2005 Test Write-Up Wanted

Hi All!

I have learned, well after the fact, that Dirt Rider magazine included the Berg FE450E in their 2005 24-Hour Torture Test with several other 450s.

Hopping onto the web to the Dirt Rider back-issue site to buy a copy of that mag, I have learned that particular issue (May 2005) is out of stock and no longer obtainable via that avenue.

Has anyone in this crowd, seen that Dirt Rider, May 2005 write-up of the Offroad 450 segment of the 24-Hour test? I would sure love to learn how the Berg did in that comparison with other top machinery.

A different 2005 test in Dirt Rider, of the FE550E, where several riders took it into several different competition events, was tremendously good feedback on the quality and the performance of the 550.

A more recent short "First Ride" write-up on the 2006 FE650E makes me drool. Aside from a bit of a vibration quibble, the 650 sounds absolutely killer fun with over-the-top power in a nicely flickable package, although..... perhaps, a bit much for standard competitive purposes in tighter country.

I would really like to hear how the 2005 FE450E stacked up against the others. Where it shone or where/if it stumbled.

Thanks for any feedback (or the actual text of the article) from someone, who wisely subscribes to this mag as opposed to my slack habit of just picking one up when I see it.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Everything I read about these Bergs, including most of what I see on this site, is killing me. After many years of doing nothing but riding every kind of bike I could get my butt onto, although I have been out of the saddle for too many years presently, I understand what I read about motorcycles with great clarity.

These bikes are so well liked by the broad range of riders who own them, and get such stunning reports from anything I've been able to find realtive to performance combined with stable and agile handling, that my desire to get out on one just continues to escalate exponentially.

Since I started looking in earnest about a year ago for a new ride to get me back out in the boonies and re-enter the sport, the biggest Berg question I've had looming in the back of my mind (pretty much satisfied now however) has been related to reliability...particularly with the scant dealer coverage and comparatively low number of these machines up here in southern Alberta, Canada.

In the past, I've been fully self-reliant on the mechanical side having MX'd Maicos up here (with great results I might add) years ago when there were usually less than 6 on the tracks in the whole province. I lived bikes 24/7 then, however, so complete engine mods or rebuilts from the inside out or frame and wheel reconstruction was just par for the course. These days, without the same facilities or the insane/blind passion for all aspects of the sport, I want a bike that works well but won't have me back in the shop fighting gremlins every time I take it out.

The notion of owning/riding a Berg kind of gives me the same giddy feeling that I got when I boldly bought that first Maico. It's very rejunvenating to think that I could actually experience that same, "What an amazing machine", disbelief/excitement feeling again by stepping onto one of these crazy Swedish marvels!!

As suggested, I will look up Fryguy via PM here and learn more from a Southern Alberta hands-on perspective, but I already know my fate is sealed. There is a Berg in my near future.

Thanks Jedi!

I have actually swapped a few emails over that last year with Dave via the A&E contact address on their website.

However, even when you know the guys in the biz of selling the machinery are total enthusiasts as well, it still feels a bit more real when you hear the raves from the guys who buy it to ride it as opposed to the great guys who sell it to ride it.

Call me at least a little cautious in that regard I guess...but, I want to hear it from the folks who have paid the fee and experienced both the ride, and the repair, from the user end of things.

It's taken me a very long time to finally get back to looking for a bike again. I already know I WANT a Berg....I just need to be very sure I can live with a Berg.

(I have an '05 FE550E as wallpaper on the PC I use daily & the same pic printed in color and hanging at my worksite in direct line of vision everytime I look up from this keyboard.....I'm screwed, basically....just need to find a couple more sheckles to lay down....talk to a couple more Berg riders...my fate is sealed....)