• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Beta vs KTM-VARNA-BERG?

The mental thing is the problem, one KTM wants you to have. Glad I never felt that way, never afraid to take a chance and had some superior performing bikes because of it. I just like what works for me on the trail and in the shop. KTM is marketing powerhouse and good at convincing people what they do is how it should be but history has shown that this is not the case. PDS was supposed to be the end game and linkage was old school, how did that work out? Cut the orange cord.
 
I never had any of those issues you guys are talking about, my e start works every time. And of course I know how to tune a carburetor, I don't rely on kits. A poorly tuned carburetor will make definitely ruin an outing. The new Husky's are not sticker slaps as everyone seems to claim. The geometry is different as well as the engine tuning.
 
Tinken said:
I never had any of those issues you guys are talking about, my e start works every time
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This is a well documented issue and I have seen it on countless KTMs I ride with. Guy had a brand spanking new bike with e-start he kicked all day. I'm not making this stuff up. I was shocked a 2014 still had the same issues. Go to KTM talk and read for days about it. As for the carb, yes, should be semi simple to sort. That and the dripping to high float all the KTMs come with.
 
Not to drag Nantista into all of this, but might be worth it to pick his brains on his new Husky 300?
 
BTW I am not bashing the KTMs, he liked the bike a lot just hated the fact that be specifically bought a E-start bike and was pissed the e-start sucked. I'm sure Blakes pissed his brand new to 2013 CR125 broke a trans (or something nasty sounding inside the motor). Shit happens, I get that. What I don't get is how a manufacturer overlooks a known issue for years.
 
Yup -- the estart issues are legit. I've got a buddy with an 08 that still works great. My 09 crapped out long ago. Some do work fine, but there are others that don't. Don't get me wrong -- I love my KTM -- I just hate having stuff that doesn't work. Its really irritating to me. Unlike some folks here -- I don't spend all day, every day in the garage and riding. I have a limited period of time te dedicate to a hobby -- so I need my stuff to generally work. I can do [and have done] all major maintenance. What I don't have time for is figuring out how to make something work. Maybe I'm picky... I just don't have the time to sort out a bike and try all these different fixes to get it up to snuff.

Jetting isn't the issue for me -- I can fix that and I understand its a constantly changing proposition. What pisses me off is dumping $$$ into a problem that shouldn't exist. I've ridden the Beta and really enjoyed it. No estart issues of any kind. Its the bike that convinced me that I want linkage for my next bike. Period. I am just a bit unsure if Beta will be supported in 4 years when I need gaskets and plastics, etc.. That is my concern.
 
I guess that is the problem I'm having also, I have rode the bike briefly and I like it...I want to give it a try but I'm scared to buy the exotic....I'll have to get over it and take the chance if I want something different than KTM and don't want to go Japanese.
 
I bought a new beta 300 race. I'm still bonding with it. I'm coming off an 11 ktm 300xc. It's been stone reliable. 130hrs on the original top end and still running strong. I've had more frustrating starter problems with my txc250 than I ever did with the ktm.
 
Darkside said:
I've had more frustrating starter problems with my txc250 than I ever did with the ktm.
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kinda the same tacked on worm drive design on the TXC. I have seen many issues with those too. Buddy with a TE310 has issues. Still works but not perfect.
 
FWIW -- My 09 estart was flawless for a year. Problem is -- when they go bad -- they can't be rescued. I would expect the estart on the new bikes to work great for awhile. After a time -- when water and dirt infiltrate the motor is when the issues seem to arise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they have it sorted out -- but I am just not sure they are there yet.

A slight digression -- but seems the scuttlebutt is that 2016 will be major changes for the Husky line. Anyone have any idea what direction those changes will be or will it just be more refinements? I am in the market for a new bike soon and I am on about a 3 year cycle -- would like to know what's coming so I can plan accordingly. Beta will likely be just further refinements, but am curious if KTM/Husky has a two stroke redesign in the works. Put another way -- I may have to actually shoot someone if I buy a KTM/Husky with the old estart and in 2016 they redesign it to be like the Beta.
 
If GasGas is still around today, Beta will surely be around in 4 years! Beta is over 100 yrs old and contract mfgs. most of KTMs stuff anyway. Private owned, no debts, no union problems, looks like a solid operation to me. These bikes will be a lot more mainstream soon, the aftermarket is in full development mode now. Boisedave, you brought up a good point about time spent on a hobby and this is exactly why I did dump the GGs and buy the Beta. Its a very easy ownership experience. No screw ups to re-engineer, prep/ride/service, go about your business. More time training or running my dogs than fixing junk. Starter is a perfect example. In addition to perfect function, it and the ignition are ZERO maintanence, never have to remove the cover, like a 4stroke. Funny about those TXCs, my brother's '12 has been fine. But there you go, you have to draw conclusions from more than one data point.
 
Tinken said:
I never had any of those issues you guys are talking about, my e start works every time. And of course I know how to tune a carburetor, I don't rely on kits. A poorly tuned carburetor will make definitely ruin an outing. The new Husky's are not sticker slaps as everyone seems to claim. The geometry is different as well as the engine tuning.
Click to expand...

Is this true? I was under the impression it was an xcw motor with linkage and berg subframe. what is different about the geometry and engine?
 
GMP said:
If GasGas is still around today, Beta will surely be around in 4 years! Beta is over 100 yrs old and contract mfgs. most of KTMs stuff anyway. Private owned, no debts, no union problems, looks like a solid operation to me. These bikes will be a lot more mainstream soon, the aftermarket is in full development mode now. Boisedave, you brought up a good point about time spent on a hobby and this is exactly why I did dump the GGs and buy the Beta. Its a very easy ownership experience. No screw ups to re-engineer, prep/ride/service, go about your business. More time training or running my dogs than fixing junk. Starter is a perfect example. In addition to perfect function, it and the ignition are ZERO maintanence, never have to remove the cover, like a 4stroke. Funny about those TXCs, my brother's '12 has been fine. But there you go, you have to draw conclusions from more than one data point.
Click to expand...

Great point -- FWIW -- I have 100% confidence that Beta will exist going forward [its 100 year history] is proof of longevity and a reasonable indicator. But what about the IMPORTER? That is a slightly different issue. Look at what Gas Gas is going through. I have no doubt you will be able to buy a Beta in Madrid or Geneva in 2018, but what about in Boise? Just don't know yet.
 
seems like they have been building momentum in the last few years, first with the four strokes and now with the 250/300, they have an investment in the US market with talented riders on team and so far they sell every bike they send over so I don't see why they would give it up.

I heard from a few different sources that GAS GAS treated their their US importer like crap....bad business on their part. You have a huge US market looking for something other than orange and you screw around the only US guy working hard to promote your brand? 10 years ago they where something good, today??

Beta seems the recognize a void that needed to filled and really did well on their first shot....I can't wait to own one!
 
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