TM- part of what makes up Huskies' current rep is 'Ease of Service'
Let me repeat that: 'Ease of service'!
Changing the new CS is not a 'few minutes' type job, but will be typically in excess of an hour and requiring a good cleaning of the rear suspension parts first. I agree that the mechanical traction advantage is a good one, but could be executed better regarding servicing a high wear item like the CS sprocket.
The new design is fine for a pro rider that has a mechanic doing all his bike work, but not really ideal for the typical offroad guy(which is 90%+ of the market). It doesn't make sense to remove the rear suspension to replace an item that many guys will R&R several times a year( or, in some cases on a weekly or ride by ride basis). Last fall, the organizer of the Cord Enduro went thru 3 CS sprockets in a couple weeks prepping the course. Something tells me he wouldn't have appreciated having a 1-2 hour job ahead of him each time for that necessity.
It doesn't sound like you've needed to dewater a bike on the trail - you quickly appreciate having easy air filter/carb/injector and sparkplug access when you're out in gods country with a bike full of water. especially when you've had to do it numerous times.
PS- I ride lots of mud/rocks also and never had a Masterlink fail- I leave them on for over 6000km each. Even so, I always have a spare with me.
Ok so let's talk the pluses,.......Ever ride a current generation Husky through any water? If it's up the the axles you have to baby step through it or you're sucking in water, plain and simple. Just ask Glenn Kearney/Wyatt Seals or the several HSQ's I've been with/on the trail. With the new BMW design, water has to be to your knee caps (while riding/feet on the pegs) before you're even thinking about sucking water and the air filter maintenance is MUCH simpler then the HSQ current platform. That is something anyone and everyone can relate to. It's almost idiot proof, but it needs servicing about 1/3 of the interval because it sucks in cleaner and drier air. It also allows gravity to let the big chunks fall to the bottom of the box as to not impede the filter whatsoever.
Poke, why do you assume that the rear suspension has to be taken off? I can't say with certainty you don't have to remove it on the new HSQ set up, but on my BMW I do not remove the rear shock at all, in fact it helps make the CS sprocket change that much easier. I remove rear wheel to get enough chain slack (an take off some weight from the swing arm), I then loosen the left swing arm pivot pinch bolt, I then take off the left pivot cap, then loosen the right swing arm pinch bolts, then remove pivot shaft all together. At that point the rear swing arm is a pendulum on the shock and will swing back out of the way of the CS sprocket. I then take off two 8mm bolts from the CS and lock ring. Slide sprocket off, insert other one and reverse the process with one alteration to the torque sequence of the pivot assembly. Cleaning of the pivot areas in contact with chain goo and grease takes about 20 seconds with a rag and brake clean. The only special service tool is a grease gun to re-grease the pivot after everything is assembled. However in a pinch it could be done at camp or the track and re-lubed when you get home, but best to shoot a shot or two of grease back in after assembly or after cleaning the bike up from a ride. It's much like greasing the king pin of an old four wheel drive, just add enough to see the CS seal spew a bubble on each side and you're off! I don't know if HSQ has revised this set-up, but I'm sure they've changed it up a tad as the frame is different for sure. I've got to the point where I have two rear wheels as I use the bike for dual sport and single track. So I have my dirt wheel and DS wheel with dirt wheel having a 51 tooth rear sprocket and the DS wheel a 47 tooth sprocket and now don't feel the need to change out the 15th CS sprocket. I can flip the rear axle block and take up most all of the slack with only a little adjustment of the chain tension. I also got over 80 hours on a stock rear aluminum sprocket and probably had another 20 - 30 to go when I replaced it last month, done that lately? I thought it was pretty good compared to my maintenance on HSQ, KTM and Yammy dirt bikes prior. The constant chain tension is very nice in both tractability and maintenance costs.
On the BMW G450X Spark plug access is a tad bit more involved, but nothing that couldn't be done on a side of a trail with an 8mm socket/driver and a spark plug puller, 3 bolts and the bottom of air box comes off with two quick release tabs (however with 3 zeus fasteners instead of 3 8mm body bolts you could get to the spark plug in 1 minute with no tools! However read the air box part and how difficult it is to swallow water on this set-up, so the likely hood of having to get to a spark plug with the fuel injection and unlikely chance of swallowing water on the trail is very very mute!
The new KTM XC's don't have a kick start and they are carbed, so this is the direction things are going in. If you don't trust the OEM battery, get one of them high dollar new-tech Iron Ferride batteries the size of a cigarette pack that can start a Toyota for $400 and you'll not be worried about reserve battery power for Estart.
last year I raced two AMA series (enduro and harescramble). I think I changed the CS twice....not a big deal. It obviously has to be somewhat more work but does anyone else offer a bike with this CS location and next generation rear suspension? Nope.
) I'll offer to do this on Bobby's BMW too, but it's obviously different.
