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Supermoto - Italian
Style
We recently had a chance to sample some Vertemati’s at the JenningsGP
Supermotard-USA event. Verti-what? You might say...
.
OK,
Vertemati history in brief: Alvaro and Guido Vertemati are second-generation Italian
born motorcyclists. Their father and uncle ran a repair shop and this peaked the
boys interest in motorcycles, and later, competition. Guido made a name for himself
in Grand Prix Motocross using a highly tuned Husqvarna and later Husaberg open
class bikes. Towards the end of the eighties the Vertemati brothers started producing
their own prototype motorcycles. |
| Further
development of their very own lightweight super-thumper dirt bike came through
their association with VOR. Though the brothers felt that their high specification
race bikes were being diluted by series production methods. VOR and the Vertemati
brothers soon went their own separate ways with the brothers again producing their
own bikes. Both dirt bikes and factory Supermoto’s.... |
| Most
of the Vertemati range shares the same chassis and high quality running gear.
About the only way to tell them apart is by the decals on the swingarm and the
only way to tell the street bikes from the race bikes is by the lights and exhaust. The
specs for the bikes read like a Supermotard wish list. WP suspension front and
rear with nitride coated forks, Excel rims with Talon hubs, billet triple clamps,
Renthal bars and Beringer four pot brakes squeezing 310mm rotors. That’s just
the chassis. |  |
| The
motors are all single overhead cam, four valve units available in 501, 570 and
600 cubic centimeter varieties. The 75.5mm stroke remains the same across the
range with bore size being the displacement variable. They all use a 6-speed GP
style cassette gearbox so internal gear ratio changes are a snap, if you are so
inclined. |
Enough
of the drivel, what are they like to ride?
The
first bike up for me was the S570e. The “e” stands for everyone can ride it. OK,
maybe it’s “electric” start. One thing that puts people off big cube four-strokes
is the whole kick-starting thing. If you fit into this category, this bike is
for you.
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|
Being
a street bike I wasn’t expecting much in the way of power due to the restrictive
exhaust and lower compression. Having ridden a few street legal motards and dual-purpose
bikes, I can tell you that they are usually very wheezy and have an exhaust note
reminiscent of a wet fart. But let’s get on with it.
With
the push of a button the big thumper comes to life and awaits your next command.
Rolling out on the pit exit I can’t help but think that this thing revs pretty
quick for a street bike. Wheelies are no problem and the bike pulls hard all the
way to redline, very unstreetbike-ish. |
| In
little more than one lap I was very comfortable on the bike and getting along
pretty quick (for me). Even the standard Dunlop 207 street tires were throwing
a good bit of roost in the dirt section. The bike never felt wobbly or gave me
the impression I was tying the suspension up in knots. It just kept enticing me
to go faster and faster. |
| I only have two complaints about the 570. One is that they wouldn’t give me one.
The other was that the carburetion was a little too lean at small throttle openings
making it surge when trying to keep rear wheel spin under control. Nothing that
a little carb adjustment wouldn’t fix but we didn’t take the time to fettle the
carb, there was riding to be done. |
|
|
Next
out was the SR600 Factory Replica. This is a full out factory racer, not a sticker
kit.. No wussy boy electric start or unnecessary lighting. After some thorough
training on how to operate the forward rotating kick-starter replete with push,
turn, pull latch mechanism, I was ready to boot the beast to life. In
a racing induced display of manliness I started the bike on the first kick… only
to stall it and get laughed at trying to turn it around. The bark from the stock
Akrapovic exhaust lets you and everyone in your zip code know that this is no
street bike. |
| If
the S570 was a GSX-R750 then the SR600 would be the GSX-R1000. The same bike,
but with gobs more power. Twisting the throttle on brings instant torque and big
smiles. It’s one of those deals where you want to slow down just to feel it accelerate
again, and again. There’s almost (I said almost) too much power, you really have
to exercise throttle control to keep the bike pointed in the right direction when
traction is less than ideal. |
The
frame on the 600 is a little different than the other bikes. The headstock sits
farther forward and at a steeper rake than the other bikes. I’m sure that at Gerald
Delepine’s (Who? Ed) pace the handling differences are more noticeable but at
my pedestrian speeds it didn’t seem to matter much.
Like
on the S570 I was quickly up to speed and the bike just had that “right” feel
to it. Unfortunately the Vert’s were so good that they made my poor KX feel like
a piece of crap. |
 |
|
The
600 also suffered from the same off idle leanness of the 570. Only with the 600
when the power came on - it came on hard. I have no idea why the race bike would
have the same carburetion issues as the street bike - but hey, it’s easy enough
to fix.
Sometimes
with exotic Italian machinery there are quirks that have to be dealt with like
too harsh suspension, parts falling off and poor carburetion. These Vertemati’s
only have the carb gene from their Italian lineage. Other that that, they could
have easily been confused for mass-produced Japanese machines.
Will
these bikes stand up to weekend after weekend of abuse with only oil changes and
minor maintenance? Only time will tell. But people don’t usually buy Italian machinery
based on it being maintenance free.
DaveW |
|
Second
Opinion – Mike Emery |
|
Being
a sucker for both Italiano machines and Supermoto, I knew I was going to get along
famously with these three motorcycles.
