Which One ? 2011 FS 570 or FE 570

Hello, New Husaberg to be guy needs some help. Please!

I'm 48 with a MX, Enduro, sportbike background ( couple hundred thousand miles on street bikes ) since I was a kid. I am done racing but would like to set up a do it all play bike for street / dirt. I have been told in the past I play ride harder then I raced sometimes so the bike still needs to work. My Q is should I get the FS or FE since bike will do 50/50 double duty depending on my mood. I see the specs on both bikes are the same except front brakes and suspension.

FS570
Front: WP-USD 1.89 in. (48 mm) closed cartridge; 11 in. (280 mm) travel
Rear: WP-PDS DCC shock absorber; 12.2 in. (310 mm) travel

FE570
Front: WP-USD 1.89 in. (48 mm) closed cartridge; 11.8 in. (300 mm) travel
Rear: WP-PDS DCC shock absorber; 13.2 in. (335 mm) travel

The 3.5" seat height diff. seems to be from wheels.

I have a 29" inseam so the lower the better but I would rather make that up with a seat mod vs sacrifice needed suspension for dirt.

Did they add more fluid, spacers to reduce travel ?

Let's say I get the FS and then decide to do more off road riding in a few years. Maybe 80% off road and 20% street. I don't want a bike that works better for street and if that went the other way I don't want one that favors dirt (although it is a dirt bike you get the idea). Because I can ride the bike to work and around vs driving 1-2 hr. to dirt riding areas the bike may see many street hours.

If somebody here has experience in this area and could lend a hand, I would really appreciate it.

what all is needed to make the conversion from street / dirt ?

Thanks
Jon

If I am using 2 wheel sets - sportbike wheels / tires when riding on the street, the bike won't be sliding and tearing rubber off. If I am using the best dirt bike wheels / tires when riding off road the bike will get the same traction based on that wheel set up provided suspension is tuned for it. The amount of travel being 1 inch less is not going to turn you on your head either way but may limit your extreme riding range in dirt. As for the gearing, the only difference I see is 14 tooth front not that it matters because I can change that to what ever I prefer. I don't see any changes in gearing otherwise, do you ? The forks / shock appear to be the same with spacers to reduce travel for street use. Can anybody confirm any real specs between the two with real world experience on these bikes.

I understand the suspension will have to be adjusted for each use and once I record the best set up for each, turning the clickers should be fairly easy. Or am I missing another step going from street to dirt wheels ?

The extra weight of FS comes from wheels, brakes the best I can tell. So other than wheels and minor suspension tuning, these two bikes appear to be exactly the same. Can anybody with real knowledge of this confirm the differences.

PS: I noted in OP my racing days are over but considering anybody who does race comp. reworks the suspension to fit them, does the factory set up really count by the time you finish changing springs, valves, fluid, etc. What remains are the tubes, which are the same on both bikes. They may have only used spacers to reduce the FS by 1" which would be removed.

oldmancud said:

I tried some dirt and with the stock set up and it's a no go. Those sticky 17 inch tires love asphalt and dislike dirt. The FS has shorter travel, much stiffer suspension than an FE. The front brakes are different on the FS (Mgura radial 4 piston) and FE (Brembo). Obviously the wheels, rims, and tires are different on the FE and FS. The FS has a three bolt lower triple clamp while the FE has a two bolt lower triple clamp. The FS has a stubbier front fender than the FE. FS is geared 14/38 FE is 13/38 (13/52). FS kickstand is shorter than FE.

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oldmancud, thanks so much for that info. My reply is in no way challenging your views but rather asking for others opinions in this area also. By pointing out my views I hope others with experience in this area may offer some additional info.

The street wheels would be changed out to dirt when the mood hit me. I plan to keep the bike for a long time, maybe my last. I would never expect sportbike tires to handle in the dirt. ( have owned a lot of street/dirt bikes ) How could they, there are no lugs/nobbies to bite in and grab hold. plus the suspension is set up for street where there is more grip. Goes back to the old path of less resistance...

spec sheet is showing same forks and shock so I assume they used spacers to reduce travel and valving adjustments to tune one for street and other for dirt. Or added more fluid...

