[18935]

5” rims are standard race size.
160 “road” tires often measure bigger than 160 slicks. (Who knows why?)

A 4.25” rim and 150 tire solves a lot of clearance problems, but 150 size tires are limited in choice. Pirelli Supercorsa SC’s are available in this size and, in my opinion, an excellent tire.

Usually serious racers want a 5” or 5.5” rim and 160 or 165 tire.

 

[toten]

I wonder if you could space the chain over a hair instead of the rim

 

[Skully25]

Also, the 160 rear Michelin power rs is a very very tight fit and rubs the chain. This will be remedied by moving the hoop over by a few millimeters by adjusting the spokes. I wholeheartedly recommend going with the 4.25 or maybe a 5 inch rim if that exists and a 150 tire. The metzler 165 slick fits no problem with plenty of room. It’s quite a bit narrower by eyeballing. This project has become a total mess. I’ve been riding (motocross) for a long time and have never run into anything this asinine. Although I have a feeling that in the end, it will be worth the trouble. Until then, there are more mountains to climb and more shitstorms afoot.

stock rim on the bike is a 5 inch, your problem is not the rim but the tyre. michelin road tyres run wide as it is for their size, as do most road tyres like skypig pointed out compared to slicks.

 

[RichardPettysHat]

I was recommended this wheel/tire setup. Initially, I wanted the 4.25 but was told the wider would go on without issue and handling would improve. But now it seems as though that might not be the case, as the centerline has been broken. Nothing I can do now. We’ll see how it goes. Optimally the rim will only have to be moved a couple/few mils at most. Pretty bummed out with the way this is going to be quite honest. I’m probably going to go with an akrapovic exhaust. Something different. I hear excellent things about them. I think the muffler is a tad shorter also. Not a fan of the 2006 era cannon pipe look.

 

[Skully25]

again, the rim is not the issue. you could slap a 5.5 inch in there and it will still clear the swingarm and chain. the chain is touching the tire, not the rim because road tyres just generally run wider. you could run michelin, dunlop or metzler slicks on your bike all day long and the chain will not hit.

zero chain rub on my old FS or FE if I run slicks. the minute I switch back to my road setup that runs contiattack sm tyres on the FE I get some minor chain rub because the rear tyre is wider than your average slick.

a 4.25 would have severely limited your tyre choices because they don't make a lot of decent rubber in the 150 size, which is what you should run on a 4.25 rim. with the power that 450 is putting out you want at least a 5 inch in there with a proper tyre unless you like lighting up the rear.

you have other options if you don't want to move the rim off center. run a thinner tyre, and by that I don't mean a 150 because that just doesn't sit right on a 5 inch rear. some tyres can vary up to a quarter inch in actual size even though they're all designated as a 160 size tyre. if memory serves I remember pirelli supercorsa's running over a quarter inch thinner than a michelin pilot power just to give an example. run a non O-ring chain, that'll give some extra clearance as well.

 

[RichardPettysHat]

again, the rim is not the issue. you could slap a 5.5 inch in there and it will still clear the swingarm and chain. the chain is touching the tire, not the rim because road tyres just generally run wider. you could run michelin, dunlop or metzler slicks on your bike all day long and the chain will not hit.

zero chain rub on my old FS or FE if I run slicks. the minute I switch back to my road setup that runs contiattack sm tyres on the FE I get some minor chain rub because the rear tyre is wider than your average slick.

a 4.25 would have severely limited your tyre choices because they don't make a lot of decent rubber in the 150 size, which is what you should run on a 4.25 rim. with the power that 450 is putting out you want at least a 5 inch in there with a proper tyre unless you like lighting up the rear.

you have other options if you don't want to move the rim off center. run a thinner tyre, and by that I don't mean a 150 because that just doesn't sit right on a 5 inch rear. some tyres can vary up to a quarter inch in actual size even though they're all designated as a 160 size tyre. if memory serves I remember pirelli supercorsa's running over a quarter inch thinner than a michelin pilot power just to give an example. run a non O-ring chain, that'll give some extra clearance as well.

What other tires do you know of that would be thinner? I thought the rs was the narrowest or one of the narrowest 160’s. Supposedly the tech said the wheel was already offset 10 mil to the right. What are the adverse effects from this ?

 

[18935]

Despite what I would think, running a little offset in the rim, doesn’t seem to affect handling.
It will however mean more rubbing on the muffler.

I’m running an FMF Ti, full system, stock wheel and tire (slick) and it rubs pretty bad. : (

These bikes are a bit of an “after thought” unfortunately. SM is too small a market for Husky to make an effort. EG SM swing arm, or pipe.

I’m not sure if the cool “Twin Pipe” (Another thread?) set ups give more Tire - Muffler clearance.
If I hadn’t already bought an FMF Ti FS, I would probably have tried one.

 

[Calmar8088]

Despite what I would think, running a little offset in the rim, doesn’t seem to affect handling.
It will however mean more rubbing on the muffler.

I’m running an FMF Ti, full system, stock wheel and tire (slick) and it rubs pretty bad. : (

These bikes are a bit of an “after thought” unfortunately. SM is too small a market for Husky to make an effort. EG SM swing arm, or pipe.

I’m not sure if the cool “Twin Pipe” (Another thread?) set ups give more Tire - Muffler clearance.
If I hadn’t already bought an FMF Ti FS, I would probably have tried one.

This post will chronicle my conversion of a 2019 FS 450. As a preface, I would like to stress that this conversion is extremely challenging and poses many obstacles. The purpose of this motorcycle at this time will be a split purpose. The FS will be used approximately 60% of the time on the street and 40% track or race use. I fell in love with supermoto many years ago coming from the motocross world. Motocross is a beauty and a pleasure unto its own but supermoto allows full access to the raw power of these machines, in glorious fashion. It's unfortunate that there really aren't any true OEM offerings so there are always added costs when buying a new machine. I chose this route because in my eyes this bike was designed specifically as a supermoto bike, not a motocross or enduro/dual sport retrofit. Currently I am waiting on the motorcycle to arrive at my dealer. In the mean time I have had to order a set of wheels to accommodate street tires as there are no road legal or seemingly road legal slicks to get past the eye of the unassuming inspector. There are no tail light kits available for the TC/FC/TX/FX models so I will be looking into retro fitting an led strip with integrated turn signals and mounting the license plate under the tail if possible, temporarily. This thread will serve to document this process for this model for my records and as a reference for others that choose the same or similar path. I will post updates as they are available. Thanks for reading.

So how goes the build? I bought the same bike with the dealer saying they could build it for the street. That never happened. Still sitting in my garage with 1 hour on it since December 2018.

 

[superbad]

Any updates on your SM? I am in the process of converting a 21 KTM 450smr. Interested to hear if that front wheel you went with cleared the caliper.