2005 FE550 Ride Report

Husaberg

Help Support Husaberg:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Coffin

Coffin

Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
360
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
I have been waiting for the ice to get thicker so I could take the new Berg for its maiden voyage. The bad news is that the wacky weather we have been having (extremely warm weather) has meant that we now have little to no ice in the lakes and rivers...or snow.

The good news is that since it was 10 degrees celcius for the past couple of days, I was able to get the bike ready and take it for a good rip today.
I ran the OBDVR needle with the 182 main jet and I changed the pilot from a 40 to a 42. I started with the clip in the 4th position and the mixture set at 1 and a half turns out. Other than that and the Akro slip-on, the bike is left in stock trim. Did not touch the suspension settings yet.

It ran great. The idle is good and throttle response is crisp. I am sure that I can do some fine tuning but I was impressed with how it ran and have no real complaints. No dead spots or bad behaviour as you run from idle to wide open. I like the sound of the Akro....seems to give it a nice bark.

Hour meter reads 0.9 hr and it had 42km on it when I got home. Not a very long run but it was a very satisfying first ride. I gave it a good run out some fast fire roads. It feels like you are at the controls of a missle...perfect. :D
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Hmmm...not sure Kelsow. I had planned on leaving that oil in it for a few hours (3-5). That is what I had been advised to do. Do you have a different view point?

p.s. What does nsman have you Scotians running for jetting?
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

It's prolly not needed but I would do it for sh*ts and giggles.

I think nsman goes up one size in the pilot but don't quote me.
I'm sure Bruce will set me right.

I am heading out today for a spin, I hope I don't get wet.... 8O
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

good ya got to ride, yeah a 550 must be a rocket
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

I checked your gallery Coffin, bike looks great of course.

The lads and I got in a ride as well today, +13°
We did about 60-70km and my bike ran great. I can't say the same for the GG450fse. Fuel infection problems, again. Pressure hoses kept popping out of the tank and spreading gas all over.

2006_01_15_01.sized.jpg
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

I was able to get ride number 2 in yesterday....barely.

It was plus 10 celcius and raining when I started and it quickly dropped to 2 or 3 degrees while I was riding. By the time I got the bike cleaned up after my ride....very muddy in the woods...the temperature had dropped to minus 4 degrees and the everything turned to pure ice.

It was hard to believe that I had been dual sporting it through town on the pavement an hour earlier on my way to the trials and now the road was a skating rink.

After the second ride I can tell that I need to do some fine tuning with jetting....clip position and mixture experiments. It was still pretty good but it did stall under deceleration a couple of times. I expected as much though as I have not even touched the idle or mixture since the initial setup.

I definitely noticed that the front forks were diving on me. I will have to get the 4.4 springs that Fryguy recommended and experiment with two 4.4s and also try one 4.4 and one 4.2.
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Hi Coffin,

Congrats on your new bike! Must be great!

I'm picking up my FE501 2004 next week en try to break it in smoothly.

Don't forget to check the valve clearances after about 3hours driving. Valve clearence usually dissapeares after breaking in a new husaberg!

Good luck!
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Proemer said:
Hi Coffin,

Congrats on your new bike! Must be great!

I'm picking up my FE501 2004 next week en try to break it in smoothly.

Don't forget to check the valve clearances after about 3hours driving. Valve clearence usually dissapeares after breaking in a new husaberg!

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I was told they tend to get loose not tight.........interesting, well now that I can check and adjust myself I'll find out which it is. after 27 hours they were losser then what I set them at......they were at about 0.006-0.008 not sure as I had not the best gage at the time

but i bought a good gage and had to turn in the screw, I set them at 0.004 intakes and 0.005 exhaust

me thinks they got loose , definitely not tighter in the first 27 hours
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

This Global Warming stuff is really starting to get under my skin. While everyone else in these parts marvels at the Florida like weather we having up here in igloo land, my new Berg and its $$$$$ ice tires sit waiting for the bloody lakes to freeze. We should have 15 inches of ice in the lakes but instead you could go water skiing.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Big

if the valves start to sink into the head due to being thrashed then they tighten. all else being equal the wear in the rocker pin, follower bearing, slacken off tappet clearances.

i therefore suggest you thrash it like ya stole it and then you won't have to do the tappets at all!

regards

Taffy
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Taffy

I have no problem riding this bike like I stole it. They were not designed to be handled like a fragile baby. They are meant to be hammered. Besides, they harder you ride them, the better they work!! :wink:

I also enjoy working on these great machines and will l look forward to putting enough hours on the new 550 to justify the regular valve adjustments and other maintenance.

