Getting FE suspension tuned to SM

I'm quite interested in this as well.

I have a FE390 with a second set of SM wheels that I keep swapping back and forth between.

looking to have my suspension gone through and thinking of some compromise between the 2 riding styles.

I think the FS is only 20mm lower than FE.

I had a bit over 1-3/4" or 44-45 mm difference in rear static sag. (on the stand)

So in theory at least, that is what it should be at the seat aswell.
17" wheels lower it another 1-1/2" to 2".

It's just too short for my liking, hence the reason for running full length sussies now. I'm 6'4"…
It gives me somewhere to put my foot, and has much better footpeg clearance.


***This is a 2005 FS650, so ymmv with a \70°\ bike.
FWIW, my FS650 with oem sussies is taller than a buddy's FS570.

First measurement was with an 04 FS650 shock. It was the same eye to eye as my 05 FS shock when I measured it a year ago.


Second measurement was with my 05 FS shock after servicing it and removing the spacer that shortens it. *Catalyst Reaction Tuning in the SF bay area did the shock.

It appeared to be the same length eye to eye as my 05 FE650 shock.

I know, totally different bike...but that's what the older bikes mic out at.

thx for the info Ninja!

I just ordered racetech springs, .52 and rear shock P25 in hopes of stiffening things up.

I also ordered a Timbersled snowbike kit for the bike, so the heavier springs will help there as well

I'll update on how things work out for me.

Has anyone done this the other way around ? Original FS-->FE ?

You can not turn a fs into fe unless you use different forkleg radial>axial
OR use stock brake setup wich is way to agressive ofroad and you have to move the frontwheel offcenter to clear the endurowheel from the caliper.

HusaBELGfs570 said:

You can not turn a fs into fe unless you use different forkleg radial>axial
OR use stock brake setup wich is way to agressive ofroad and you have to move the frontwheel offcenter to clear the endurowheel from the caliper.

Click to expand...

You are right. This goes to all 4 piston FS calipers, if I remember correctly, the caliper mounting at of the fork leg is different in normal FS.

My bike came with the 6 piston Behringer caliper from the factory, which uses the same lower fork part as the enduro version, therefore in my bike I can change between supermoto 6 piston caliper and the 2-piston enduro caliper anytime.

I did my reseach well before converting to enduro, because the handbook only writes about the 4 piston caliper mount. No mention about the case of a Husaberg Power Part caliper. The guy I bought my Tagasaki enduro wheels had a 650FS with the 4 piston brake, and he could not fit the wheels into his Berg.

the thing is, there are so many husabergs being broken now, it would be more a case of swopping with someone I think?

Taffy

Taffy said:

the thing is, there are so many husabergs being broken now, it would be more a case of swopping with someone I think?

Taffy

Click to expand...

Yes, I have considered swapping my whole suspension front and rear to FE option, BUT I live in Finland, not so many Husabergs here. Haven't found an affordable solution, so I just ride the bike like it is and still have lots of fun even the suspension is not the best for dirt.

Sorry for derailing the original topic.

I have about 4 FE sets and one FS set here. they hold the doors open (especially in this heat!).

Taffy

threedigits said:

Yes, I have considered swapping my whole suspension front and rear to FE option, BUT I live in Finland, not so many Husabergs here. Haven't found an affordable solution, so I just ride the bike like it is and still have lots of fun even the suspension is not the best for dirt.

Sorry for derailing the original topic.

Click to expand...

The difference is mostly
A ) In the valving
B ) In suspension length
C ) in front offset

For A: You can probably just get the FE valving spec and install it. A revalve is an easy job, done with hand tools.

For B: You *can* keep the length, but you can also extend the travel if you wish.

Bushmechanic has posted about cartridge extenders which extend fork travel. AFAIK these are simple lengths of pipe the same dimensions as the fork cartridge (the innermost tube in the forks). They have a screw thread on the outside on one end and on the inside of the other end. You screw these on, make sure everything else fits together, and you have extended your forks These can probably be bought, and also your friendly neighborhood machinist can make you some I'm sure! Machining is a super nice world to get into.

For the shock: On the DRZ (the other bike I know a tiny little bit about) there are ways to extend the travel of the shock. These involve changing the length of a spacer as far as I know. Maybe changing the shock shaft; I'm not sure. These are not as major changes as they may seem

For C: I THINK that a supermoto fork yoke may cause FE forks and wheels to steer somewhat heavy when swapped on, all else being equal. The SM yoke has less offset = more front wheel trail = more "steering correction" by the ground as you travel over it because the ground has greater leverage over the wheel and wants to straighten it out. You can alleviate this to a significant degree by making the front sit lower or the rear sit higher. Many ways to do it, including rear preload, fork position in clamps, spring weight front or rear, and even the valving ("dynamic ride height" as Bushie illustrated it somewhere here, worth a dig for and a read).

If you want to get deeper - suspension valving is VERY interesting and reasonable to do yourself, then check out this site: Shim ReStackor, Finally software to tune a shim stack

Shim Restackor allows you to simulate different valving in your forks and shock. The site is also very good. Takes a while to digest it all but it's got great info.

This thread on DRZ suspension valving taught me A LOT about suspension and Shim Restackor: DRZ Fork Revalve - Shim Stack Discussion & Recommendations - DR-Z 400 - ThumperTalk

Let me know if you're at all interested and I'll dig up more links. There's knowledge out there to make these jobs pretty easy, it's just scattered around.

Pretty interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

FE to FS suspesion. "Ping/borrow thread"

Hey guys, i got myself an FE450e 2008 with 17' wheels and 320mm rotor w/adapter but i feel like I want to modify the suspension for the road/track.

What are the mods & settings other people run on FE to FS conversions?

I will probably revalve when my wallet affords it but for now:
Fork: Raised max in clamp, 1,5 turn out on preload, rebound and comp are both about 4 clicks less than stock. for now it works but still looking for better settings.

shock is about the same. just a few less clicks out from stock with sag adjusted.

tourist said:

If you want to get deeper - suspension valving is VERY interesting and reasonable to do yourself, then check out this site: Shim ReStackor, Finally software to tune a shim stack

Shim Restackor allows you to simulate different valving in your forks and shock. The site is also very good. Takes a while to digest it all but it's got great info.

This thread on DRZ suspension valving taught me A LOT about suspension and Shim Restackor: DRZ Fork Revalve - Shim Stack Discussion & Recommendations - DR-Z 400 - ThumperTalk

Let me know if you're at all interested and I'll dig up more links. There's knowledge out there to make these jobs pretty easy, it's just scattered around.

Click to expand...

I am very interested in this info. Please post the links. And thanks.