The
basic track layout was pretty much all of the glorious JenningsGP track with a
tough and sandy off-road section thrown in for our Supermotard pleasure. My first
ride (the 500) had me chasing Dave-dub on the S570. The bike was a little stiffly
set-up for me, but felt very planted at speed. Both Dave and I swapped places
a couple of times and I felt pretty confident sliding both on and off road.
|
|
Whilst
riding the 570 (my personal favorite) I couldn’t help notice the similarities
between this and my own XR650. The power produced by the ‘leccy start 570 was
reminiscent of my XR with all the torque and handling I could have wished for.
The similarities to my previous mount were impressive, especially as I’d put a
whole year’s worth of racing at this track on my tried and tested XR.
The
570 stopped, started and did all the right things from my input - The fact that
this thing had that magic push button was the icing on the Vertemati cake too. |
| The
big 600 was an impressive mount – with the words “this is the only 600 Vert’ in
the US” ringing in my ears, I set about the track. Again the bike felt a tad stiff,
but the power – Oh the power. This thing had serious beans and a potential open
class race winner. The thing was a little hard through the dirt section, due,
I’m sure, to a lighter flywheel. I always had to be quick on the clutch to avoid
the inevitable stall. Restarting was kind of funky with its “push-forward” starting
procedure, but it never failed to start with one or two prods. I’m pretty sure
that a little time spent on set up I could learn to love this stereotypical Italian
stallion. |
|
|
My
vote? The 570. It had all the looks, beans and handling. And for this lazy boy,
that electric start. Supermoto heaven…
Mike Emery
For
more info on the full Vertemati line you can contact VSM
Racing at 704-400-0147
|
| 2003
Vertemati SR600 Factory Replica Racing |
| Engine
Type |
600cc
Single cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled |
| Bore
and Stroke |
100mm
x 75.5mm |
| Compression
Ratio |
14.2:1 |
| Carburetion
/ Ignition |
Dell'Orto
PHM 38 ZS1 / ELECTRONIC DIGITAL SEM |
| Starting
System |
kick
start with automatic pressure release |
| Transmission |
Close-ratio
six-speed, removable cassette |
| Front
Suspension |
UPSIDE
DOWN WP fork, Nitride legs, MXMA Multi adjust, 48mm dia, 260 mm wheel travel |
| Rear
Suspension |
WP
SUSPENSION PDS shock-absorber 290 mm wheel travel |
| Front
Brakes |
Beringer
four piston caliper, floating 310 mm disc |
| Rear
Brake |
Brembo
single piston floating caliper, 220 mm disc |
| Rear
/ Front Tire |
17"x5.00",
tire size Dunlop 165/55R17 slick / 17"x3.50", tire size Dunlop 120/60R17" slick |
| Wheelbase |
1450
mm |
| Seat
Height |
900
mm |
| Wet
Weight |
108Kg |
| Price |
$12,995 |
| 2003
Vertemati S 570 Electric Start: |
| Engine
Type |
570cc
Single cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled |
| Bore
and Stroke |
98mm
x 75.5mm |
| Compression
Ratio |
13.2:1 |
| Carburetion
/ Ignition |
Dell'Orto
PHM 38 ZS1 / ELECTRONIC DIGITAL SEM |
| Starting
System |
Electric
start with automatic pressure release |
| Transmission |
Close-ratio
six-speed, removable cassette |
| Front
Suspension |
UPSIDE
DOWN WP fork, Nitride legs, MXMA Multi adjust, 48mm dia, 260 mm wheel travel |
| Rear
Suspension |
WP
SUSPENSION PDS shock-absorber 290 mm wheel travel |
| Front
Brakes |
Beringer
four piston caliper, floating 310 mm disc |
| Rear
Brake |
Brembo
single piston floating caliper, 220 mm disc |
| Rear
/ Front Tire |
17"x5.00",
tire size Dunlop 207 160/60R17 slick / 17"x3.50", tire size Dunlop 207 120/60R17" |
| Wheelbase |
1450
mm |
| Seat
Height |
900
mm |
| Wet
Weight |
118Kg |
| Price |
$ 9,899 |
| 2003
Vertemati S 501 Kick Start: |
| Engine
Type |
500cc
Single cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled |
| Bore
and Stroke |
92mm
x 75.5mm |
| Compression
Ratio |
13.2:1 |
| Carburetion
/ Ignition |
Dell'Orto
PHM 38 ZS1 / ELECTRONIC DIGITAL SEM |
| Starting
System |
kick
start with automatic pressure release |
| Transmission |
Close-ratio
six-speed, removable cassette |
| Front
Suspension |
UPSIDE
DOWN WP fork, Nitride legs, MXMA Multi adjust, 48mm dia, 260 mm wheel travel |
| Rear
Suspension |
WP
SUSPENSION PDS shock-absorber 290 mm wheel travel |
| Front
Brakes |
Beringer
four piston caliper, floating 310 mm disc |
| Rear
Brake |
Brembo
single piston floating caliper, 220 mm disc |
| Rear
/ Front Tire |
17"x5.00",
tire size Dunlop 208 160/60R17 / 17"x3.50", tire size Dunlop 208 120/60R17" |
| Wheelbase |
1450
mm |
| Seat
Height |
900
mm |
| Wet
Weight |
108Kg |
| Price |
$8,999 |
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