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There’s a reliable recipe for turning a dirt bike into a supermoto.
The ingredients include 17-inch wheels, road-worthy rubber, bigger brakes, and retuned suspension. Stark Future adhered to those instructions when cooking up its very first supermoto, the VARG SM.
Taking it to the streets
Spanish electric startup Stark Future has taken the motocross and enduro world by storm with its VARG MX and VARG EX, respectively. After dominating in the dirt, the next logical step was to seek out similar success on the streets. What better way to do that than a road-legal SM?
Leveraging its existing MX/EX platform, Stark built its all-electric SM by making key component substitutions. First and foremost, the dirt-oriented 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels make way for a 17-inch wheelset. The SM’s hoops not only sport spokes — for dirt-section detours and trails expeditions — but also accept tubeless tires.
Similar to the MX 1.2, Stark’s supermoto benefits from a fully adjustable 48 mm KYB fork, but it features supermoto-specific settings and slightly less travel (11.4 inches versus 12.2 inches). To deliver “greater steering precision and front-end feel,” Stark also developed a model-specific triple clamp, which yields 16 mm of offset and 205 mm between the fork tubes.
In the braking department, a radially mounted four-piston Brembo Stylema caliper bites a 320 mm wave rotor up front, a clear upgrade over the two-piston binder and 260 mm disc found on the MX and EX. Feeding that new setup is a Brembo 18/21 radial master cylinder.
When equipped with its homologation kit (also sold in Race Spec), the SM brings Stark’s winning formula to the street. The real question is: will that be enough to meet the needs of road riders?
Here for a good time, not a long time
Aside from its chassis revisions, the SM shares much with its off-roading relatives. That includes its 7.2 kWh battery and 360V electric PMAC motor. The combination may produce up to 80 horsepower and 637 foot-pounds of torque (in Alpha trim), but it only achieves 81 kilometers of what Stark calls “real-world range.” For those who only speak in Imperial measurements, that’s 50.3 miles. Such distances may work on motocross circuits or nearby trails, but it’s extremely restricting on the road.
To quell any range anxieties, Stark notes that its 3.3 kW portable charger replenishes the SM’s battery in under two hours. The firm also states that the portable unit is “light enough to fit in a backpack,” but fails to list the device’s actual weight. Given the model’s range limitations, the charger might be a necessity rather than a luxury.
Sure, the VARG SM may boast a race-ready chassis, 80 horsepower, and an Android-based Arkenstone electronics suite, but if you plan to venture even moderate distances from home, this supermoto probably isn’t for you. Starting at $12,900 (Standard variant), Stark’s all-electric SM will face competition from KTM’s 690 SMC-R and Ducati’s Hypermotard 698 Mono. Whether or not the VARG SM appeals to anyone beyond a handful of kart track riders and adrenaline-addicted city commuters remains to be seen.
Stark Future has been batting a thousand up to this point, but the VARG SM could very well be its first swing and miss. By producing road-biased bikes, Stark opens itself to the same criticisms so often aimed at LiveWire, Can-Am, and Zero. Only time will tell if the brand can expand into new territories while maintaining its status as the darling of the electric segment.
| 2026 Stark VARG SM | |
|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $12,900 (Standard), $13,900 (Alpha) |
| Drivetrain | 360V electric PMAC |
| Claimed horsepower | 60 (Standard)/80 (Alpha) |
| Frame | Tubular steel |
| Claimed range | 81 km (50.3 miles) |
| Claimed battery capacity | 7.2 kWh |
| Claimed charge time | 2 hours @ Level 2 |
| Front suspension | KYB 48 mm fork, adjustable for spring preload, compression, and rebound damping; 11.4 inches of travel |
| Rear suspension | KYB shock, adjustable for spring preload, compression, and rebound damping; 11.9 inches of travel |
| Front brake | Single Brembo Stylema four-piston caliper, 320 mm disc without ABS |
| Rear brake | Brembo single-piston caliper, 220 mm disc without ABS |
| Rake | 26.1 degrees |
| Wheelbase | 57.9 inches |
| Seat height | 36.8 inches |
| Tires | Multiple options, 120/70-17 front, 140/70-17 rear |
| Claimed weight | 274.5 pounds (Race Spec) |
| Available | Now |
| Warranty | 24 months |
| More info | starkfuture.com |
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