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 The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.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

630 vs 701 thoughts

P

proeasy

Husqvarna
AA Class
While the power level of the 701 is enticing, the price is almost twice what I paid for my 630 new. (those days are perhaps gone forever)

Not bashing KTM/Austrian Husky's but the 690's all my buddies have been a bit problematic, to include a recent broken countershaft on a 690 of one freind

Need some positive reinforcement here to keep my 630 and save my money, but seriously would like to have some feedback from people who have ridden both. Most my ridding in the Midwest, Michigan ORV trails, Fire Roads in Tellico TN, etc.

Paul
 
The only thing I see out there that could entice me away from the 630 would be a dual-sported 501s/500exc. I've come to accept I'm not getting any younger, stronger, or taller and will eventually need a lighter bike for stuff like the Kentucky Adventure Trail, Silverton Colorado, and Moab type trips. For me, a kitted 701 is no lighter or easier to handle than a 630 and I don't need more power or a close ratio gearbox.

.
 
There was a similar discussion on this thread:
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/701-enduros-real-ds-capabilities.87617/
I had a 630 for five years - terrific bike but was getting on in mileage (28,000km) & I’d had a few mechanical issues so wanted to trade up.

The choices were a 701 or 501. I bought the 701 on the advice of dealers, although my heart said 501. It is fantastic on road if ridden as a SM style bike, hard on the gas & brakes. But it’s pretty hard on the body for extended expressway work - quite revvy & unrelaxed compared with the 630, although far more power & awesome acceleration. It is not bad in the dirt, similar to the 630, although it’s gearing is too tall in the lower gears yet too low in top. Both it & 630 are too heavy for really difficult off-road work.

Because the 701 was too highly geared & too heavy for real off road work I also bought a new 2016 501, so now have both. Although there is a crossover, the 701 is better for the longer, more open rides, the 501 for hard rides. As my riding is off-road biased, if I could have just one it’d be the 501 - it can do everything the 701 can on road, but is significantly better off. The reverse is not true of 701, ie it can’t do everything the 501 can off road.

Either 701 or 501 are a worthy replacement for the 630, the choice depends on how tough your off road riding is. And don’t believe all you read about 701/690 reliability, mine’s been great so far - 6,000km & 14 months. I’m indeed fortunate to own both these awesome machines.

Repost from other thread:
Hi Glenn,

The 701's engine is far more powerful & aggressive than the 630's. It maintains speeds above 100kmh far more easily & will cruise at 130kmh all day. Unlike the lazy, loping engine of the 630, the harder you rev it the better it goes & feels - incredible acceleration for a single & blows the 630 away. I have a mate who has an 800 GS & 701 accelerates noticeably harder.

But it's not a comfortable bike for droning along an expressway. It'll do it easily, but can be hard work on the rider as it feels somewhat hard & revvy. Far better to find the winding side roads & enjoy it SM style, then it's an absolute blast.

Range from 13 liter tank is around 280kms with light to medium riding, less when you're up it. Far better economy than my 630 ever achieved.

Service is easy - 10,000km, although I get mine done every rear tyre change, ~3,000km. Mechanically it's been perfect except for the clutch lost function - leaked fluid into motor, fixed under warranty & no subsequent problems. Build quality is high, none of the quirks of the Italian built Husky.

It's a far more engaging bike than the 630 due to its sheer hp/acceration & how quickly it spins up. But probably not as good an all rounder as its gearing is inferior - too narrow a box so a little too tall off road & a little short on. Not as relaxing on the road either, as the 630 has that relaxed feel due to less revvy motor & taller gearing in top.

I have no regrets about trading from the 630 to 701, but note I did also then buy a 501 as the 701 wasn't doing it for me in tight off road.

Please note above comments are about a 2016 701 - 2017 model has the Duke motor, which has increased HP (67 to 70) and a second balancing shaft, so is reportedly as smooth as a twin. Take one of those for a test ride - I expect you'd love it!4A3C71CB-288A-4B87-8697-288B11D2D2E3.jpeg 9EDDACE5-9FD4-4347-9A38-9DA48377D7E5.jpeg
 
As a resume: my brother had the 701 and sold it because is a "hard enduro bike" , not a "trail bike" like the TE630. So I kept my TE630 while he sold his 701. 701 is by far much unconfortable than the TE630. But, yes, I agree is more powerfull and has better suspensions. But a trail bike is not all about suspensions and engine power... and both can climb the same difficult tough terrain in first gear, althoug the TE630 will do it in a more relaxing way (the 701 engine is more "nervous")

In fact KTM and Husky-Austria don't trick us as they don't show their bikes as trail ones.

