Joined May 2005
190 Posts | 145+
Sacramento California
So there's always talk of bumping the piston up to a 105mm for the 650's...has anyone ever seen one used in the smaller engines? A 550 crank with a 105mm piston would be about 606cc and a 450 crank with the same would be 502cc.
I've heard it said that the 450's had too much bore and too little stroke to be an effective all around engine but I've always been impressed with them. I had a 2005 KTM 450 SX and, just after having Thumper Racing install a close ratio 6 speed and epoxy the head, I had a chance to compare it directly to a bone stock '07 Berg 450 and...I was embarrassed to say (at the time) that the Berg felt stronger everywhere (I wasn't much of a Husaberg guy back then).
Since then I had a chance to compare the same Berg 450 with my old '08 Berg 550. Granted, my 550 was geared to run 100+ mph for the Vegas to Reno race but there was a spot on my 10 mile training loop where my race partners and I struggled to hit 80 mph in a particular straight-ish section. I'd usually get to about 78 mph before having to shut it down for the next corner. Of my two partners, one was particularly fast and he saw 80 in the same spot. We had the '07 bike with us that day and I decided to take it for a lap. In the same spot I saw 86 mph. Clearly the gearing was different between the bikes because the 550 was in 5th gear at the end of the straight and the 450 was in 6th. We never ran them side by side to gage a possible difference in speedometer calibration so there's that question as well. But, I can tell you that it FELT every bit like the 86 mph that the speedo indicated and definitely faster than how I felt on the 550.
Now, obviously, there's a world of difference between the 2 engines in low end and mid range. The 550 was definitely easier to ride in the high speed desert conditions with, comparatively, mountains of torque. But, displacing 502cc, maybe the smaller engine might still have a few surprises...
Thoughts?
Incidentally, this is all spurred on by an '08 Berg 450 I recently ran across on Craigslist for real cheap where the owner mentioned that the main bearings were on their way out. Plus, the '07 in the above story is still hanging around the family and, one day, might come available for a song.
I've heard it said that the 450's had too much bore and too little stroke to be an effective all around engine but I've always been impressed with them. I had a 2005 KTM 450 SX and, just after having Thumper Racing install a close ratio 6 speed and epoxy the head, I had a chance to compare it directly to a bone stock '07 Berg 450 and...I was embarrassed to say (at the time) that the Berg felt stronger everywhere (I wasn't much of a Husaberg guy back then).
Since then I had a chance to compare the same Berg 450 with my old '08 Berg 550. Granted, my 550 was geared to run 100+ mph for the Vegas to Reno race but there was a spot on my 10 mile training loop where my race partners and I struggled to hit 80 mph in a particular straight-ish section. I'd usually get to about 78 mph before having to shut it down for the next corner. Of my two partners, one was particularly fast and he saw 80 in the same spot. We had the '07 bike with us that day and I decided to take it for a lap. In the same spot I saw 86 mph. Clearly the gearing was different between the bikes because the 550 was in 5th gear at the end of the straight and the 450 was in 6th. We never ran them side by side to gage a possible difference in speedometer calibration so there's that question as well. But, I can tell you that it FELT every bit like the 86 mph that the speedo indicated and definitely faster than how I felt on the 550.
Now, obviously, there's a world of difference between the 2 engines in low end and mid range. The 550 was definitely easier to ride in the high speed desert conditions with, comparatively, mountains of torque. But, displacing 502cc, maybe the smaller engine might still have a few surprises...
Thoughts?
Incidentally, this is all spurred on by an '08 Berg 450 I recently ran across on Craigslist for real cheap where the owner mentioned that the main bearings were on their way out. Plus, the '07 in the above story is still hanging around the family and, one day, might come available for a song.