I was hoping to change out brake caliper bracket when switching wheel sets and use same brake caliper. 2 bolts hold the caliper to bracket and 2 more to axle I assume. Have not seen the 2 bikes in person is why I am asking all these Q, hoping somebody else has sorted this out.

3 bolts on triple clamps FS vs 2 on FE shouldn't hurt anything. aftermarket companies have offered larger 3 bolt triples for dirt bikes in the past for added strength / tube contact area.

fender: no problem

gearing: trans is the same just diff. sprockets, right ? can change sprockets if needed but since I am not racing the set up doesn't have to be perfect and with a 565 cc it should be fine. But can be changed if needed.

kickstand: had to be shorter because of smaller FS street tires. Guess it will look like the old bikes ready to fall over when I put dirt wheel set on : ) or lean against tree since my older bikes never had kickstands. That I can work with.

Example: I buy FS570 and 2nd set of wheels off a FE570 ( example ) I ride the FS for couple mo. on the street then want to go play in the dirt 3 hr. away over a long weekend so I switch over to the FE wheel set and tune my suspension clickers for dirt based on my previously recorded setup data. I switch my brake caliper bracket so caliper fits the smaller rotor disc. If I have to have bracket machined it is still cheaper than another $9k bike. My suspension travel will be 1" less but if I am not pushing the limits, this shouldn't matter since bikes didn't have any where near this much travel years ago.( Remember, I am not racing.) Just enjoying the ride and if that means slowing down 5 mph in extreme conditions... still cheaper than spending another $9k because I am not racing and don't need to be the first one there. If I dial in the suspension with 1" less travel vs the guy who doesn't have a clue how to set up his bike, will it really make that much of a difference that he has 1" more travel ? I think riding style will play a much bigger role here than that inch can offer. The 1" that I never had years ago and never missed. Sound logical ?

My big Q is how did they reduce travel by 1" ? This is the type of info. I need along with experience if others have used the bike as a crossover do it all dirt bike.

FS Bike geometry was set up by using 17" wheels. When you switch to FE wheels the geometry will change based on those wheels. I don't see any difference in bikes suspension other than travel.

The price difference between the 2 bikes appears to be wheels and brakes. If you buy the FE and then purchase 2nd set of wheels/brake for FS set up, the price should be about the same or more.

I have looked the specs over and since suspension is basically a valve that you open and close the hole size of ( simple minded example because I don't want to start a tech discussion on suspension valving ) to control compression/rebound and the spring set up is based on weight. Why is it so inconceivable to spend 10 min. turning the clickers to your predetermined settings when switching from street to dirt ? Your not changing the travel but as stated above, I can ride with 1" less travel than the FE offers since I am not racing. As the old saying goes, when I am faster than the bike I will worry about that 1" of travel but until then I can't see any reason it won't work as is.

Now let's say I bought the FE and wanted to set it up as a FS for street use. The brakes would be the weak link. Coming from somebody who enjoyed doing stoppies on liter bikes, I would like to have the better brakes. I know they could be added but this brings me back to why not buy the FS ?

How did they reduce suspension travel seems to be the main issue in building this crossover.

Thanks for your help, sure hope somebody has worked all this out and can post their info. or direct me to somebody who has.

Thanks
Jon

ething said:

It of course depends on the level you want to ride on. If you just want to play around then go for an FE model and get a supermoto kit. Stiffen up the suspension for the tarmac days and have fun. of course you wont win races on this setup but all the joy will still be there!

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Ething, thanks for the reply. May I ask why you prefer the FE with supermoto wheel kit vs FS with dirt or FE wheel kit ?

I am looking for tech. specs to back up this preference.

Thanks
Jon

Chas said:

The FS would be a plus both on the street and in the dirt for someone with short legs.

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Once I put dirt wheelset on FS like FE, they both would have the same seat height.

It's the 17" wheelset that lowers the FS.

Right?

I will mod seat for my 29" inseam though.

