Built to collect checkered flags at the track, KTM recently unveiled the 2026 450 SMR, a purpose-built track weapon centered around the SOHC 450cc engine used in KTM’s “Ready to Race” line of off-road motorcycles. For those unfamiliar, a Supermoto is essentially a dirt bike with a 17-inch superbike wheelset, ridden on a racecourse that features tight sweeping corners and often a small dirt section with a jump or two. It’s basically the most fun you can have with your pants on and allows folks that own a dirt bike to spin some laps at the track for the paltry sum of an SM wheelset.
But for those that take their Supermoto seriously, nothing compares to a dedicated track tool like that of KTM’s SMR offerings. I’ve personally had the pleasure of riding a handful of Supermoto machines, including the 690 SMC R, the big brother of the 450 SMR, as well as a few less powerful machines like Suzuki’s DR-Z 400 SM and a Honda CRF250X with an SM setup. If you take the sport seriously, though, you’ll want to avoid having to swap the wheels on and off your dirt bike and instead keep a machine in your stable that’s only purpose is to enter corners sideways and exit them on one wheel.
