opinions: husky sm450r VS sm510r

I'm in the market for a SM and I love the huskys. now, at this point i am a beginner. I live about 20 minutes from laguna seca so practice days at the track are a realistic option. anyhow, when comparing the two bikes, they are identical cept the 510 has a longer stroke and 6 more HP.

so my question comes down to this, if i choose the 510 (which would be more fun on the street because of the extra HP) will I be completely in the way and unhappy at a track day for my class? the 450 would put me in a slower class (and as they say, driving a slow bike fast is better than driving a fast bike slow). I've raced on the track in racecars before with multiple classes tracking at the same time, but i don't really know what to expect from motorcycle track days, and was hoping from some direction and good advice from yall.

For trackdays or racing? You don't mentoin racing, so I'll just address trackday stuff.
There aren't different classes for different bikes at the big track trackdays - it's divided by skill levels/laptimes. Some of the kart tracks will run minis, then slow big bikes, then faster big bikes - but I'm not aware of any that would actually split up 450 from 500+cc bikes. I can't comment much on the two husky's, but if you fancy the 510 I'd go for that.

There is no class stucture based on displacement for moto trackdays on a big track. They break it up by: fast guys (A), guys who think they are fast (B) and clusterfuck of incompetent riders (C).

thanks guys. yeah i don't think i'll be racing competitively, just track days. I guess the 510 is the way to go in that case. that was easy.

You gotta get it out on the SM track. Tons more fun than the big track.

I only own one of the two, so i cant give a great opinion, other than that I love my husky. I will say that those 5hp difference most likely will never be noticed. Also, I don't know about the 510, but the 450 is a race bike on the street. Don't expect it to be a great highway bike.

the 450 is about as much fun as vie ever had on a big bike and its dead sexy. Its powerful as hell and it weighs next to nothing. It likes to make bumps in the road into jumps

The 510 is more of a torquey bike and would be great on the street. The 450 is more of a revver, which would work better on the SM track IMO. They are both high strung race bikes.

I have a KTM 525 which is like the 510 with it's torque and when I ride it on the SM track, I'd prefer it to be more of a revver like the 450s. It's just personal preference for engine character. I'd recommend you go ride both to see for yourself.

why would the 450 work better on the track simply because it is more of a revver?

the 510 should be a faster track bike. it has more TQ and more HP but weighs the same and the gear ratios in the trans are the same. the 450's extra RPM range doesn't yield more power.

although i guess the powerbands might be located in slightly different RPM ranges between the two engines .

The low end torque doesn't do you any good if you're spinning up the rear tire on corner exit.

The faster bike is going to be the one ridden by the faster rider. I doubt the 510 would be much faster on any of the local SM tracks when ridden by the same rider. I wouldn't be surprised if the 450 was actually faster on the tighter tracks.

I think I could ride a 250 faster than I could ride my 525.

ahhh TQ spinning the rear tire on corner exit. I didn't think about that.

I own a 510 and love it. I only plan on doing kart tracks and mountain twisties. If i were gonna run the big tracks i would prefer a bigger bike. husky 610 or ktm 690. Something that will be better at higher speeds.

jism07 said:

I own a 510 and love it. I only plan on doing kart tracks and mountain twisties. If i were gonna run the big tracks i would prefer a bigger bike. husky 610 or ktm 690. Something that will be better at higher speeds.

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+1 a SMR 450 / 510 wont be at home @ laguna seca. but one of the street oriented big bores would be great, and last a whole lot longer. I had a 625 smc that made a GREAT big track bike. The new KTM 690 is the way to go IMHO