I've got a question for all of you 610 owners out there. Right now in the Southeast, SM models seem to be easier to find than the TE's. I also like the seat height of the SM model - it feels good to be able to put your feet down! What would be the outcome of lacing a 19" rim on the front of a SM and switching to more dirt oriented tires? Could you create a lower but capable dirt bike or would the bike's geometry be fouled up? I'd really appreciate your feedback on this. Thanks everyone - great site!
Sounds like A good plan, lots of good big enduro bike tires avalable in those sizes (D.O.T. legal) and I'm sure you can maintain nutral stering feel with A slight ajustment of the F.F. in the tripple clamps or some sag ajustment via shock spring tention. Good luck.
Hey Strada Do you mind the less forgiving (road spec…) suspension of the SM? How about the bigger front brake? Other then that and depending on where you’re going to ride, you could always do like Woodschick and just put a back knobby tire on the front 17" rim It seemed to work just fine for her
Hi, The SM front brake caliper runs close to the spokes with the std 17" rim so you may not be able to fit a 19 without changing the caliper to something smaller. And as mentioned the SM has street orientated firmer suspension which might not be ideal depending on what kind of terrain you are riding on. Dave
Thanks for the feedback, please keep it coming! I'm thinking that a 19" wheel and tire would bite and get better traction on dirt while a 17" wheel might drift and wander. Most of my riding will be on gravel and fire / forest service roads. Thanks for the info on the brake rotor and suspension!
There was a guy over on supermotojunkie that did this, and I was kind of interested in it. I couldn't find any real details on it though. I saw his for sale ad and he offered to sell the bike with the stock 17/17 set or the 19/17 set. Like others have said here, I have my doubts if the 19 would work with the stock rotor. If you do end up going this route, be sure to post up about the conversion, because I would be interested. There are quite a few more dual sport tire options for the 19" wheel than the 17".
I thought about doing this but decided to go with the 18\21 combo for my SM. I slid the 21" on with the big rotor to see if it would clear. The tire spun but the spokes just barely rubbed on the caliper. With a 19" I think it would clear but it would still be very close.
The front suspension is OK for dirt or rally. We made that for a guy, he is 100kg and goes mad in dirt with the SM/TE. got some wheels and another front brake (tc 450 04), thats all.
