02 501, stiil miserable or impossible for ME to start

four stroke racers usually require a certain starting routine that begins with positioning the piston at a point barely past tdc compression. finding that point for some people is as elusive as finding a "g-spot" in a woman.
another issue is the proper valve adjustment, and the proper carb jetting. (dellorto carbs have certain quirks) that you can learn about in the "owners doc" found at the left of the main page.

Hi Guy
Don't want to sound negative with the feed back on the 2002 husaberg but the 02 501 was my fourth Husaberg and stopped me from buying another Husaberg till 2010 now I think there great once again.
The carb is very hard to make work for starting in cold weather or normal weather. Try to find a used carb from a Honda or Yamaha 4 stroke and adapt it to your bike, this will help with starting.
The auto compression system is a joke, if it's not perfect the electric starter won't crank the engine at the right RPM to start. You might have to learn how to start a big four stroke with the manual compression release like we did with the 1996 Husaberg, it worked fine. If you eliminate the electric starter take every thing out of the engine that has to do with the electric start and the auto compression release ( use a manual release) or the kick starter has to much drag to spin the engine over for good starting
All the basics have to be right, Valve setting, compression, good fuel, spark, cam timing and so on
You can make the bike work with determination and perseverance, don't give up
good luck

bookerracing said:

thanks guys, any advice on finding tdc?

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Check this video, its a KTM RFS 540 motor but thw concept is the same only left hand kicker. You can see how I find top dead center and when and how to roll one over to prepare for the kick.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUbPisZrr3E

That vid says it all. Find that hard spot & go just past - too far & you'll need to start again. Long hard kick - don't stamp on it as you'll break the shaft. Watch the vid again as he does go a bit fast. See how he comes to a real hard stop when looking for TDC. That's because the piston is almost up at TDC on the compression stroke. Thats why he kicks it ove a couple of times first - to get past TDC on the exhaust stroke. This TDC won't feel as solid but you need to play wth it - feel it.

You'll get ther in the end if you want too.

My 02 501 starts real easy off the kick - it's a dream but it's taken 3 years to get there. Valves / good spark plug / sparks stator / taffy cresent mod & dutch clod auto decomp lobe. I dont have to worry about TDC, 2 kicks no choke no throttle & bursts into life, but the TDC thing does help esp if things aren't set up perfect.

See my other posts / mostly about hard start.

Good luck

I used to have a '02 FE650 that was a real pain to start when I got it. I ended up putting a righer needle jet in it (274 vs. 270), carefully adjusting the semi-auto decompression cable so that it was actually working, and replacing the spring on the auto decompression device on the cam. The bike would consistantly start 2nd kick cold by (1) bringing the piston up on compression with the kick lever, (2) pulling in on the manual lever and moving the piston just past TDC - about 2-3" movement on the kick lever, (3) release the manual de-comp lever and let the kick lever return to the top, (4) push down smoothly and forcefully all the way through the stroke. The proceedure I described is the same that had to be followed for the early Yamaha YZ400F.

I had a lot of previous experience with Husabergs starting with my '96 FE501 that I bought new and it was way easier to start than the Husqvarna 500XC 2-stroke it replaced, once I figured out the proper technique. My FE650 was a lot harder to kick over than my old 501 but I think the electric starter, counter-balancer, etc. creates a lot of drag that my 501 didn't have. When I do kick start my '05 FE550 I use the technique I described for the FE650 and it starts right up, usually first kick cold.

I hear a lot people bad mouth the Delorto carbs but I never had any trouble with the one on my '96 FE501, starting or otherwise, once I got it fine-tuned and I rode that bike for close to 9 years. I did see a lot of very frustrated riders trying to start their YZ400Fs, Hondas, etc. back then. The Keihin carb and Kukasan igniton makes a bit of an improvement but if everything was set up right the older Husabergs started real easily. A friend of mine used to ride a '92 FE350 and never had an issue with starting it. But the key is proper technique.

As above, my 650 was a real git to start when i first got it but spend a bit of time going thruogh the owners docs section on poor starting and work on one bit a time and you'll get there.
After a bit of work it would start easilly on the kicker (first or second kick), have since done the starter mods and fitted a DCR carb and despite not having a choke circuit still starts easilly on the button.

Stick with it and you'll get there in the end............ but it can take a bit of garage time.

Carl

This is what I think,

First give it a bunch of real slow kick overs, you should be able to feel when the back presure buils up. Give it some gas on a couple. There should be a scarry amount of build up, then find the top dead center. Work the kick start-starter up ,it should be wear the kick start is up as fare as you can get it.

Then, kick it like you like it (as some horsemen would say), not like a bratty little girl on a pony. Not a big fast one, a through one, one that goes from the very top to the very bottum and not as fast as you can. 2 little twists on the trottle right before and that shoul do it.

Basicly your priming it.

Thats my 2 cents

"2 little twists on the trottle right before and that shoul do it. Basicly your priming it."

This idea is pointless with the Delorto carburator as it does not have an accellerator pump, unlike the later models with the Keihin FCR. You DO NOT want to twist the throttle at all while kicking it over as this will immediatly flood it! I always use 2 fingers on the front brake lever to keep my right wrist from doing any twisting while staring a 4-stroke.

RDP501 said:

"2 little twists on the trottle right before and that shoul do it. Basicly your priming it."

