had enough of my berg now

need advice! iv owned my fe 450 2004 model for the last 3 years, i completely stripped it down and had it fully rebuilt in march with all starter upgrades dvsk and new piston mains and all bearings and seals etc frame powdercoated, graphics seat cover tyres brake lines grips etc in total the rebuild cost me £2500 , my issue is this, after 4 hours of use i found metal shavings on the sump plug, it turned out to be the washers in the new dvs kit that were paper thin failing, i then sorted that, then my sprague bearing garter spring failed (the upgraded heavy one) and so i stripped it down again to change that, my battery wires and connectors keep breaking, the bike spits oil out the breather and down the frame into the carb all the time which i dont notice but this cant be good for the engine? the last time i went out my rear brake lost alot of pressure which turned out to be my chain hitting the rear brake master cylinder pipe on deceleration and eventually wearing through it so i spent an hour making an ali gaurd for it and tightening the chain, i replaced all wheel bearings and swingarm bearings 4 hours ago and my fronts bearings are shagged already! someone told me to change the spacers too?? thr horn has stopped working! the kill button on left hand side next to horn doesnt kill the engine, fork seals have been leaking loads and need doing! the ******* rad louvres are a useless design where the tank shrouds bolt into them!! the brass nut insert was spinning and ended up pulling out so i spent a few hours bodging it ! dont get me wrong its a 12 year old bike and i love the whole husaberg story and the rare factor of the bikes but im at my whits end now! every time i ride the bike its like im waiting for something to go wrong! i can hear the starter clutch squealing when ever the engine struggles in low revs, today i pulled the bike out the van and stood it on the side stand which then snapped and dropped the bike!! the stand had rotten on the inside!!! it boiled over in the woods the other day which i put down to the putoline coolant i recently changed too! iv had two trailtech speedos and both have failed on me!! im thinking of sorting the bike out one last time and then selling it for a newer 7o degree berg?? whats everyones thoughts? do they have lits of issues too ? and before anyone asks, i wash my bike down every use and wd40 the whole engine and mechanical rust prone parts and then coat the bike in silicone spray, always change oil regulary too, just feel like for every days riding i do i have to factor in a day fixing it back up and chucking money at it!! i have a folder full of receipts which i darent total up!! i spent so much time and effort creating a pristine bike that would last me a while but it guts me to see it falling apart and looking and riding worse everytime its used, am i the only one experiencing this or is to be expected of husaberg?? by the way the bike has done 55 hours since rebuild

thanks

Steyel

you have my total sympathy, it looks never ending. is it possible that you are making up for the previous owner's lack of work as well?

just a couple of notes:
the spacer BETWEEN the wheel bearings can lose width. when fitting new bearings, that spacer should sit held up between them. the outer spacers if 'V'd will let fresh water in. I grease behind the seals. if the seals and spacers are good then just buy new bearings.

make sure that the oil is only 2mm up the window when cold and it is 900cc to an oil change.

just watch for the wires behind the headlamp. yellow/orange are power and yellow/red are earth - I hope I have that right...... there is one yellow/red that must do nothing but hang there.

good luck....

Taffy

thanks taffy, going to take the day to show the old girl some love, then il get started on the husaberg!

are the 70 degree engined bergs good?? as oposed to a ktm? i really dont want a ktm or other mainstream bike!!

my experience of the Fi was quite good. I'm betting those that had them new may have had a slight hick-up then some good running. what those Fi and electrics are going to be like 6 years later I'm not sure. at least what does go wrong with them is well known now but that just leaves tracking the damn problems! this is the trouble.

no trouble but trouble when they are trouble!

mechanically they're very good. in the UK the 390 would be sublime, don't look any further. but my old mate Fergus (as in 'he used to be') had a 501 2003 and a 2010 390 and he could not believe how good the 390 was, but he missed the 2003 501 that badly that he bought a 2004 kokusan and keihin 501.

even then, and this is the thing, the 390 was perfect except that it knocked out the clutch basket sleeve.

mechanically, they are excellent and then you get this weird curved ball now and again.

if it helps, we prepare bikes, then re=prepare, then prepare again and then swear because we can't charge what it costs and the time it takes. it is part of Husaberg life I reckon.

Taffy

i see.....do you think these curveballs occur more than similar ktms etc? i suppose its a case of waiting for a good condition 390 thats been well looked after to come along !!! could be waiting a while!

ok taffy, im checking the starter clutch now and followibg your instructions with a torque wrench, at the minute its set at 60lb of torque!!! i take it i need to reduce this back down to 20 for safety of the starter motor??

wooops checked it in newton meter!!! its actually at 44lb of torque, still slightly high tho should i leave it??

also, just checking my starter sprague, it looks like its flatted off on the rounds? not sure whats acceptable tho?? take a look at the picture and see what you can make out?

it's hard to say but that looks fine to me.

make sure the thicker spring is in the bottom of the groove. I would take one shim out and as long as you have 30LB/foot then you should be OK.

regards

Taffy

the kickstand snap fallover just means you're a member of the club. btw, it was an '04 450 that did it to me.

The kickstarter cracked on my 05 650 also. Got it before it fell over. But this was just days after I told a friend not to sit on it with the kickstand down.

I've never heard of spraying the entire motor with WD40 after wash and then spraying the rest of the bike with silicone spray.

pollo

ok cheers taffy, iv managed to weld the kick stand up now and re attach it, changed airfilter, cleaned out oil in the carb boot for the last time hope fully , reassembled left case and all starter mechanism etc, just waiting on waterless coolant and and engine oil and fork seals and wheel bearings and spacers and then im good to go for another ride lol!

speaking of which, taffy do you sell the front wheel bearings and spacers??

ps i looked a right state, when i swung my leg over the bike and the kick stand snapped and i lay in a heap on the floor in the middle of a carpark!! these things happen i suppose!!! lol