HAVE ANY OF YOU EVER PUT WIDER WHEELS ON AN EX500? I'VE SEEN A FEW WITH F3 SETUPS AND WAS WONDERING IF THAT IS THE ONLY AVAILABLE DONOR BIKE. I HAVE A '90 EX AND CAN READILY GET A HOLD OF A '91 ZX6 REAR WHEEL TO USE . WILL I HAVE TO GET A DIFFERENT SWING ARM? ANY TIPS OR LINKS WITH PICTURES AND INSTRUCTIONS?
LATER,
JOSH
Hey I just sold my EX and that and putting the F3 front is normal. Search under yahoo search for the EX, there is a guy out there with step by step instructions on how to do it.
Try MB Motorsports at www.mbmotorsports.net
I run an EX. It has an F2 front end. ZX6 swingarm with F2 wheels. I have run dunlop 160 and dunlop slick 165.
That seems to be the norm on the EX's on the track
My .02
Josh,
If the EX is a starter bike for you, it may not be worth your time, effort or money to do the suspension conversions, ie, cloning forks and swingarms to accept bigger tires. An alternative would be to widen the stock rear rim. I run a 5.5 inch rear rim in a stock 97 EX swingarm. The rim was widened by Kosman's (check out they're website), and will accept a 150/60/17 with no problem. Up front, I run an unmodified stock rim with a 120/70/17, which seems to work well. Keep in mind you are typically dealing with 55 to 80 Hp, so bigger isn't always better.
As a footnote, I run a Michelin H2 on the rear and an S2 on the front. The combination works well for me.
Ed
QuoteI run a 5.5 inch rear rim in a stock 97 EX swingarm. The rim was widened by Kosman's (check out they're website), and will accept a 150/60/17 with no problem.
5.5" is usually too wide for a 150 tire, they tend to fit better on a 4-4.5 rim. With the 5.5 rim the best tires would be tires meant for a 250 GP bike (which run a 5.5 rim), such as the Michelin 16/62 or Dunlop 165. The 150 probably gets pulled too wide on the 5.5 rim, which will flatten out the profile. The 165 would probably handle quicker.
As far as widening an EX rim, I would probably go 4.5" and run a 150 DOT or a 155 slick. This would be a good choice for the EX500. The 4.5 will allow 150 or 160 tires, whichever you prefer (or the track vendor has in stock).
On my CR500 with a 4.25" rim I've been going back and forth between Pirelli 150 DOTs and 160 slicks. I prefer the slick because the DOTs feather really bad on that bike, I'd like to try the 155 Dunlop sometime. My wife runs the 150 Pirelli DOT on her MZ skorpion (4" rim) with a 110 front (3" rim) and the bike handles like a dream with that setup.
-z.