FE/FC 2016 FE350S vs FE501S?

Happy New Year Everyone!

Looking for some advise. I'm a 50-year old, 5'6" tall, 190lbs. dressed, ex "forever" C-class enduro rider in the New England area, coming off a 2007 KTM 400XCW. For the past 5-years, I have been doing more dual sport/easy trail riding, and less tight snotty stuff. I love my KTM for this type of terrain, and I'm going to keep it as a back-up, but I'm looking for something new, since I used to race Husky "back in the day".

Which model would you recommend? Would the 350 be enough, and not too "buzzy" on the once-in-a-while 45/55 mph dirt roads?

Or will the 501 be way too much, especially on the occasional trail/ first gear section?

Thanks!

I prefer a small bore bike for my all around riding. Large bores bikes tire me out on an all day ride. I rode a 500exc and while it was smooth and easy to control I still preferred our FE250. Even our little 250 with stock gearing we can cruse easily 50-60 to link trails so a 350 should be better. If you are a lazy type of rider you will enjoy the low end luggable torque the 501 has. Otherwise the 350 feels lighter, snappier and overall more nimble.

I think the 350 is better in the woods than the 501 is on the street (does that make sense?) I tried riding my buddies 500xcw for a few miles through some moderate single track and it killed me. I'm with Weantright, I'm all for the smaller bore bikes. Do you feel your 400xcw has enough motor for you? If it does you probably wont have an issue with the 350.

I was in the husky dealer where I bought my beta. I didnt understand why the 500 and 350 are pretty much the same price. I would go for the bigger bike every time. I would think that the value is much better $ for performance.

You could always tame down the top end of a 500 by gearing it up more, or simply pull timing from the mapping. Or just not rev it up as much? I figure most people must run a certain racing class that makes the smaller bikes necessary.

You cant tame the constant pull from the 500. Because of the extra low end I find myself faster with a smaller motor. $$ means nothing if the bike isn't fun to ride for the intended purpose. For most racing a 350cc is in the same class as the 500.

G2 dirt tamer throttle tube tames the 501 nicely. Smooth, smooth, smooth. I ride mine all day with no problems. Either bike would be fine but the 350's are hard to find new and the dealers won't discount them it seems. The 501, single cam engine. will require less maintenance as well. Very easy valve checks too. Good luck with the decision.

Mate I'm 52 and learned how to ride dirt on a 501. There is nothing wrong with a 350 and it has plenty of grunt but they weight almost the same and cost almost the same.
The 501 is easy to ride as it is very controllable and tractors up everything, the 350 needs a bit more go to do the same. They're both awesome bikes as long as you get the suspension sorted.
In my book the bigger motor will also last longer as I don't work it as hard. Seems resale is also better as the 501's are sold out here and the showroom is full of 350's.
As a bonus it rides all day on a tank of fuel. (can't speak for the 350 here)

If you are concerned about the weight get a 300 2 stroke. Don't be scared of the 501.
I do agree a 350 is enough but I like the controllable and tractable torque of the 501.

I have both a 350 FE and 501 s. The 350 is buzzy over 45 compared to the 501. I put a rekluse on the 501 and it really tames it down by simply allowing you to run a higher gear. In your case I would definitely recommend the 501. That's why I bought mine and I race the 350.

Boy this question is GUARANTEED to start a long thread every time.

I have a 350s and I love it. It has all the power I need, but it turns a lot better than the 501. Even though the weight is almost the same between the two bikes when you weigh them on a scale, the 501 has way more rotating mass in the engine and hence takes more effort to make it turn in the twisty stuff. Not only that, but the 501 has SO much power that is it hard to control when you are navigating a rocky slippery stream bed (for example).

On the other hand, if most of your riding is open areas like desert or fire roads, you will like the added power of the 501. It really comes down to your preference and what type of terrain you expect to ride the most.

I find this the other way around. I'll get on to some slippery uphill stuff and the 501 just climbs up a tick above stalling, a little bit of throttle and it just eats away at it.
The 350 on the other hand I need to go harder and when I try to feather it, it either stalls or spins out.

I think it depends on the type of riding you plan on doing. The 501 would be better in wide open spaces, or fire roads, where the 350 comes into its own on single track. I made the switch from the old TE510 to the FE350 and couldn't be happier. I primarily ride single track and the big bore bike simply made more power than I could use. The big power has it's advantages sometimes (hill climbs, fire road basting ect.) but the feeling of light weight handling and nimbleness pays off all the time. I geared my 350 down a bit so I don't really have problems with stalling or excessive spinning on hill climbs or in the tight stuff, but the bike as is, likes to cruise on the street between 45 and 50mph. If you have large expanses of slab between trials or want to do more traditional "dual sport" stuff the 501 is probably a better choice. Again it all comes down to what terrain you plan on riding. With all that said the 350 suits me perfectly.

