trade sm wheels for 21 -18s?

[akrobbaker]

Hey I am thinking about transforming my 09 te 450 to street and wanted to see if anyone wants to move from street to dirt and might want to work out deal / trade ? I got brand new motoz tires too. pm me if interested. Rob

 

[ks9mm]

are you sure it's a good idea? i've just completed this trip and would not do it again if given the choice.

 

[R_Little]

The TE wheels hill not be a bolt on in the front unless you change triple clamps.

 

[ks9mm]

I think akrobbaker is converting TE to SM.

SM wheels fit on TE just fine.

 

[R_Little]

I think akrobbaker is converting TE to SM.

SM wheels fit on TE just fine.

Okay, then you need to drill out the brake caliper on the front to bolt the TE caliper to the SM wheel.

I went SM to TE which is harder.

 

[fitness2go]

The SM wheels have larger rotor bolts/holes. So if you want to put on a dirt rotor so that you don't have to change the caliper, you need to drill out the holes in the rotor.

 

[ks9mm]

putting wheels is easy..it's all the other things that make this complicated.

my goal was to convert from TE to SM and back under 1 hour and enjoy one bike with true dual purpose. at this moment I am ready admit that this project failed.


1. dirt rotor for aggressive street is not enough, so have to get 320mm conversion kit, and it adds time and cost to conversion. + need different set of pads front and rear to come along with different set of rotors. Also, swapping brake relocation bracket is not quick.

2. speedo stops working...need aftermarket unit

3. handling is the biggest issue of it all... I still am not able to get my TE to handle on the street at above 70mph. consensus is that SM tripples are needed to solve this proble... another $500 or so if you can find them..

4. front sprockets/ chain swap.. you need at least 15 tooth front

5. vibration. SM motor has counterballancer to make things smoother

 

[fitness2go]

It takes me under 30 minutes to swap from my dirt wheels to my motard wheels. The dirt rotors are adequate for the hooligan street riding and will easily throw your bike into a stoppie. Remember top speed for TE's is under 90 mph. I originally had the motard wheels on my 2008 TE 450 and I would get the death shake from time to time. I have a Scott's Stabilizer on my 2009 TXC 310 (3rd line showing on the triples) and the bike is very stable at high speeds and handles nicely corner to corner. I'm running 15/43 and the vibration isn't bad at all, but I have a smaller engine. Now the stock seat for any length of time is another thing altogether.

 

[ks9mm]

I agree that it's quick to swap the wheels, it's all other small things that get me..

I do not change chain and it pretty much works on stock 13/47 to 15/42 SM gearing. maybe my expectations were too high as I am used to riding nicely done track and racebikes.. but for one, I am not happy with the results of conversion.

I am looking to buy steering damper, but to be, damper is an insurance. bike should track straight without it...

 

[hammer]

I can change both our TXC's over to SM in an hour and they both are stable. I able to grind the pegs on mine and do 105 on GPS, that is all on my soft suspension set up for rocks and roots. Something has to be wrong with your set up.

 

[hammer]

I agree that it's quick to swap the wheels, it's all other small things that get me..

I do not change chain and it pretty much works on stock 13/47 to 15/42 SM gearing. maybe my expectations were too high as I am used to riding nicely done track and racebikes.. but for one, I am not happy with the results of conversion.

I am looking to buy steering damper, but to be, damper is an insurance. bike should track straight without it...

It looks like you have a lowering link on your bike. If you do I would get rid of that and try it.

 

[ks9mm]

it was the same without lowering link, but I can certainly try to remove it again...it's easy to do...can you tell me the steps to install relocation bracket? do you move the pin that's screws in in to relocation bracket from one to another?

my bike wobbles with any tires i tried so far... and at any fork height setting in the tripple clamps

 

[wilmar13]

I went SM to TE which is harder.

What did you have to do? I know there is an issue with the swingarm, but what about the front? I have an '08 SM530R and would like a more TE like setup.

I am interested in doing the http://www.sandblastrally.com/2011/ but don't think the 17's with Distancia's front and rear will work well. Maybe if I can just get a 21" wheel on the front it would be doable? Or would I be better off with the most aggressive 17" tire I can find? Something about either the smaller diameter or the wider width (or both) just seems so much sketchy'er in the loose stuff on a SuMo.

 

[Twatty]

Takes me 36 minutes to swap setups on my 09 TE, thats wheels(with discs already fitted), caliper adapter for the 320mm disc, front guard, front sprocket(do it while the back wheel is off so you don't have to break the chain), sidestand, and damping adjustment. I run standard gearing on the dirt and 15/45 for sumo, and the difference is only a couple of mm on the axle adjusters, so chain doesn't get swapped.
I run my clickers 2 out on all of them for the road and 1 out for road racing and sumo tracks, handlings not as good on the tarmac as either my old 450SMR or 610SM, but its close enough, no damper required.
The biggest issues with putting big wheels on a SMR are the swingarm is to short, and the radial front caliper rubs on the spokes, not worth it, just get some 17" knobbies and deal with it, it's not as bad as you might think.
drilling out holes and swapping triple clamps is insane, but one issue you will have with genuine SMR wheels is the disc is offset and too thick for the dirt caliper, just get a 0 offset, 4mm disc like motomaster or EBC and you will be laughing.
Good luck!

 

[wilmar13]

just get some 17" knobbies and deal with it, it's not as bad as you might think.

How does this setup with 17" knobbies handle in loose sand and silty hardpack compared to a real off-road 21f/18r setup?

 

[Twatty]

That's my mates bike, I haven't ridden it a heap, but it's not to bad, the main difference that stood out was that the smaller wheels will drop into a lot more holes, so you kinda need to pay a bit more attention to your lines. The front feels a bit 'floaty' in the sand, and braking is definatly a 1 finger affair at the front!
Really, considering that you really cant just throw a set of dirt wheels on a '09+ SMR450, if you wanna get a dirt setup, spend the money on a set of tyres and see if you like it, if not you will be better off buying a cheap dirt bike than converting an SMR.

 

[Twatty]

Just re-read from the start and thought of a few more things.
That caliper adaptor on hammers bike looks like you need to remove the standard mount, I got mine from R&D husky here in Oz, and the entire stock setup bolts onto it, so no undoing of pins or anything.
Before I got my 320mm disc, I fitted high-sintered pads and always run Motul RBF600 brake fluid. That setup was plenty powerfull enough for road riding, but would fade a lot ealier than the big disc due to not being able to dissipate as much heat.

 

[jaro51]

Really, considering that you really cant just throw a set of dirt wheels on a '09+ SMR450, if you wanna get a dirt setup, spend the money on a set of tyres and see if you like it, if not you will be better off buying a cheap dirt bike than converting an SMR.

I run my SMR with a set of full rains on the MX track occasionally and it does pretty well all things considered. However, swapping back and forth between my SMR and my TC250, there is little doubt that a proper dirt bike will outperform the SMR hands down. I suspect a $2,000 dirt bike will work better for you than spending similar money converting your SMR to a dirt bike.

 

[J.R.]

Twatty, your white SM rims look tits!!! :thumbup:

 

[Twatty]

Twatty, your white SM rims look tits!!! :thumbup:

Thanks mate, they're a bit harder to keep clean, but worth it for something a little different. Good to see there's others out there who aren't affraid of getting dirty on 17's
Dead right about cheap dirt bikes, thats exactly what I did before I got the TE with a KDX200 to suppliment my 610SM. When I moved house I only had room for 1 bike, so after a bit of research it was pretty obvious converting a TE was way better than reverse engineering an SMR (610 was just way to heavy for the kind of dirt riding I do)