Joined Jan 2006
14 Posts | 0+
NC
It's been a couple of months since I picked up my new 05' 450 and just now have had a chance to give my report. I have 3 rides under my belt with the bike and I am a happy camper! The best bike I've owned.
I live in NC and ride single and double track trails in mountainous terrain and hit the fireroads searching for new, untapped trails. My last bike was a KTM 520 and I've ridden by buddies KTM 450 exc on several occassions and his brothers KTM 400 exc. The Husaberg is my favorite of all of these bikes. Reason being, it's light and nimbile and very flickable with the same or more power and with a much more exciting delivery. My 520 had a lot of low to mid power but was uninteresting at the top. The Husaberg has plenty of power from low to mid but just revs to the moon on the top. The power is linear but spins up so FAST, that you're flying through the trails and smiling ear to ear the whole time. As for flickable, I swear I'm a better rider now, I actually feel like I'm dancing with the bike under me, unlike my KTM 520. It steers so quickly that I go where I want to go at an instance.
I can't tell you about the details of brakes, suspension, etc... as I'm an average rider. The suspension feels great and supple and the brakes work fine. The bars feel a little low and I'm 5'11" so bar risers are in order. I'm installing the RTT stabilizer in a few weeks, I'll see if this raises the bar, if not I'll be adding their risers. Also the autoclutch is going in as well. I have the bike street legal and the factory seat just doesn't work for any connector trail time. I upgraded to the Guts tall soft seat and my tailbone is much happier.
As for other impressions, at the Maggie Valley Dual Sport Ride we ended up befirending a couple of guys and eventually we traded bikes for some test rides. Both experienced riders, one on a KTM250 xc 2 smoke and the other on a DRZ. The guy with the KTM came back with the biggest smile, he couldn't believe the power, he stated the bike came up on him and he rode a wheelie in 3rd and 4th gear. The other guy came back with a similar impression. (There was this retired guy that was drinking coffee that morning and saw a bunch of dual sport bikes ride by, so he jumped on his 06' Husky 510 and caught up to us. I rode his bike and was not impressed. The Husaberg felt more powerful and fun. The 510 gearing didn't feel right and the power really wasn't that impressive.) Finally my buddies showed up the next day and one guy, that is true blue with his WR, took my bike for a spin and said " I've got to have one of these" once he got off the bike. He ended up getting a KTM 450 due to local dealer a few weeks later.
On the forest gravel roads, I stayed with my buddy on his 520 and he was on the gas hard the whole time, He never walked away from me on the straights, I was on him like glue. I almost locked it up and went off the side of the mountain one tiime, I just didn't realize how fast I was going.
My intentions were to get the 550 the whole time but when the dealer sold the bike before I was ready for the purchase, I had to settle on the 450. I was a little bummed because I had heard so much about how great the 550 is. I haven't looked back, the 450 is awesome.
I live in NC and ride single and double track trails in mountainous terrain and hit the fireroads searching for new, untapped trails. My last bike was a KTM 520 and I've ridden by buddies KTM 450 exc on several occassions and his brothers KTM 400 exc. The Husaberg is my favorite of all of these bikes. Reason being, it's light and nimbile and very flickable with the same or more power and with a much more exciting delivery. My 520 had a lot of low to mid power but was uninteresting at the top. The Husaberg has plenty of power from low to mid but just revs to the moon on the top. The power is linear but spins up so FAST, that you're flying through the trails and smiling ear to ear the whole time. As for flickable, I swear I'm a better rider now, I actually feel like I'm dancing with the bike under me, unlike my KTM 520. It steers so quickly that I go where I want to go at an instance.
I can't tell you about the details of brakes, suspension, etc... as I'm an average rider. The suspension feels great and supple and the brakes work fine. The bars feel a little low and I'm 5'11" so bar risers are in order. I'm installing the RTT stabilizer in a few weeks, I'll see if this raises the bar, if not I'll be adding their risers. Also the autoclutch is going in as well. I have the bike street legal and the factory seat just doesn't work for any connector trail time. I upgraded to the Guts tall soft seat and my tailbone is much happier.
As for other impressions, at the Maggie Valley Dual Sport Ride we ended up befirending a couple of guys and eventually we traded bikes for some test rides. Both experienced riders, one on a KTM250 xc 2 smoke and the other on a DRZ. The guy with the KTM came back with the biggest smile, he couldn't believe the power, he stated the bike came up on him and he rode a wheelie in 3rd and 4th gear. The other guy came back with a similar impression. (There was this retired guy that was drinking coffee that morning and saw a bunch of dual sport bikes ride by, so he jumped on his 06' Husky 510 and caught up to us. I rode his bike and was not impressed. The Husaberg felt more powerful and fun. The 510 gearing didn't feel right and the power really wasn't that impressive.) Finally my buddies showed up the next day and one guy, that is true blue with his WR, took my bike for a spin and said " I've got to have one of these" once he got off the bike. He ended up getting a KTM 450 due to local dealer a few weeks later.
On the forest gravel roads, I stayed with my buddy on his 520 and he was on the gas hard the whole time, He never walked away from me on the straights, I was on him like glue. I almost locked it up and went off the side of the mountain one tiime, I just didn't realize how fast I was going.
My intentions were to get the 550 the whole time but when the dealer sold the bike before I was ready for the purchase, I had to settle on the 450. I was a little bummed because I had heard so much about how great the 550 is. I haven't looked back, the 450 is awesome.