Based on your initial post regarding intended use, a 690 or 701 may even be a better option. Lower seat height too. Food for thought.

had a 350 and now have a 501, the 501 is easier to ride, has lazy power but gets up and moves when wound on.
initially i did notice a small handling difference but it wasn't as large as i expected and i don't even notice it now.
the 501 can be ridden in single with ease due to its lazy power curve, a 450 on the other hand is more of a handful due to its aggressive power curve.

not sure where you are from but resale is terrible on huskies in Australia compared to KTM's. I had to give my 350 away to move it on.

Husky resale here in the US still blows from what I see. The fire sales left a bad impression and it will take some time to overcome it. IMHO, the Huskys will bring decent resale in the near future, but I haven't seen it here yet.

The 501 can be ridden on just as tight terrain and slippery situations as the 350 in my opinion. Probably even more so. It can be ridden a lot easier and more relaxed too. Will climb anything. A finger on the clutch lever, even if in a gear to high. Keeps momentum up and the explosive power in check and tire spin to a minimum. The 350 can't do this as easy as the 501 and the 501 will do it all day long with ease.

I did a ride with my Buddy last weekend and his low fuel light was on at about 65 miles on his new '15 WR450F. I keep telling him to not worry about his stupid low fuel light. I've never noticed mine on my '15 FE 501 even go on, ever. I have a new "Acerbis 4.1 gallon tank" with the complete pump assembly in it with the quick connector and banjo fitting fuel outlet, that has never even been used. I'll probably never need to really use it. I haven't so far anyway.

He loaded up his WR450 in his truck and I continued on to go another 30 miles on my stock tank which holds 2.25 gallons. Before I left, I pulled out the fuel sock strainer to look down in both sides of my tank and told him I had plenty of fuel left to do my ditch ride still and it would only take me about 45 minutes to do so and we said our goodbyes. That was at 1:35 P.M. We were earlier averaging about 45mph on some rocky 2 tracks that have seldom, if ever seen any dirt bikes. I rode there to meet him all the way on trails and rode back to my driveway later like I always do. Not more than about 1/2 mile, if that of pavement.

I finished up my ride coming out of my favorite ditch and decided to go down about 5 blocks to top off the gas tank at a nearby gas station and see just how much it would take to top off the tank. To my surprise it only took 1.45 gallons to top it off and I just rode 95.9 miles. I never have checked the distance this bike will really go. I just fill it from a fuel jug at home. I was back home after having rode another 30 miles through my favorite ditch and that fuel stop at exactly 2:25 P.M. I even doubled back and took the trails home like I normally would do, even though I was right down the street 1 turn from my house at that gas station.

Like was said earlier in this post. "The 501 will run all day on a tank of gas" and most of the time others are eating your roost and you could be riding lazily on the FE501.

By the way I'm almost 57 and my 35 to 40 year old riding buddies have a tough time keeping up with me and they have never owned anything but single shock linkage equipped bikes.

Couldn't agree more!
The fuel (gas) consumption is that bad (sic) that I forgot to fill mine up after a ride. Halfway through the next the "aww shit" feeling popped in to my head.
A quick stop and look at the tank and I noticed it was still near half. Made it home no problem with fuel to spare.

Thank you to everyone for their input. Not an easy choice between 2-great bikes. Leaning towards the mighty 501.

She's a gentle giant. Smooth power, almost electric by comparison. But I'm sure it could be made into a monster if one was so inclined.

Something is definitely wrong with the part of my brain that controls my wrist, then.
My low fuel light came on at 70 miles yesterday!

Benduro,
I've never paid much attention to my instrument cluster, except speedometer and total distance travelled. I have since it was new, a separate "Nihilo" wireless hour meter. I use just to keep track of hours for oil services. If the low fuel light did go on to be honest with you I probably wouldn't notice.

Wrist problems translate to the destruction of Rear tires in my case. They might last me 30 hours or less. I'm about ready to install my 4th rear after 1 more ride, it's now at just 67 hours.

So somethings obviously wrong with my wrist too.

Maybe it's because you bought an S model and they assume gas stations are all over the place. Lol ! Is it still smogged? If so, uncork that bad boy and have the dealer install the Euro Map.

I have the handlebar map switch from "Sickass Racing". 90% of the time, I run mine on the mild setting (middle) and it gets great mileage.