motosapiens
Husqvarna
A Class
Well, I've got a whopping 3 rides on my new bike, for less than 200 miles, but that's enough for me to make some observations, so here they are. FWIW (so you can take everything I say with sufficient contextual grains of salt), i'm 6'2", 170-ish naked, 200 lbs fully geared up with lots of tools, 100oz camelback, etc.... I'm a midpack racer in the A/expert class in desert and enduro. On the more open courses (like SIDRA races) i'm more in the back half, and in the more technical stuff (national h+h, most enduros, except really easy ones like china hat) I'm more towards the front half. I tend to shortshift and lug my bikes most of the time, and carry momentum as much as possible. I don't do a lot of tire-spinning, even in races. I ride 52 weekends a year, plus some weekdays and weeklong riding vacations for a total of around 120 ride days every year, or around 6000-7000 miles yearly.
Dirt Bikes I have owned:
2001 klx300 (sold in 2006 with 7,000 or so miles)
2002 ktm 300exc (sold in 2007 with 14,000 or so miles)
2004 ktm 250sx (sold friday with 8,000 or so miles)
2005 husaberg fe550 (currently around 5500 miles, looking to sell).
2007 kx250 (210 hrs, my normal race bike for the last year).
2008 ktm 200xcw (9500 miles, my normal mtn riding bike)
Observations:
Ergonomics: pretty much spot-on for my height. With the bars in the forward position, the husky fits me better than any other stock bike by far. The bars could come up another 1/4" perhaps, but compared to most bikes that need a tall seat, low pegs, new bars or bar mounts, etc..., this bike fits.
Suspension: Not sure what other people complain about. I went up 1 click of rebound front and rear, and the bike works great for the idaho desert. It's much better in the rocks than my kx250 (revalved for desert racing and mx playriding), and it's pretty similar in the faster stuff. It's not as plush as my 200 (revalved by trailtricks for technical rocky mountain singletrack) but it can take much bigger hits. Both ends stay high in the stroke and don't do anything scary over big hits. I put the forks at the first line (5mm?) above the clamps. There is a hint of instability at warp speed, so I may either lower the forks a bit more, increase the sag a couple mm, or just fit a proper tire that will raise the front end up slightly (like a bridgestone 403). The only odd thing was trying to figure out how to reach the rebound screw. That stymied me for a while, but then i figured out a long thin screwdriver, stuck between the swingarm and chainguide (underneath the swingarm) while I lean over the bike from the other side, weighting it with my tummy, allows easy access.
Jetting: Not sure what other people complain about. All I did (based on suggestions here) was lower the needle 1 clip. pilot and main are stock. bike starts easily with choke when cold. won't really start without choke when cold. Runs very clean from Idle on up, and seems pretty well-behaved to me. After the countless hours I have spent walking the fine line between detonation and being too rich to easily start hot (kx), I find this refreshing. I'm not sure what I would have to gain by buying the full-power kit, or a keihin carb. The float level is a bit high, so I'm getting some overflow if put it on the stand on non-level ground. Planning to fix that right away. I checked for airleaks around the reed cage by letting it idle and squirting carb cleaner around the reed cage. Doesn't appear to have any, but when I set the float level I'll probably throw some silicone sealer or gasket seal stuff on there just to sleep better at night.
Handling:
I was really impressed with the 2007 wr250 I tried a couple years ago, and I like this bike better. Front and rear cornering traction is unreal, and the bike seems to position me in just the right place to make it all work. On my 200 I feel like i'm hanging off the back a bit sometimes, and I have to think about getting forward. Not on the husky. This is the best-cornering dirtbike i have ridden.
Motor: mmmmmmmmmm. I love this motor. Pulls strong from 4 rpm, with no sudden hit or scary issues. It works really well with my riding style. A little more vibration than my 200 (duh) or my kx, but the addition of pro-taper pillow-top grips prevented me from noticing that after the first ride.
Weird stuff and drawbacks:
Clutch drag makes starting in gear kinda hit and miss. I currently have motul 10-40 2t tranny oil in there. I'll probably try something lighter. I run atf in all my other 2strokes. I know my 250sx got bad clutch drag with 10-40 motor oil, but it went away with atf.
Stock odometer is completely worthless. It only shows the display when the motor is running. WTF? Trailtech ordered. It appears the connections are the same as the ktm odometers and some of the trailtechs tho.
Compared to a ktm, the owner's manual is not all that useful, unless you have a linguistic background and are interested to see how madly english can be massacred by non-native speakers.
Best of all, it doesn't come with a crappy unreliable overpriced sissy-girl e-starter that doesn't even work half the time and requires extra maintenance. I know some people love the estart on the ktm 250-300, but that's the main reason I bought a 200 in 2008 and looked so hard at the husky this time around. If i'm gonna spend an extra $400-500, it should at least be for something that WORKS, like a rekluse, or a suspension revalve, or some more homebrewing equipment, or another small 9mm.
