Joined Sep 2011
26 Posts | 7+
Ventura County, CA
One thing is certain, changing the oil as prescribed or more often won't hurt anything and can only be good for the motor, just not the wallet. :mrgreen:
For me, I travel on my Husa not usually just riding on day-rides or trailering the bike so the 10 hour thing is never going to work for me, that would mean changing oil everyday for days or weeks on end…. never going to happen.
I bought the Husa specifically to have a lightweight adventure bike after researching every contender for over a year. I believe that these motors are proving to be much more durable and reliable than some people might think, especially when not even coming close to maintaining it like the racers or factory recommends and riding it like a BMW GS or KTM Adventure.
This post was made by Barton of the Husaberg Adventure team on a thread on ADVrider after breaking the motorcycle world altitude record in Chile then riding home to Montana :
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthre ... 94&page=19
Lets see, 465 hours and 19,600 miles on my '11 570 now. During this time I've changed oil an average of about every 40 hours. I drain the paper filter housing every time but only change the filter every 2-3 changes, yes every 120 hours or so. A couple changes were with the factory recommended Motorex 15/50. Because it was the best I could find on the road sometimes I used Motul 7100 10/40 but nearly all were Motul 300v 10/40 single ester and the last 5 changes 300v 15/50 double ester. Motul can be readily found just about anywhere in the world, from cheap scooter shops to most Ducati dealers as well as any KTM shop in south and central America. KTM shops in Europe, North America, and Chile sell Motorex but that about it.
Bike doesn't visibly burn any oil at any time and I never have had to add any between my changes. Keep in mind all motors burn oil, and that burned oil is often replaced by unburned fuel that gets past the rings. The 570 has never failed to start, and though I haven't riden another one recently to compare imo it runs as well and feels just as scary fast as when new.
Stability- I really didn't get why so many people complain about high speed stability- until last week when I removed the steering damper to have it serviced. Without the steering damper and with an agressive front tire you really need to be careful over 60 mph. I'm not going to change the steering angle because the steep stock angle has a lot to do with how easy it is to get the bike to turn at any speed and on any terrain. Fighter planes, dirt bikes, and mid engined race cars all trade a lot of stability for maneuverability. I'll just continue to crank up the steering damper when I go fast. Saves money, handles better.
Sprockets- I can't recommend Dirt Tricks Ironman sprockets more highly. Yes they sponsored us and sent me a couple spares along the way so read whatever you want but the bottom line for me is this: 19,000 miles+ with ONE 42 rear sprocket and TWO 15 tooth front sprockets. In this time I went through 5 o-ring chains and 6 sets of rally tires. I have no visible wear on the countershaft and have never greased it or even given it much thought. I also like Iron Man's reusable washer, trying to reuse the stock front sprocket washer caused the o ring behind the counter sprocket sleeve to let go. I replaced it, added the Ironman washer, and never had another issue. I also recommend a real cushion hub, this shouldn't be new to to anyone. It probably has a lot to do with riding nearly 9,000 miles on pavement without issue.
Early on I regularly had oil in the airbox as well, especially after sustained high rpm top gear days. I suspect that the oil vapor hitting the bottom of the airfilter, condensing, and dripping back to the bottom of the airbox may be transporting dirt across the air filter and into the engine. I lowered my oil level so when cold the level is 1/3 up the sight glass. 1.25 liters with filter change and no more. With this I no longer have oil pooling in the airbox.
The bike has not had an easy cruising adventure life and was only babied at times to make tires last. I rode from Belize to northern USA, 4-6 hundred miles a day between 75 and 85 mph on pavement in 10 days. Ask Lukas or any of my riding partners how I ride the bike off road. When factoring in how the bike has been used, it is the most reliable motorcycle I've owned.
If I take the bike overseas again I'll go through the motor and everything else. In the meantime there is no reason to open the motor. I'm one to look over the whole bike all day every day. But seriously we can all stop obsessing over little things and just ride any late model Husaberg. They are not fragile, high maintenance, throw away race bikes. They are race bikes you can ride around the world.
