A conversion of this type is underway with our best guessing at hand. The bearings used by both bikes are the same dimensions. The only unknown is the stack height on the steering tube. I'm sure updates will be posted as soon as they are available.

Yes, the entire front end needs to be swapped out because the pre-08 forks are 36mm in diameter where the EX500 are 37mm.

I'll also make sure the updates are posted concerning the use of an EX500 rear wheel as well.