Bottom line, after getting the suspension and jetting slightly tweaked, I'm stoked on the bike, and planning on racing it in the idaho round of the national hare and hound championships next weekend.
Thanks to all here for the advice in choosing the bike, and the advice in setup after purchase.
Dirt Bikes I have owned:
2001 klx300 (sold in 2006 with 7,000 or so miles)
2002 ktm 300exc (sold in 2007 with 14,000 or so miles)
2004 ktm 250sx (sold friday with 8,000 or so miles)
2005 husaberg fe550 (currently around 5500 miles, looking to sell).
2007 kx250 (210 hrs, my normal race bike for the last year).
2008 ktm 200xcw (9500 miles, my normal mtn riding bike)
Observations:
Ergonomics: pretty much spot-on for my height. With the bars in the forward position, the husky fits me better than any other stock bike by far. The bars could come up another 1/4" perhaps, but compared to most bikes that need a tall seat, low pegs, new bars or bar mounts, etc..., this bike fits.
Suspension: Not sure what other people complain about. I went up 1 click of rebound front and rear, and the bike works great for the idaho desert. It's much better in the rocks than my kx250 (revalved for desert racing and mx playriding), and it's pretty similar in the faster stuff. It's not as plush as my 200 (revalved by trailtricks for technical rocky mountain singletrack) but it can take much bigger hits. Both ends stay high in the stroke and don't do anything scary over big hits. I put the forks at the first line (5mm?) above the clamps. There is a hint of instability at warp speed, so I may either lower the forks a bit more, increase the sag a couple mm, or just fit a proper tire that will raise the front end up slightly (like a bridgestone 403). The only odd thing was trying to figure out how to reach the rebound screw. That stymied me for a while, but then i figured out a long thin screwdriver, stuck between the swingarm and chainguide (underneath the swingarm) while I lean over the bike from the other side, weighting it with my tummy, allows easy access.
Jetting: Not sure what other people complain about. All I did (based on suggestions here) was lower the needle 1 clip. pilot and main are stock. bike starts easily with choke when cold. won't really start without choke when cold. Runs very clean from Idle on up, and seems pretty well-behaved to me. After the countless hours I have spent walking the fine line between detonation and being too rich to easily start hot (kx), I find this refreshing. I'm not sure what I would have to gain by buying the full-power kit, or a keihin carb. The float level is a bit high, so I'm getting some overflow if put it on the stand on non-level ground. Planning to fix that right away. I checked for airleaks around the reed cage by letting it idle and squirting carb cleaner around the reed cage. Doesn't appear to have any, but when I set the float level I'll probably throw some silicone sealer or gasket seal stuff on there just to sleep better at night.
Handling:
I was really impressed with the 2007 wr250 I tried a couple years ago, and I like this bike better. Front and rear cornering traction is unreal, and the bike seems to position me in just the right place to make it all work. On my 200 I feel like i'm hanging off the back a bit sometimes, and I have to think about getting forward. Not on the husky. This is the best-cornering dirtbike i have ridden.
Motor: mmmmmmmmmm. I love this motor. Pulls strong from 4 rpm, with no sudden hit or scary issues. It works really well with my riding style. A little more vibration than my 200 (duh) or my kx, but the addition of pro-taper pillow-top grips prevented me from noticing that after the first ride.
Weird stuff and drawbacks:
Clutch drag makes starting in gear kinda hit and miss. I currently have motul 10-40 2t tranny oil in there. I'll probably try something lighter. I run atf in all my other 2strokes. I know my 250sx got bad clutch drag with 10-40 motor oil, but it went away with atf.
Stock odometer is completely worthless. It only shows the display when the motor is running. WTF? Trailtech ordered. It appears the connections are the same as the ktm odometers and some of the trailtechs tho.
Compared to a ktm, the owner's manual is not all that useful, unless you have a linguistic background and are interested to see how madly english can be massacred by non-native speakers.
Best of all, it doesn't come with a crappy unreliable overpriced sissy-girl e-starter that doesn't even work half the time and requires extra maintenance. I know some people love the estart on the ktm 250-300, but that's the main reason I bought a 200 in 2008 and looked so hard at the husky this time around. If i'm gonna spend an extra $400-500, it should at least be for something that WORKS, like a rekluse, or a suspension revalve, or some more homebrewing equipment, or another small 9mm.
Bottom line, after getting the suspension and jetting slightly tweaked, I'm stoked on the bike, and planning on racing it in the idaho round of the national hare and hound championships next weekend.
Thanks to all here for the advice in choosing the bike, and the advice in setup after purchase.