Anything else?[/QUOTE]
For me, I travel on my Husa not usually just riding on day-rides or trailering the bike so the 10 hour thing is never going to work for me, that would mean changing oil everyday for days or weeks on end…. never going to happen.
I bought the Husa specifically to have a lightweight adventure bike after researching every contender for over a year. I believe that these motors are proving to be much more durable and reliable than some people might think, especially when not even coming close to maintaining it like the racers or factory recommends and riding it like a BMW GS or KTM Adventure.
This post was made by Barton of the Husaberg Adventure team on a thread on ADVrider after breaking the motorcycle world altitude record in Chile then riding home to Montana :
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthre ... 94&page=19
Lets see, 465 hours and 19,600 miles on my '11 570 now. During this time I've changed oil an average of about every 40 hours. I drain the paper filter housing every time but only change the filter every 2-3 changes, yes every 120 hours or so. A couple changes were with the factory recommended Motorex 15/50. Because it was the best I could find on the road sometimes I used Motul 7100 10/40 but nearly all were Motul 300v 10/40 single ester and the last 5 changes 300v 15/50 double ester. Motul can be readily found just about anywhere in the world, from cheap scooter shops to most Ducati dealers as well as any KTM shop in south and central America. KTM shops in Europe, North America, and Chile sell Motorex but that about it.
Bike doesn't visibly burn any oil at any time and I never have had to add any between my changes. Keep in mind all motors burn oil, and that burned oil is often replaced by unburned fuel that gets past the rings. The 570 has never failed to start, and though I haven't riden another one recently to compare imo it runs as well and feels just as scary fast as when new.
Stability- I really didn't get why so many people complain about high speed stability- until last week when I removed the steering damper to have it serviced. Without the steering damper and with an agressive front tire you really need to be careful over 60 mph. I'm not going to change the steering angle because the steep stock angle has a lot to do with how easy it is to get the bike to turn at any speed and on any terrain. Fighter planes, dirt bikes, and mid engined race cars all trade a lot of stability for maneuverability. I'll just continue to crank up the steering damper when I go fast. Saves money, handles better.
Sprockets- I can't recommend Dirt Tricks Ironman sprockets more highly. Yes they sponsored us and sent me a couple spares along the way so read whatever you want but the bottom line for me is this: 19,000 miles+ with ONE 42 rear sprocket and TWO 15 tooth front sprockets. In this time I went through 5 o-ring chains and 6 sets of rally tires. I have no visible wear on the countershaft and have never greased it or even given it much thought. I also like Iron Man's reusable washer, trying to reuse the stock front sprocket washer caused the o ring behind the counter sprocket sleeve to let go. I replaced it, added the Ironman washer, and never had another issue. I also recommend a real cushion hub, this shouldn't be new to to anyone. It probably has a lot to do with riding nearly 9,000 miles on pavement without issue.
Early on I regularly had oil in the airbox as well, especially after sustained high rpm top gear days. I suspect that the oil vapor hitting the bottom of the airfilter, condensing, and dripping back to the bottom of the airbox may be transporting dirt across the air filter and into the engine. I lowered my oil level so when cold the level is 1/3 up the sight glass. 1.25 liters with filter change and no more. With this I no longer have oil pooling in the airbox.
The bike has not had an easy cruising adventure life and was only babied at times to make tires last. I rode from Belize to northern USA, 4-6 hundred miles a day between 75 and 85 mph on pavement in 10 days. Ask Lukas or any of my riding partners how I ride the bike off road. When factoring in how the bike has been used, it is the most reliable motorcycle I've owned.
If I take the bike overseas again I'll go through the motor and everything else. In the meantime there is no reason to open the motor. I'm one to look over the whole bike all day every day. But seriously we can all stop obsessing over little things and just ride any late model Husaberg. They are not fragile, high maintenance, throw away race bikes. They are race bikes you can ride around the world.
Anything else?[/QUOTE]
