• 4 Stroke Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Italy - About 1989 to 2014
     TE = 4st Enduro & TC = 4st 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 The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.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!

TE449 for tight technical single track?

My TE310 is well sorted out -great power, good handling, But....it still feels like a tank in technical stuff compared to my smokers. If you are learning, aggressive, and really want the challenge of technical trails, buy a used smoker that will be 30 lbs lighter with a lower CG. You don't need an electric start with a decently jetted smoker.
 
I agree 2 smokers are lighter and more fun, but their power is a lot more 'on/off' then 4 strokers... It sounds like the OP has more trouble with the 'on/off' power of these race bikes. More practice is all you really need, whether it's on 4 strokes or 2 stroke race bikes. More saddle time = more comfortable riding the bike.
 
Two strokes are lighter and easier to handle because of that factor. But their power-band is not linear like it is on the 449 which makes the 449 very comfortable to ride, especially for novice riders. Though the 310 is a four stroke, it does tend to produce more power in the upper rpms. This can be tuned lower with a bomb type header and a powercommander.
 
For the kind of technical trails I ride, horsepower takes a back seat to weight and controllable power delivery.

Not all 2smokes are the same. Some have very linear power curves...even including some MX engines (the later models are better that way). I personally prefer highly modified old KDX's for the really technical stuff...I've owned every conceivable brand and type of bike and nothing beats the lower saddle height, low weight (222# dry even with heavy stock exhaust), four-stroke low-end power, etc. - the main thing for improvement is putting modern forks on them. The newer KTM 200 exc (or whatever they call them now) is about the same weight and even has electric start, also has a lower saddle height and is advertised to be tuned for more grunt now.

But I've also modified mx'rs with heavier flywheels, aftermarket torque pipes, etc. and you end up with a superior tight trail bike, IMO - but the suspensions must be revalved to work well.

When I talk technical trail I'm talking 1st-3rd gear stuff, sometimes getting over-center, pucker-inspiring off-camber, etc., but rewards with a heavy-rush when accomplished kind-of-stuff, LOL. The occasional get-off and resultant bike-lifting drama is expected. A light responsive bike is everything under those conditions. If the OP is like me and never ceases the learning process, a thumper can be a liability under those conditions... any thumper, IMO. I'm not trying to say they're inferior, just that one tool works better than another for certain jobs.
 
While there is much to agree with in your analysis, I have yet to find a carbed 2-stroke that can match a well set up EFI 4-stroke for power delivery......getting to that 'well set up' state has been a challenge for all manufacturers, but I find my 511/449 to be very confidence inspiring on any sort of trail. Unless a trials bike is the best answer, then the 449 will work fine IMHO.
 
Rider size and weight is going to play a big part in how people view the different sizes of bikes as well - I am ~6' and although I weigh a bit more than I should picking up a 275-300# bike 30 times in a day is not something that bothers me physically nor does the effort that a heavier bike takes to muscle around in the tight stuff.

One of my riding buddies has a CRF 250X and I find it a bit underpowered for my personal preference and weight where he finds my 449 a bit overpowered for his personal preference and the fact that he is stick man that weighs ~85#'s less.
 
It would be nice to have lower saddles on all bikes, like 33-35 inches instead of the normal 37-39 inches, but that would mean less clearance under the bike - and that could be dangerous when coming up on a rock or bump.

As for weight , I have a TE250 and WR450F , and I only weigh a buck forty or so without gear. When I'm riding the bikes, even on tougher trails, I can barely sense the difference in weight. Lifting the bikes, well yah, it's tougher with the 450f but it ain't exactly easy with the lighter (by about 20lbs) TE250 either. The suspension/shocks really helps hide most of the weight imo when riding. The TE250 is great if I want to go fast through the trails because it's easy to whip around. But at the same time, lugging through some techical trails on the 450 is just as rewarding. I use the TE250 when I'm in race mode, and my 450 for recreational , enjoying the trail. That's not to say it couldn't go as fast through , but my size and experience just doesn't dictate that yet.

It's always nice to have something to grow into so you don't keep adding to the stable :cool:
 
I love the 449 because you can be lazy and still pull through everything. It really hides the weight well when you're rolling. Not to mention it has enough power to scare the hell out of you when you twist the throttle :). I wouldn't recommend any of the Huskies or other race bikes until you can react well in panic mode because all of them get you from point A to B really fast :). I always went by the saying, "I'd rather ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow" but I've come to realize I'm always going to be slow lol. Might as well get the one I have the most fun on :)
 
OP here. Thanks to all for the great input. Man, I wish the rental TE310 had been setup right. As it is, I am not confident that it would be a real improvement to my 1998 XR250R. I did 50 miles on the XR on Saturday and it loves the super tight technical single track. On a few occassions, I hit both bar ends simultaneously on small pine trees (that luckily yield a bit). And I was keeping up just fine with my two friends who are much more experienced riders --- one on a KTM 350 XCFW and the other on a YZ250. I kept thinking I wouldn't, given my skill level, be able to keep up on the more high strung TE310. The XR is just so forgiving and easy to ride. Perhaps I should spend another year on the XR, learning to ride and learning about other bikes. Yet, I could get a new TE310R for under $6,000 today. Well, you all can't make my decision for me.
 
worstell said:
OP here. Thanks to all for the great input. Man, I wish the rental TE310 had been setup right. As it is, I am not confident that it would be a real improvement to my 1998 XR250R. I did 50 miles on the XR on Saturday and it loves the super tight technical single track. On a few occassions, I hit both bar ends simultaneously on small pine trees (that luckily yield a bit). And I was keeping up just fine with my two friends who are much more experienced riders --- one on a KTM 350 XCFW and the other on a YZ250. I kept thinking I wouldn't, given my skill level, be able to keep up on the more high strung TE310. The XR is just so forgiving and easy to ride. Perhaps I should spend another year on the XR, learning to ride and learning about other bikes. Yet, I could get a new TE310R for under $6,000 today. Well, you all can't make my decision for me.
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sometime the grass simply is not greener on the other side. The XR is a nice EZ to ride bike and works for you. The 310 might end up being a handful and not good to you and will for sure be harder to work on and maintain. Run that XR if it is making you happy. :cheers:
 
My old IT200 is a great trail bike at just 220 lbs. It had smooth power delivery for 1984 technology and great top end thanks to the ProTec 232 kit. However, I can ride the same little trails on my 449 with less effort thanks to better brakes and suspension. Once you get used to a bike, the only limiting factors are your skills and judgement.

If you think that's not a true statement, just watch On Any Sunday. Those guys were scary fast on HEAVY bikes with crappy brakes and little suspension. :notworthy:
 
Yep ride what you are comfortable with and that will always be more fun.. especially since you aren't racing. Plus those XR motors from what I hear are bulletproof, and probably get better gas mileage which is important if you are far out in the bush.

But damn $6k for a TE310R is a sweeeeet deal
 
I had a very, veery, VERY tricked out XR that saw 20 states and 3 countries. Now i have a new Husky that thanks to ZTR is a very nice bike. Love them both but NOTHING beats the e-button when u stall on a single track while traveling along a Sierra Mountain cliff face.
 
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