Ferderer
Husqvarna
AA Class
My name is Nate Ferderer, I'm 20 years old, from Minnesota, and race District 23. I won the overall harescramble and enduro championships in MN the past two years on a yz250f. I study mechanical engineering at the Univeristy of Wisconsin Madison full time (Go Badgers). To help ease the costs of racing, I decided to race a Husqvarna because of the great contingency program, I chose the 2012 TC250. I picked up the bike from Heinen’s motorsports in Osseo MN (great price!!) in late April, and raced it the day after my first ride. I wrote up a race report for each event, along with some of my experiences with the Husqvarna.
Race 1: 4/29 D16 (Adams WI) opening Harescramble, 19 AA racers, 81 total racers – 3rd Overall
Saturday, 4/28 was my first ride on my TC250. I immediately felt comfortable on the bike, I liked the no-nonsense handling and the kayaba SSS suspension was familiar to me. The bike felt slightly slower than my old Yamaha, but it was competitive. For Sunday, I was a little nervous racing the unfamiliar bike, but I was still confident in my abilities. It took me two kicks to get the bike started off the line which resulted in a poor start to the race. I immediately went to work passing riders and after a couple miles was in 7th. One full lap later I made my way into 3rd. On lap 4, one hour into the race, I made some moves and was in the lead! I was riding fast on the husky but I was also making mistakes. With the engine being so new the bike seemed to stall very easy, I stalled and tipped over very frequently. After my gas stop and a couple tip overs, I got passed and went back to 4th place behind former D23 champs and multi time ISDE medalists Dylan Debel and Matt Stavish. WI champion and fellow Husqvarna rider JD Friebel also passed me. The four of us were right by each other and broke away from the rest of the field. For the last 45 minutes of the two hour race, the 4 of us went to battle swapping positions many times. I made my way into the lead about 3 times in the last 45 minutes. I was in the lead on the last lap, but then I slid out and dropped back to 3rd behind the two other MN riders. I passed back into 2nd with a mile left and my sight was set on Debel. While on his tail trying to make a last minute pass, I made a mistake and tipped over, putting me in 3rd at the finish with Debel winning and Matt Stavish taking 2nd. I was impressed with the husky’s engine, it is very easy to ride, it’s smooth and seems to have power in all areas. I quickly learned about some things I needed to do to the bike… as the skid plate fell off during the race, as did one of the lower radiator shrouds. Overall, I was happy with my first race.
Race 2: 5/6 D23 (Cambridge MN) opening Harescramble, 19 AA racers, 377 total racers, – 2nd Overall
I wasn’t able to get any time to ride the husky before the first MN race of the year because I was finishing up my semester. 6 inches of rain fell on the course the days leading up to the event, setting up for a mud race. Again I wasn’t able to start the bike on the first kick, putting me in last off the start. The start led to ½ a lap on the motocross track, I charged and passed every rider and went into the woods with the lead. Right after going into the woods, I tipped over giving up the lead to Dylan Debel. Soon after, I feel again dropping to 3rd. I calmed down after that and rode a lot better. Dylan already built a 50 second lead after the first lap, and as soon as I got back into 2nd I began to charge after him. Multiple mud and water holes littered the 7 mile course and riders were stuck everywhere. I rode smart and used my experience to get through the mud. I slowly but surely picked away at the lead and with 30 minutes left in the (shortened to) 1.5 hour race, I caught Dylan. I tried numerous times to pass for the lead, but most of the course was very difficult to pass on and every attempt failed. In the last mile or so I took a risky line through a mud hole to try to take the lead and it backfired on me, I got stuck. I was able to get out in about a minute and finished 2nd. Multi time ISDE medalist Jeff Fredette came up to MN and finished 4th overall in the muddy conditions. The husky held up through the abuse I put it through, and I started to adapt to it more.