Beats rebuilding 2 strokes when they grenade... boring. Not even a challenge :D
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

The Wacky weather continues. It was plus 10 degrees celcius yesterday so I was able to sneak another ride in. Put on another 60km. The trials were perfect. Today is minus 10 degrees celcius which is normal for this time of year. Weird weather to say the least. I'm still hoping for consistent cold so I can get out on the lakes with the ice tires.

At one point yesterday I emerged from some tight woods into a fast open section, unleashed the 550 and did my best Johnny Campbell impression. When I crested the hill at about 130km/hr there were about 8 quad dudes sitting there taking a "break". It sure was funny to see the perplexed looks on their faces as the tried to figure out what I was riding. HusaWhat?!

One guy with about 3 teeth took a long look at the bike and said "How the hell are you supposed to hold onto that beast after you have had a few beer" He had a few already 8O I said that I wait until the ride is over for the beer. He seemed confused.

Good times :D

Rear tire is still hitting the exhaust can so I will have to shim it out some more. I am also going to try a 45 pilot. 42 in it now.

Cheers
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

You sure you didn`t scare them bad enough for them to have to go wipe? :lol: Sounds like the 550 fits you like a glove.
I always wait til after the ride to sample a cold one because you never know when the ground will fly up and hit you.
Good luck and have fun. :D
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

I'm a little late with this post. I put another 90km on last Saturday in the snow. No studs in the tires just rode on the rubber. Ran my tire pressure low, took it easy in places where it was all ice and had no problems. It was a blast actually. I am definitely going to have Trelleborgs (spelling?) next winter. Have not been able to mount the ice tires I have yet but they are for clear ice only on the lakes or rivers and would be wrecked immediately if used in the woods. There are pics of them in my gallery.

3.9 hours showing on the hour meter. Time for that first valve adjustment.

Cheers
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Survived my first valve adjustment yesterday with some last minute advice over the phone from nsman. Thanks for the tips Bruce! Both intake and exhaust were tight prior to adjustment.

Went for a ride after the maintenance was done. I was having a blast and enjoying the abnormally warm weather until I slammed a large square edged rock at serious speed. It blew the rear tire. No big deal. :?

The problem was that I did not realize the tire was flat (I never slowed down). A few seconds later I was hammering through a rocky section and the bike was swapping all over the place because of the flat rear and I smoked a nice big rock with the left side of the bike. It smashed off the frame rail and proceeded to punch a nice hole in the outer clutch cover as well as damage the inner clutch cover. :( The outer cover is toast and I think I will need to change the inner cover as well. 8O

It was leaking oil like crazy so we used some epoxy as a temporary sealant, filled it with some oil at a nearby hunting camp and I limped it out to a point where we could get it with a truck.

Murphy's Law....I already had a skid plate on order but it has not arrived yet. :?


I'll post some pics of the damage later on.

Cheers
 
Re: 2005 FE550 First Ride

Coffin said:
I was having a blast and enjoying the abnormally warm weather until I slammed a large square edged rock at serious speed. It blew the rear tire. No big deal. :?

The problem was that I did not realize the tire was flat (I never slowed down). A few seconds later I was hammering through a rocky section and the bike was swapping all over the place because of the flat rear and I smoked a nice big rock with the left side of the bike. It smashed off the frame rail and proceeded to punch a nice hole in the outer clutch cover as well as damage the inner clutch cover. :( The outer cover is toast and I think I will need to change the inner cover as well. 8O

Cheers
Click to expand...

somehow I now understand your little madman smiling avatar.
 
Re: Coffin's 2005 FE550 Ride Report

Awe man that sucks.
Too much carnage around here lately.
I think I'll keep racing my kid on the XBox, it's safer. :)
 

Similar threads

R
2005 Husaberg FE550 - New first time owner
Replies
6
Views
802
Taffy
Taffy
A
2005 fe550e
Replies
2
Views
622
heidenberg
H
P
2005 fe550
Replies
2
Views
739
Goose916
Goose916
Taffy
New - improved carb needle 2004-2008
Replies
3
Views
2K
FlyingZebra
FlyingZebra
G
Fuel leak at carby - 2005 Fe450e
Replies
6
Views
1K
little berg
little berg

Register CTA

Register on Husaberg Forum! This sidebar will go away, and you will see fewer ads.

Recent Discussions

Recent Discussions

Back
Top