Joined Mar 2006
74 Posts | 2+
Spokane, WA USA
A month ago I found that Peter Hardsteen of HMS Motorsports was selling last year's FS650C's in the crate for $5900. It took me all of 15 minutes to decide to get one. Had I procrastinated, they would have been gone as he only had 8 left out of 32 when I called. Peter did a great job and even had the electric start gear wheel torque limiter installed as a warranty item before shipping it. When the crate arrived there was even an official Husaberg backpack inside! All I had to install was the handlebars. Shipping cost me $250 and took a week.
Now, to make this bike street legal for the least amount of money all you need is a headlight, tail light, mirrors and speedometer. Forget the turn signals and use hand signals instead (it's actually a legal substitue in most states). As for a horn and brake light, well who notices or even cares. Find a state that will license and title it by sending them the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin along with a local address (usually a friend who lives there). I use Alaska but Idaho and Oregon are good substitues around here in Washington. Never go to a State Patrol Officer in a conservative state (like Washington) and ask for an inspection because they will always find something wrong. If you get stopped by an officer in a conservative state they usually won't cite for deficiencies if you argue you are legal in the other state. There are so many custom choppers running around without license plates that the cops are happy you at least have one of these.
Fortunately, I have an '05 FE550E so I took the headlight and tail light off it and put them on the FS. The FS comes with a wiring harness but I'm a bit confused as to what the female plugs are for and from where they originate. All I need is 12 vdc to each light and when I test the plugs I get 12 vdc with the engine stopped. I wire up the lights in parallel to a positive lead and install a switch on the ground. Everything works fine when the engine is stopped but on starting it, the lights flicker like they are being fed with ac current and then both head and tail light filiments get blown shortly thereafter. Now I have the positive lead directly off the battery but can only run with lights on for a short time before the battery discharges to the point the electric starter won't work. I'm only pulling 60 watts and the generator is rated at 150 watts so the battery shouldn't be discharging. I suspect the battery is bad since it sat for a year without use and have another one on order. After I get this sorted out I plan to put a hidden switch to defeat the starter button as well as another on the kill button for security. Moose makes a nifty tail pack which mounts on the rear fender and you can carry a disk lock for the front and small cable lock for the rear.
I had to make my own bolt-on side stand as there is no after market unit available. Fortunately, there is a frame member right beneath the engine that can be used and you don't need much to support only 250 lbs.
A variety of after market mirrors are available from Bikemaster but they all require some king of handlebar perch. Emgo makes a nice small unit.
The stock Husaberg seat is too hard and narrow for the street. Take off the cover and cut the foam down to the pan. Get a 1" pad of memory foam and use spray adhesive to wrap this around the pan and file/sand to form. Restaple the cover and paint it black, the color it should have come from the factory. By lowering your seating position 1"-2" the overall center of gravity will be lowered significantly and it makes a big difference in handling.
I installed Dale's jet kit and it works great. He recommends disconnecting the accelerator pump, which I did, but kept the TPS for fuel mileage. I've noticed the lack of cush drive as the bike shudders at low rpm and reqires you to run around town in the lower gears. But I warn everyone that if you ride a bike like this around town you'll notice three things:
1. You actually feel safer because you can ride/brake around any car or obstacle that is thrown in front of you.
2. Because you feel safer, you'll take more risks because now your "risk threshhold " has been raised (not adviseable for everyone, consult your personal abilities first).
3. You will actually believe you are a supermoto hero as you slide into corners. How else can you have so much fun for so little money?
Now, to make this bike street legal for the least amount of money all you need is a headlight, tail light, mirrors and speedometer. Forget the turn signals and use hand signals instead (it's actually a legal substitue in most states). As for a horn and brake light, well who notices or even cares. Find a state that will license and title it by sending them the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin along with a local address (usually a friend who lives there). I use Alaska but Idaho and Oregon are good substitues around here in Washington. Never go to a State Patrol Officer in a conservative state (like Washington) and ask for an inspection because they will always find something wrong. If you get stopped by an officer in a conservative state they usually won't cite for deficiencies if you argue you are legal in the other state. There are so many custom choppers running around without license plates that the cops are happy you at least have one of these.
Fortunately, I have an '05 FE550E so I took the headlight and tail light off it and put them on the FS. The FS comes with a wiring harness but I'm a bit confused as to what the female plugs are for and from where they originate. All I need is 12 vdc to each light and when I test the plugs I get 12 vdc with the engine stopped. I wire up the lights in parallel to a positive lead and install a switch on the ground. Everything works fine when the engine is stopped but on starting it, the lights flicker like they are being fed with ac current and then both head and tail light filiments get blown shortly thereafter. Now I have the positive lead directly off the battery but can only run with lights on for a short time before the battery discharges to the point the electric starter won't work. I'm only pulling 60 watts and the generator is rated at 150 watts so the battery shouldn't be discharging. I suspect the battery is bad since it sat for a year without use and have another one on order. After I get this sorted out I plan to put a hidden switch to defeat the starter button as well as another on the kill button for security. Moose makes a nifty tail pack which mounts on the rear fender and you can carry a disk lock for the front and small cable lock for the rear.
I had to make my own bolt-on side stand as there is no after market unit available. Fortunately, there is a frame member right beneath the engine that can be used and you don't need much to support only 250 lbs.
A variety of after market mirrors are available from Bikemaster but they all require some king of handlebar perch. Emgo makes a nice small unit.
The stock Husaberg seat is too hard and narrow for the street. Take off the cover and cut the foam down to the pan. Get a 1" pad of memory foam and use spray adhesive to wrap this around the pan and file/sand to form. Restaple the cover and paint it black, the color it should have come from the factory. By lowering your seating position 1"-2" the overall center of gravity will be lowered significantly and it makes a big difference in handling.
I installed Dale's jet kit and it works great. He recommends disconnecting the accelerator pump, which I did, but kept the TPS for fuel mileage. I've noticed the lack of cush drive as the bike shudders at low rpm and reqires you to run around town in the lower gears. But I warn everyone that if you ride a bike like this around town you'll notice three things:
1. You actually feel safer because you can ride/brake around any car or obstacle that is thrown in front of you.
2. Because you feel safer, you'll take more risks because now your "risk threshhold " has been raised (not adviseable for everyone, consult your personal abilities first).
3. You will actually believe you are a supermoto hero as you slide into corners. How else can you have so much fun for so little money?
The yellow wire comes frm the regulator rectifier in the wiring diagram, but it doesn't seem to actually be 12v regulated power on a c model. Can anyone help a brotha' out? 