This idea is pointless with the Delorto carburator as it does not have an accellerator pump, unlike the later models with the Keihin FCR. You DO NOT want to twist the throttle at all while kicking it over as this will immediatly flood it! I always use 2 fingers on the front brake lever to keep my right wrist from doing any twisting while staring a 4-stroke.

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So, witch bike do you ride the most ?




And the choke on, I forgot that.

F+ said:

RDP501 said:

"2 little twists on the trottle right before and that shoul do it. Basicly your priming it."

This idea is pointless with the Delorto carburator as it does not have an accellerator pump, unlike the later models with the Keihin FCR. You DO NOT want to twist the throttle at all while kicking it over as this will immediatly flood it! I always use 2 fingers on the front brake lever to keep my right wrist from doing any twisting while staring a 4-stroke.

Click to expand...

So, witch bike do you ride the most ?




And the choke on, I forgot that.

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2 little twist on the trottle right befor you kick it over and that should do it.

bookerracing said:

you guys are a life saver, I kinda combined everything i could gather and i think i got the combination down. It likes the choke with no gas, finding tdc ( or close to it ) and a long kick starting from the very top. Starting this bike is NOTHING like the crf450s ive been riding for so long. Got a brand new tire and hitting the trails tomorrow. On a different note this bike rips and amazingly has great suspension and brakes, Oh and 5th gear wheelies. sweeeet

Thanks again!!

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I'm glad to hear this! The manufacturers have come a long way in making high-performance 4-strokes easier to start. The funny thing is that I had a hard time starting a '02 CRF450R of a friend's because I was so used to my Husaberg ritual - all I had to do with the Honda was just kick! I also owned a '99 YZ400F back in the day and I thought it was trickier to start than my 'Berg. With my kick-start only '96 FE501 I never had to bother with getting it just past TDC (like I had to do with the YZ400F) - all I did was to get it up on compression stroke and let the semi-auto comp. release do the rest. My '05 FE550 starts by just kicking it but usually takes 2-3 kicks when cold, unless I follow the proceedure I described and then it is often only one. When hot it is always 1 kick. But I like the button!

F+ said:

RDP501 said:

"2 little twists on the trottle right before and that shoul do it. Basicly your priming it."

This idea is pointless with the Delorto carburator as it does not have an accellerator pump, unlike the later models with the Keihin FCR. You DO NOT want to twist the throttle at all while kicking it over as this will immediatly flood it! I always use 2 fingers on the front brake lever to keep my right wrist from doing any twisting while staring a 4-stroke.

Click to expand...

So, witch bike do you ride the most ?




And the choke on, I forgot that.

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I try to spread the love around! I did a race (hare srambles) on the 550 a couple of weeks ago, rode two observed trials events this fall on the Gas Gas, did a couple of trail rides on the 200 KTM in the past couple of months, put about 10,000 miles on the DL1000 this year, a d/s ride or 2 on the DRZ400S along with riding it to work, so it's hard to say, but for this year probably the DL1000. I had one 15 hour day on it back in August.

I just puchased a 95 fe 501 and am having same problems,I just can't get it started.I read everything on here and will try again,but am aleady doing everything they told you to do,I put it up for sale and have givin up,what a nice bike ,it makes me sick but it is worthless if I can not start it. It is winter here in michigan ,28 degrees I think this might be part of it.but again iy is junk if it will not start.I'm glad you got it,but bummer not to be able to keep and ride this sweet bike.I would never buy another one,back to jap bikes, fred

My '02 501 was a nightmare to start when I first got it, sometimes it would and then never when I really needed it to. Hard to believe it was mechanical it just seemed too willful. Like earlier posts suggest, the routine that works for you might be different. Assuming you have a spark and fuel arriving in the right place at the right time, it is then technique. If I tried any throttle it wouldn't go, choke but no throttle and it would! Mine had an auto decomp that didn't work and made life painful, once that was sorted manual starting got easier and then the upgrades on the electric boot courtesy of Taffmeisters have made it easy hot or cold. There are modified parts available to make kick starting easier too. Have you tried tow starting it? At least if it goes that way at least you know you can fix it to start easier on the kicker. Don't get rid of it until you fix it, I was nearly at that point and now enjoy something that is really dependable and just somehow way better than the competition. Make it work for you before you let it go!

fastfred said:

I just puchased a 95 fe 501 and am having same problems,I just can't get it started.I read everything on here and will try again,but am aleady doing everything they told you to do,I put it up for sale and have givin up,what a nice bike ,it makes me sick but it is worthless if I can not start it. It is winter here in michigan ,28 degrees I think this might be part of it.but again iy is junk if it will not start.I'm glad you got it,but bummer not to be able to keep and ride this sweet bike.I would never buy another one,back to jap bikes, fred

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When I first bought my '96 FE501 (new) I had a really hard time starting it when cold. I finally turned the air screw out to 2-3/4 - 3 turns and that made a difference. Another thing that helped was using Castrol Syntech 5W/50 oil -that was the only 5W/50 on the market at the time and 5W/50 was what the manual prescribed. With 20W/50 it was really hard to start and would hardly run until thoroughly warmed up. After I got things figured out my '96 FE501 was one of the easiest starting bikes I've ever owned. I never bothered finding TDC exactly but would get the piston just past and then give it a firm kick. It rarely took more than 2 kicks cold and started on the first when warm.