was the absence of the WR250X at the Yamaha booth. One of the Yamaha dealers manning that outpost complained that Yamaha had dumped the "only 250 that I can sell." The WR250R and the XT250 remain in the 2012 lineup, but the WRX is gone. Those two bikes look exactly like they have for the last three years. Supposedly, Honda still has some of the 2009 CRF230M supermotos left to sell, but that model has been gone from their US line for 3 years. Suzuki never offered anything in the supermoto line. Kawasaki offered the KLX 250SF SuperMoto in 2009 and 2010, but still had those models in the warehouse all last year, so it is a dead model in the 2012 lineup.

So, the only supermoto options available in the US are from BETA, Husaberg, Husqvarna, or KTM. None of those options are bad, but none of those companies is a good bet for long-term parts availability. I guess the good news is, I got mine. The bad news is that the coolest little bikes ever didn't make it in the US. I hate to say goodbye, but . . . goodbye to a good idea. You guys don't know what you missed.

An upside is that one of the coaches I teach with said the WRX's are impossible to find now; used or new. Dealers scrapped them out of their inventories last summer and the folks who have them, love them and plan on keeping them. It could be this bike will end up like great mis-marketed bikes such as the Transalp, Pacific Coast, Honda Hawk GT, Yamaha 550XTZ Vision, and the host of great motorcycles nobody wanted in their own time but are now highly sought after by people who figured it out too late.