Race 3: 5/13 D23 (Millville MN) 2nd Harescramble, 18 AA racers, 346 total racers, – 2nd Overall
Again I wasn’t able to ride the husky before this race because of school, but the race experience I was getting was helping me learn the husky’s characteristics. The start to the two hour race was live engine, hands on the helmet (stupid procedure in my opinion..) I got pulled by the bigger bikes down the start straight and ended up getting collected in a first turn pileup. I injured my foot in the crash and also broke off my lower radiator shroud again. I was bummed that I was already 50 seconds behind the leader off the start, but put my head down and charged forward. I made passes and was riding well. I went down a few times from tangling with lappers, which is always frustrating. I was within striking distance of the lead on the last lap, but got caught on a log that a worker put in an extremely deep rut which took me a long time to get out of. I finished 2nd, behind Dylan Debel. I was optimistic I would get a win soon because I knew I would be done with school in a few days.
After I finished the school year, I was able to get in more ride time. I began to really like the hydraulic clutch, although the pull isn’t easier than the Yamaha, it is nice not having to adjust free play. The front brake is awesome on the bike, it’s a big advantage for single track riding. The Easton bars are solid, and the full titanium Akrapovic exhaust is unmatched by other systems. The seat foam came pretty stiff, but when it broke in it got too soft. When I get up on the tank I bottom out to the tank very easily. I ordered some stiffer GUTS seat but I have still yet to try and see if it helps. After about 10-15 hours of time on the bike, the engine seemed to finally break in. It felt like it got more power, and now actually feels every bit as strong as my old Yamaha. Also, the bike seems to start better, especially on dead engine. The gas cap bothers me; it is very hard to get started without cross threading. The difficulty getting it screwed on has slowed down my gas stop at the Harescrambles. IMS doesn’t make a big tank for the 2012 TC, the IMS TE version fits on the TC but it needs the TE fuel pump. I am trying to get the bigger IMS tank but they are currently on backorder. After a couple weeks of riding, I was getting a lot more accustomed to the bike.
Race 4: 6/3 D23 (Huntersville MN) opening enduro, 9 AA racers, 176 total racers, – 1st Overall
I was feeling much more confident after getting more time on the bike. Perfect conditions made for a fun day of riding in the woods. The national enduro format was used, no worries about burning any checks. I rode smooth and fast while pushing through the 5 tests which added to 52 miles. The total mileage of the race was about 60 miles. I ended up scoring very well; I won every section and finished over 6 minutes ahead of second overall. 8 time D23 enduro champion Craig Holasek finished 3rd overall. During the race I was thinking to myself about how much fun this bike is to ride. This was my first win on the husky.
Before the next race I had my forks revalved by Matt Stavish, the forks were not handling big hits to my liking and the different valving helped a lot.
Race 5: 6/10 D23 (Carver MN) 3rd Harescramble, 13 AA racers, 344 total racers, – 1st Overall
Building on my win the week before, I was going to try to get my first Harescramble win on the husky. 91 and sunny on race day, the heat was a factor in the race. The start format was dead engine hands on helmet (again a format I think is stupid..) I got the bike started on the second kick and was in about 10th in the first corner. I made a strong push and got into 2nd place behind Dylan Debel right away. I felt very comfortable from the start and began pushing Debel to go faster. A couple miles into the race, Debels bike started to bog and I was able to slip into the lead. Unfortunately for Dylan, it took a while for his Husaberg 300 to “clean out” and he lost about 2 minutes time on the first lap, he recovered to finish 3rd about 4 minutes behind me. Once I got into the lead I didn’t have any racers within passing distance of me. I felt great on the bike and conserved a lot of energy in the heat to ride very consistent laps, evident by my last lap being my second fastest, only to my 1st lap. I minimized mistakes and had over a minute lead over National Enduro vet Matt Stavish who was 2nd place at the finish.
After 5 races, I am very happy with the husky. I have run into fewer problems that I anticipated, and I have been enjoying the change bike. People seem to be taking notice of the husky out front, a husky hasn’t won an overall in Minnesota in about 30 years, until now.
I attached a couple pictures, One from the mud race, one from the enduro, and one doing a whip while practice riding.
