• 2 Stroke Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Italy - About 1989 to 2014
     WR = 2st Enduro & CR = 2st Cross

  • 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 The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.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!

250-500cc '09 WR300 feedback sought

V

vntgmx

Husqvarna
AA Class
Did a search and read what was on here for '09 WR300s but being they've been out for a bit now I'd like to hear the good and the bad from you WR300 owners after living with it thru a riding season?
One thing I'd like to know is what is the weight on them? I ask because I notice folks saying it could stand to lose a few pounds.
Thanks and looking forward to some feedback.
 
I would like to see some stuff too. I'm on the precipice. I just sold my Gas Gas 300 (which I loved... best handling bike I've ever had). I must decide, new Husky, or another Gas Gas. Certianly I'd need to transition and get new stuff, and get aquanted with the Husky, but I really really like them. I've had two Husky's previously, and they were rock solid performers, but it's been 11 years, and lots of things have changed.
 
Add bark busters, skid plate, pipe guard, and fill it full of gas it will tip the scale at about 250 lbs.

Walt
 
The good:
-motor makes superb power. Doesn't stall, non-explosive power delivery and screams like a banshee up top.
-handling is very stable. I've had mine up to 70mph in the central OR desert and not a hint of headshake or instability
-turns remarkably well IMO
-Makes great traction both front and rear
-Major components have been bulletproof (although I have some fit and finish gripes)
-Brakes are other wordly (after riding Nissin equipped bikes for so long)
-I think the suspension is very good. Others disagree. It handles my 220#'s pretty damn good for OEM suspension.

The bad:
-FIT AND FINISH. Shift lever gouges the clutch cover, mudflap support ribs eat into swingarm weld and I've lost a few bolts along the way. Like the kickstarter bolt in the middle of nowhere... a little loctite please!
Stuff that should have been fixed LONG before the bike left Italy.
-Weight. She aint no slim and trim MX'er. Still far more manageable than a 450 IMO.
-Stock tires. Junk.

Ummm.... that about sums up my opinions. I love the bike regardless of the minor annoyances.

I am super comfortable on it and absolutely love the motor. I think it's softer on the bottom than the KTM counterpart, but once it gets up top it makes some serious power. I can ride it all day and not get nearly as tired as any 450 or my YZ250.

It's just as happy lugging all day or screaming 5th gear wide-open in the dez. Very versatile.

Roostafish,
if you feel like driving up north then you can test ride one. Or I may head down to Shotgun Creek sometime soon... depending on snow level.
 
Good comments all. As far as fit and finish, the early Gas Gas was almost a kit bike. The newer ones are very very nice. Once I sorted my first one, I was hooked on the handling. One major gripe I have with the Gasser is that it is certainly not a mechanics bike. Lots of PITAS when working on them. No big deal if you're trail riding, or even racing a one day event, but I'm going to try to qualify for the ISDE, and there's peace of mind in a reliable bike, that is also very easy to wrench on, just in case the unthinkable happens.

I think my race would be over if I had to actually dig into the engine anyway, but, even plug access is super easy on the Husky. ISDE, advantage husky. As far as riding, the Husky would have to be an awfully lot better than they used to be to make me think that it outperforms a Gas Gas, plus, I'm used to the Gas Gas chassis. Advatage Gas Gas.

PC, I'd love to show you our secret stash at Shotgun. I'll have to borrow a bike!
 
PC.;62667 said:
The good:
-motor makes superb power. Doesn't stall, non-explosive power delivery and screams like a banshee up top.
-handling is very stable. I've had mine up to 70mph in the central OR desert and not a hint of headshake or instability
-turns remarkably well IMO
-Makes great traction both front and rear
-Major components have been bulletproof (although I have some fit and finish gripes)
-Brakes are other wordly (after riding Nissin equipped bikes for so long)
-I think the suspension is very good. Others disagree. It handles my 220#'s pretty damn good for OEM suspension.

The bad:
-FIT AND FINISH. Shift lever gouges the clutch cover, mudflap support ribs eat into swingarm weld and I've lost a few bolts along the way. Like the kickstarter bolt in the middle of nowhere... a little loctite please!
Stuff that should have been fixed LONG before the bike left Italy.
-Weight. She aint no slim and trim MX'er. Still far more manageable than a 450 IMO.
-Stock tires. Junk.

Ummm.... that about sums up my opinions. I love the bike regardless of the minor annoyances.

I am super comfortable on it and absolutely love the motor. I think it's softer on the bottom than the KTM counterpart, but once it gets up top it makes some serious power. I can ride it all day and not get nearly as tired as any 450 or my YZ250.

It's just as happy lugging all day or screaming 5th gear wide-open in the dez. Very versatile.

Roostafish,
if you feel like driving up north then you can test ride one. Or I may head down to Shotgun Creek sometime soon... depending on snow level.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the feedback! :thumbsup:
 
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