Keep your TE630 :)

Here you can read a complete report about both bikes... as long as you undertand Spanish language :)

http://www.motostrail.com/vb2011/threads/35186-Comparativa-Husqvarna-TE630-vs-701
 
I guess the 701 supermoto vs 610/630 sm is not a fair comparison. I have yet to try a 690/701 but I guess the narrow gearbox is not an issue on tarmac, and the thing is just a goddamn rocket while being much more modern... I dunno, I've sat on a 701 and really liked it. But it's at least 8000 euros on the used market
 
proeasy said:
While the power level of the 701 is enticing, the price is almost twice what I paid for my 630 new. (those days are perhaps gone forever)

Not bashing KTM/Austrian Husky's but the 690's all my buddies have been a bit problematic, to include a recent broken countershaft on a 690 of one freind

Need some positive reinforcement here to keep my 630 and save my money, but seriously would like to have some feedback from people who have ridden both. Most my ridding in the Midwest, Michigan ORV trails, Fire Roads in Tellico TN, etc.

Paul
Click to expand...
Beta 500RR-S, I have two 630 SMS for a reason: I personally think it's one of the best bikes ever made. The 690 test Road did not have a good gearbox. Unless your racing, whatever feels best is best.
 
I test rode a couple of 701s. Absolutely stonking engine!
I also tested a SWM 650.

The 701 felt smaller all over than the SWM. Which would make it cramped for the taller rider (6'+).

I bought the SWM 650 as it has a far better set of g'box ratios for dirt and road.

The only -ve so far -the SWM 'seat' is the most uncomfortable 'seat' I've ever had the misfortune to use!.
 
I love everything about the 701 (and 690) except its gear box ratios, what were they thinking. For the price it should also come better prepped for DS life such as a bigger fuel tank proper hand guards and bash plate. The SWM is pretty darn good value for money but still needs a few bucks to complete the job-don't they all.
 
ghte said:
...better prepped for DS life such as a bigger fuel tank proper hand guards and bash plate. ...but still needs a few bucks to complete the job-don't they all.
Click to expand...

I'd agree. Now that said I think some of the strategy is that many of these things are very much a matter of personal preference/need so, on the one hand, it makes sense that the manufacturers leave it to the aftermarket. Tank size...type/material of bash plate...those are the kinds of things that different people are going to want very different types of- depending on what their mission is.
 
Hi Eric, I will concede to you on a couple of points, however the fuel tank size is beyond the pall for a bike of that capacity. Also the gearing would probably annoy over time.
A lot to be said re the KTM/Husky501 and Beta 500 being in the DS lime light.
 
Yes- agreed. My comments were more “in general” as it pertains to some of the logic (or lack there of, in some instances) of manufacturers.

I appreciate this thread. My 630 is getting up in mileage and I keep thinking about what’s next, but just haven’t seen anything that’s as good of an all arounder as the TE.
 
EricV said:
Yes- agreed. My comments were more “in general” as it pertains to some of the logic (or lack there of, in some instances) of manufacturers.

I appreciate this thread. My 630 is getting up in mileage and I keep thinking about what’s next, but just haven’t seen anything that’s as good of an all arounder as the TE.
Click to expand...
Yes there is
It is a RS650R swm
 
It may be worth holding onto the 630 a bit longer and wait to see how the CCM or PR offerings do. Both will use the same engine as the SWM, but in a higher-end overall package. Things like a cush drive, higher-spec suspension, more fuel capacity, ... They will be more pricey, but a stronger comparison with the 701 than the budget-friendly RS650R.
 
I dont think SWM will sell the RS650R on the USA, just the DUAL (wich is more dualsport then offroad and a lot heavier).
I have a 650 and for the price i think it is a very good bike.
From stock i think they need a single can (looses lots of weight) and a remap (just like the te630 they are very lean), an cushhub and send the fork to a shop (also same as the 630).

You could probably buy a swm dual X and remove weight (subframe is steel ).

Having said this, the 701 will be better offroad, and if money is not a concern it is probably the best buy (also it will have a lot better resale value)

PS - In my case i couldnt justify paying 11k euros for the 701 when i could buy the SWM for 6k (i am a slow rider and have a te250 for the enduro rides)
 
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