Thanks
Jon

After further research it appears the best option would be to set up dirt wheelset with 320mm brake disc and leave the brake caliper as is when changing out wheelset. I found a KTM/Husaberg 320mm disc on ebay for $200 brand new. Ya, more risk of damage with 1.1" lower disc but can always add a cover. This might be much easier than I thought.



front forks have .8" less travel and 1" on rear shock. I assume this was to prevent front from diving below center or to keep front 1/4" higher when bottoming. The FS suspension is so close to the top MX bikes travel, I can't possibly see it making much difference. Nobody is really going to say 3/4" is the difference between a MX racer and street bike ? Really!

The rest is just compression / rebound set up basically.


PS: Many years ago when everybody was experimenting with going to the larger front dirt bike wheel using the older shorter forks they needed to reduce travel to prevent locking up front tire against bottom triple clamp. I remember companies offered a machined spacer for your forks but many just cut a piece of PVC pipe and it worked fine for testing. This is why I assume forks on both bikes are the same exact fork with a spacer in FS model. But not for the same reason mentioned above, obviously. Point is, spacers can be removed if I decided to go strictly dirt in the future but I doubt that would happen. I like riding both too much for that.

How about some help here guys. Anybody want to confirm this ?

Since the FS starts off with 1" less suspension travel, the FS would be 1" lower in any case everything else being equal.[/quote]

Look at it this way.

If you have 2 bikes exactly the same but put a 1" spacer in the suspension of street model, the travel would be 1" less. But on the bottom end of compression reducing the travel.

If you subtract the difference in wheel height between the two bikes, you end up with seat height between the two. If the FS started 1" lower the seat height would be 1" lower to start with but it's not. In other words if you put the FE wheels on FS, they would have the same height. Put FS wheels on and you have a lower seat height.

Unless I missed something!

Chas said:

Since the total suspension travel is reduced by 1", the bike therefore sits 1" lower at all times. When the suspension travel is reduced, it is not reduced at the bottom end of compression.

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I haven't found any data that shows it works out that way on the FS but if that is true I will buy the FS for sure because the higher seat height is a hassle when you have a 29" inseam.

Sure would love to see data that reflects that.

Edit: Chas, I found the data : ) your right. adj. tube length. Any ideas why they lowered it ?

I thought maybe they added more fluid to reduce bottoming or something that wouldn't require hard parts.



Thanks
Jon

Thank you for that info. Didn't they update suspension to a completely different closed cartridge in 2011 ? I have read it is totally different and a few clicks one way or the other makes a huge difference. If that is the case it may be possible to soften the FS suspension more but fluid weight plays a big part in this too. If the forks are mechanically the same, fluid in FS could be a heavier weight, making it difficult to soften. If FS came with heavier wt. fluid and you reduced that by 50% ( example ) the action would be softer. Many variables determine optimum suspension set up. Why is the FE softer ? Why is the FS firmer ? If anyone could offer 2011 internal specs/fluid/wt, etc.

If I purchased FS or FE for the same price with plans to do track days and Enduro type riding in the forest. I would need a larger brake caliper for track which already comes on the FS. Add 320 disc to dirt wheels and I don't have to change caliper. The suspension can be set up any way you like and adjust with compression / rebound one way or the other close enough to have a pretty good time either way. Remember, I am not racing. If doing a track day in 6 mo. I could set bike up for that no matter which one I purchased, even if I had to due a suspension fluid and valve change to get the best performance. Then go back to a compromising set up which works for both. If doing an enduro a few times a year ( not planning on it, just saying ) the bike could be set up to favor that pretty easy. I have enough experience with bike set up to go either way and would never expect one setting to handle it all. If the FS suspension valving is different than FE I could change it but so far nobody knows other than one is stiffer than the other on older models. The information needed to make an educated decision has not been found yet but I plan to start calling dealers next week and try to track some data down. If suspension microfish for 2011 shows same exact parts for both bikes then it would just be fluid and a set up adjustment change. The difference in suspension travel is not really enough to make a difference if set up correctly. But if the previous FS models were burning up pegs and they wanted to reduce this ground clearance problem, the answer would be to reduce travel on the bottom end to maintain more ground clearance. I'll see what I can find out when calling around.

Thanks guys!