2003 Honda xR650 VS FE650

The Husaberg is a better bike only if you don't mind doing maintenance. if you like to ride and forget it, the husaberg is not the bike for you. the XR is a beast compared to a FE. the FE will be more nimble, quicker/ faster and much more fun to ride in both the desert and the woods although the 650 is a bit much for tight twistes

I would seriously look at the FE 550. it is a better choice, blazing fast and lots of grunt for the desert and still pleasantly ridable in the tight woods. downside is you will spend big money as of right now on a larger tank. although there are rumors flying that someone is making one and it will be available soon.

sir

i believe you can not compare the xr 650 to the FE 650E .

yes the berg is a better all round bike by a mile

I have a friend who has an xr650r with the Honda "race kit" (what ever that is).
His just turned over 105000kms, the engine has not been apart.
I took it for a spin and thought it had lots of torque but it handeled like I was
riding a couch, a very comfortable couch. They don't call them pigs for nothing.
If you want something for tight singletrack and open desert, the Berg IS the way to go.

RE: thanks

whosahberg and kelsow are right on. there really is no comparison, the berg is a different animal all together. but just remember that the berg is built as a RACE bike with no upgrades needed for it to kick *** on everything around, unlike the big red pigs. so if you don't like to tinker after every decent ride then....oil, every 10 hours minimum, more frequent if you ride hard. filter every other oil change for regular riding, every change for racing, valve check after first 10 and every 10-20 there after, most likely you will not have to adjust much, if at all. be prepared for a possible tear down to check bearing and such possibly between 60-100 hours, it varies, some bikes have needed it and some have not.

Have you ridden the FE650? it will knock your socks off! I had a 600 and gave it up, it was to much in the woods where I do 95 percent of my riding. the 550 I find is perfect for me gives me the speed and grunt I need (i am a big guy) and is easy to handle most of the time.

Re: thanks

leglocker said:

Thanks for the info...Isnt the only difference between the 550and650 fe's isthestroke? I was told that by Eric at Eric's in Pasadena. He said they were identical bikes except for the stroke which made the displacement difference...any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Dry weights:
XR 650: 277 pounds
FE 650: 240 pounts

You can see where the extra poundage is when you compare the two bikes side by side, which I did (actually it was a 550) in somebody's garage.

The XR has a much much beefier engine which looks like it's literally bulletproof and this explains the extra reliability.

As for the handling difference, I'll let the experts tell us.

Ive been looking at a similar thing except looking for a 550/450 and comparing them to honda 400/650. The problem is every clean berg i see is a 650, i can't find a good 550/450 here. I've ridden both hondas and they are competent but don't leave you with a hard on. Ive got an hp2 for the open stuff but need a nimble ride for the tight stuff..........how much harder is the 650 in tight stuff compared to the 550?? There are a couple of clean 650's available one a 03' and a 04...........

I've got a fe 650 and have had an XR 650R... The only thing they have in common is the top speed. The XR is affectionately called a Big Red Pig and it earns the name. I raced one last year in Baja and it was dead reliable, ran really well but it was heavy but handled reasonable well. It did these things after dumping thousands of $$$ in to it. The Husaberg does everything really well, is much more powerful bone cold stock. Did I mention the berg has an electric start.... yippeee. The XR is a very old design and believe it or not, Honda is not racing a 650R in the Baja 1000. They are racing two 450s.

My opinion is biased and if you post in the 650R forum in Thumpertalk, it will be biased also. I have switched over to Euro machines and have a KTM 525 and the Husaberg, I love them both.

I have ridden the Steve Hengeveld factory XR650r and it is a well balanced bike and fun to ride, a very fast indeed. I just brought home my 07 650 Husenberg, I jetted it and have the Akro ti pipe on it, just let me say that that Honda does not stand a chance @ all, this Berg is a rocket ship and as nimble as a 250 four stroke IMHO, this bike is WAY under stated by this forum, I did not expect this hussy to be this darn good, I have been riding dirt bikes for 21 years and this Hussy is the finest bike I have ever ridden, and this is coming from a real world rider, I have just about owned them all or had a freind that has and this is the finest thought bike I have ever ridden, it is a cheater bike for sure, it is so easy to ride , I can't say enough good about a almost stock bike. Bars are to low, there thats the only bad I can say 4 now!

Sethro

totally agree

the 650 HUSABERG is without doubt the top dog , power, handling, looks & sound .

