I am most interested in triple clamp offset, and swingarm differences? I will be converting a TE511 (hopefully) soon, and want to know if there are any exceptional changes I should consider.
SMR use completely different front end, triple clamps (15mm offset, 205mm wide), Marzocchi 50mm forks with 100mm radial mount brake caliper and both forks and rear shock are shorter/stiffer. Swingarms on both are the same. What you should change? Can't say, depends on your budget and your intentions for the bike are.
WOW. I did not realize that the forks were completely different...That is slightly disappointing. I figured the smr just used shortened revalved kyb's.
If only! then we'd have more after market options, not much for the 50's other than some 450RR internals or the golden Ohlins internals available.
The Husky special parts triples have a 15mm offset setting I think, then it's just a case of getting the KYB forks shortened/valved/sprung along with the shock, this should get it pretty close. Or if you have more dollars than sense go Ohlins front/rear :P
So with the 15mm offset, lets say if you stayed with the same wheel/tire suspension combo. Just lower offset triples which will change the trail. Generally this would shorten the wheel base and change a ton of geometry, would it make it turn in easier/faster make the bike more nimble? OR do they do this on the smr to make it more STABLE after the 17's and shorter forks? I know its hard to say but a broad generalization will work.
Generally speaking the length of the suspension is lowered to correct geometry and offset to bring the trail back into line. Currently doing my forks and trying to get a hold of 20mm off set fork bottoms, OEM is 35mms. Should make things interesting have -15mms offset, lil bit more than -3mms with the xtrig clamps.
If you've never ridden another supermoto it'll feel just fine, I have a mate getting round on a CRF450 with only small wheels and crappy brakes, no suspension or geometry mods at all, he runs rings around me and keeps pace with another mate (much to his annoyance) on a race prepped FS570. You may find you enjoy riding the TE with just the wheels. I like fiddling for the hell of it (my bank account doesn't!) which is why my bike has lots of fancy bits, to me it's as much fun building as it is riding.
I am right there with you^ I was out on my 06 450 totally stock, and was getting smoked by a guy on a crf450...little did I know it was Brok's son and he was fast as all hell on that thing. Rider mod goes a looong ways. But yes I had a 06 smr 450 with a pipe, and marchesini's and redone forks that sucked ass (way way way too stiff), it was a blast! Handled like it was made for the track!
What part of the world are ya from? If you're in the US have a chat to Dave at Fast Bike Industries, he's a wizard with all things supermoto suspension. I've sent my spare forks halfway around the world for him to work his black magic on, he also set up my ohlins shock.
I am in California, west coast. Doing some research it looks like the kyb48's are good forks for supermoto at a novice level.
Less triple clamp offset means more trail. More trail means more stability at the expense of being nimble. This is all very general, but that's the idea.
In my experience, projects like this can get expensive. Wheels, rotors, sprockets, adapter and tires/tubes will be $1500 alone, and you'll still have the TE caliper. I know that from first hand experience. Add to that what is essentially a complete new front-end and you're going to be at ~$3500. Assuming the TE is worth $5K, you'll have $8,500 in the conversion. You can get a lot of SM for that many $$. You should considering just selling the TE and buying a plug-n-play SM. I see the SM bikes on craigslist all the time in the bay area. Lots of these things out the with very low miles and the asking price is usually in the $5,000 range. You'd be hard pressed to convert a TE and have much left of $5K.
At least 09 te 510 that I had, had real hard time with stability at straight line high speed and engine vibration was too much for the street. sm engine has balancer shaft Other than that, I ran my TE 510 at supermoto races and did well mid pack. ( first ever moto). If I would have to do it again, I would chose dedicated sm bike.
to clarify, my conversion was wheel set with big brake kit and steering damper. no suspension or geometry work
My te hasn't arrived yet and is brand spanking new. I take exceptional care of my bikes to being nearly obsessive. So brand new goes a long ways. Also will be using it for the first few months of its life doing a TON of dual sporting (hopefully) I also want to be able to throw the knobs on from time to time. Also with doing it yourself you can often throw in extra details that will make the end product superior to the factory stuff. 5" rear, 16.5" front, maybe some adjustable triple clamps, maybe get some super voodoo fork setup done. Maybe you want to do tubeless wheels. Just more fun this way! I am really trying to make a list of major differences between the models and check of which are necessary. So far the forks (marzochi vs kyb) Brake (radial brembo) Wheels Obviously. Triple clamps Rear shock Sprockets What else?
Front mud guard and brake master, the rest is TE. Swing arm, axles, controls, engine, gearbox are the same.
