TM ready to roll with new Supermotard

Italian manufacturer TM has revealed a new 400cc four-stroke supermoto with a cast single-sided swingarm and a rim-mounted front brake disc.

The TM400 Supermotard’s swingarm is similar to that on Ducati’s 998 and 748 models but was made specially for TM as a showpiece.

The front rim-mounted disc has been designed by Italian firm Braking and uses a four-pot caliper. They offer the advantage of better cooling than traditional discs because there is more time for the disc to rotate before it passes through the caliper again. It also allows the use of a lighter wheel because the braking forces are transmitted through the rim rather than the centre of the wheel.

TM took advantage of this by asking specialist wheel-maker Marvic to produce magnesium alloy five spokes for the 400 to lower weight.

The model, built specially for the Milan Show, will go into production if the parts are proved to be effective in testing.