XR650- Fe Husaberg

Two different bikes for sure,
I had a few Xr600s and recently rode a XR650,after 5 minutes on it I had my riding technique for the bike back.Make no mistake in the right hands of a acomplished XR rider, they are a very underestimated bike.In the tight rough stuff you need to cut down the bars,drop the forks in the clamps, open your legs up and counter steer these monsters and let the bike slap around under neath you.Up rough steep hills they are unreal and so easy to ride.They just chug away from very low rpm in what ever gear and keep pulling and are so tractorable.You really need to use your body weight well ,I found.You need to make the most of a track and use every inch of it predicting lines, etc.. as once committed they just tend to go where they go,they will break through the side of small sand ruts when trying to turn and mud ruts are challenging to say the least.Getting air on these , you dont want to cross them up in the air to much because of the commited weight.They tend to wear the edge off the front tyres quickly when turning and sliding the front as well.The flat spot in the carbis is still there after many years when pushed hard.You can ride them all day and have the arm chair type comfort as well.
Now the berg,I have had a couple of these now as well.The characteristic of the bergs that I found ,well,my 550 would eat the XR in a sprint or down a straight, as for top end, didnt try it.The light weight makes the berg so much more responsive with direction change,mud ruts and sand ruts you can blip the throttle and zig zag in the ruts as with the Xr all due care needs to be taken there.The berg will lift the front wheel at a touch of the throttle.Absolutely no flat spots in the carbi at all,infact these newer bikes will idle on there side and past that point to,amazing.You only need to use the first 8-10mm of the throttle and get amazing response.In the air they are so well balenced and just fly,you can hit anything with confidence and the bike will just do it.In the rough you can push the bike until it either cracks or folds the rims or snaps the spokes or just breaks the radiator mounts and you are still sitting on the bike in one peice,amazing suspention and handling,the XR in standard form will most certianly not cope with that without throwing you.
The berg is a highly developed purpose built race bike,very underestimated capabilities,in fact the harder you ride and push these machines the better they handle and start to show you a glimpse of thier true capabilities.As for maintenance, well after 8000kms I had only done oil and filters every 15 hours,the usual pads and chain, sprockets and that was it.I raced it ,trail rode and gave the suspention and brakes an absoloute belting,3-4 valve clearence checks and that was it.Didnt touch the motor,however I dont ride anywhere near the rev limiter,If you dont rev the daylights out of the motor and keep the filter and oil in it,I would say the engines could last up to 250hours and get maybe 2-3 years out of them before a freshen up,judging from what others have claimed as well. If I was to do distance riding on hard pack open rough ground I would shine to the XR for comfort, 3 hours of racing the berg I am lucky to be able to sit down.I prefer the berg because I still like to ride enthusiastically at times and this is where it comes into play.

well thats my veiw on the 2 bikes,and it hurts just as much when you crashed both ,except if the XR lands on top of you, then you are in trouble!!
SeeYa

thanks enginenumber..........you have cleared it upfor me, i was looking more at the xr400 but could not get passed the 650 berg at 109kg.........all my mates say get a jap 400..........i can borrow theirs........berg here i come. keep the hp2 for the open stuff and the berg for tighter sutuations.............good combination. :wink:

When looking at a Berg 650 I would be looking at the 05 and 06 or 07 models as they updated the crank compared to the 02 03 and 04. Which has helped with reliability etc.

Homda XR650R vs. FE650

I have two XR650R's, one set up for the dirt and one for the road. Also have an FE550e for the dirt and an FS650c street legal for the road. The 550 is the best trail bike and the 650c makes a great flat tracker on hard pack. I have 4 gal. tanks on the XR's so use them for longer trips. The best of all worlds would be larger tanks for the Husabergs. Because of that responsive engine and lighter weight, the Husabergs are way more fun to ride.

I love to ride in the oreogn desert with my 06 450, easily dose 75mph and handles like a dream.

i have a couple of friends that ride honda 650s in the tight woods, i let them get on my bike for a few miles while i limped thier pigs along. when it came time to trade back.....well .....i ALMOST didn't get my bike back???!!!!!

you can't go wrong with the berg, JUST DO YOUR REG SERVICES and you will love it!!

Thanks guys for taking the time to share your experiences.
I too am going back and forth between an XR650 and a FE650. I would be light adventure riding the bike. I all ready have a 525 for the tight stuff. This new bike would replace my 1200 GS.

I know that the KTM and Berg motors are real performers. But I was wandering about the stated HP. The claim is that my 525 is 48 hp. And that the FE650 is 60 hp. Is this correct. The 650 seems like a whole lot more displacement than my 510 motor.