96 motor in a 99 FE501

kingmoochr · May 3, 2011

So, after banging my head repeatedly because my motor simply wouldn't spark, I gave up and bought a complete 96 FE minus frame (well not totally minus, I had to strip it once I got home). The bike has been revived, for now, but I definitely have a sour taste in my mouth re: everything 'Berg.

I read the first gen motors don't have oil pumps...should I get right to perfecting my 99 motor (thinking KTM head and possibly cylinder, a kokusan ignition if i can find one, and everything else suggested to get it working proper) because of common reliability problems in the first gen's, or is it likely to last just as long as any other older 'Berg?

If I can't locate a new ignition, will the early sparker fit into the 99 motor without hastle? I have a rewound stator, and sent the entire system to Taffy where it reportedly started his bike first kick. I was only able to get it to spark intermittently at first, then not at all. My swapping the motor confirmed it really is as easy as I thought, so I'm at a complete loss with the 99 ignition I have.

zaga · May 4, 2011

Hi kingmoochr

I don't know if you are talking about the stator or not when you say ignition, because the stator is usualy the first thing that doesn't work when you don't have spark.

If you are talking about the stator pay atention that I think 96 and 99 stators have diferent values, because the 99 is the first year with the stator on the cover not in the engine, but not shure if its the same with diferent mounting, and only changed in 2000 ??

Anyway send it to rewind and you will have your problem solved, for some time at least, and like me if you take good care of it (clean after presure wash, respect torque of bolts, etc) for some years.

To fit kokusan, I think you will have a lot of time and money to spend, but anything is possible !!!

:cheers:
ZAGA

RDP501 · May 4, 2011

I was only able to get it to spark intermittently at first, then not at all. My swapping the motor confirmed it really is as easy as I thought, so I'm at a complete loss with the 99 ignition I have.

Check your ground. I had a similar problem with a new ignition on my '02 FE650 and it turned out the spark coil was loose.

kingmoochr · May 4, 2011

I spent hours trying to get the 99 motor to spark, all to no avail. This was with a rewound stator. I even sent the new rewind and my coil to Taffy to check, and he reported that my ignition system started his bike first kick. I gave up on the 99 motor and the 96 motor is now in the bike and runs. My questions are

1 - Are the very early Berg motors prone to early demise due to not having an oil pump (or some other reason)?

2 - can the older ignition system (flywheel, stator, cover) be installed on the later motors?

I want to resurrect the 99 motor with a KTM head and possibly a 525 or other kit, but it will be some time before that is done. I really don't want to go back to the ignition system that was on that motor, because my swapping of the engines and having the bike run in 2 hours, despite the fact this is my first dirt bike and I have never done that, confirms I do know what I am doing. There is a demon somewhere, and the motor swap exorcism has worked, at least for now. If I can't get the early spark parts onto the 99 motor I will probably wait until I can secure a Kokusan or other ignition to retrofit onto the 99.

And the rewound 99 stator is within specs. Taffy posted that they have successfully "upgraded" the later coil, maybe the demon lies there and a fix to it could work. Still stumped, but at least my bike runs again.

RDP501 · May 4, 2011

Are the very early Berg motors prone to early demise due to not having an oil pump (or some other reason)?

My first husaberg was a '96 FE501 (purchased new) that I owned for 8 years with no problems. I too was a bit concerned about the lack of an oil pump but never had any problems with the bike but changed oil nearly every ride. I did a lot of trail riding, desert in the winter, and even did some racing on it. The only thing I ever did to the motor other than change the oil was adjust the valves. A friend of mine owned a '92 FE350 (also purchased new) that was regularly ridden up to about '02 and also had no mechanical issues. I think the key is frequent oil changes and valve clearance adjustments/checks.

jampe · May 4, 2011

Hello.
The oilpump only circulated the oil thru the filter, so the news was oil filter AND oil pump from -97.
Regards
Jampe

kingmoochr · May 4, 2011

Cool, good to know, but still curious on the ignition system swap

jampe · May 5, 2011

Hello.
I have tried the older SEM (Sparks rewounded) and coil from an -96 501 engine on a -99 501 engine but i didn`t get it to start.
Got a nice spark but nothing more and a couple of backfire, oh yes a very tired left leg of course i got too, sold the old stuff to a owner of an older bike and it did work on his bike.
Regards
Jampe

kingmoochr · May 5, 2011

Hmmm, well if it was sparking, it was probably just a matter of the timing being off. I'll look more into the technical/universal way to set ignition timing (I'd need to for a Kokusan swap anyway)

96 motor in a 99 FE501

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