Cycle World

Re: Yes, but the Husqvarna TE450 won!

HuskyRips said:

all they wanted was the technology

Click to expand...

If all they wanted was the technology they didn't have to purchase the company and then move it to another country. A little reverse engineering would have accomplished that at a fraction of the cost.

Sweden may have lost Husqvarna and Husaberg but look out for Highland bringing up the rear.

Will the Swedish Army switch to Highlands?

http://www.rekryc.mil.se/lejon/?lang=eng

I hate to admit it, but if I was buying a new "boutique" bike I would buy the Husky in a heartbeat over a new Berg.

check the news on the front page for some info on the 'varna 510. It had some great information.

thanks,
json

I had a short ride on a TE450 on the weekend on what is one of the hardest tightest trail rides Ive been on. It was in the Cobaw state forrest Nth West of Melbourne. We did 55km in 5 hours and I had less than 1/2 a litre of fuel left in my FE501 at end.

The following bikes were on the ride and all riders were basically A grade veterans.

2003 Husaberg FE501E (auto clutch)
2002 Husaberg FE400E
2004 Husaberg FE450E
2004 Husky TE400
1998 Husky TE 360 (auto clutch)
2004 KTM 250 (auto clutch)
2000 Susuki DR400
2002 Yamaha WR 250F


The Huskey was an absolute shocker to ride in this sort of terrain. It simply doesnt have the throttle control and is just way to snappy in the power delivery. I couldn’t wait to get back on my berg. The Husky feels like it has very little flywheel weight and is very prone to stalling. That coupled with the lack of a kickstarter meant it was soon struggling to fire up on the electric leg and had to sit out the hardest section because its battery just simply couldnt be relied on to start it up after the numerous ineviabble stalls. The handling and stearing of the bike were great and quite similar to 04 model bergs but the 04 FE450 left it for dead in the difficult and technical areas.

The husky was also the only bike to run out of fuel even though it sat out over 1 hour of the ride!! So much for nice lean ergonomic lines, 7.5 litres just isnt enough fuel!!. The Husky was also the only bike not to make it up the hardest killer hill.

This was a very difficult ride but it certainly showed some serious weaknesses in the Husky. In open riding the power delivery might be ok but the fuel capacity is a major problem that these magazine tests don’t seam to focus enough attention on.

As for the 501 with Auto clutch, just magic. Its amazing that such a fast and powerful bike can handle the tightest on trail trash with such finess. As my mate on the 04 berg 450 said after test ridding it up one nasty hill, "Thats Cheating".

Cheers
Horto

That should have read

2004 Husky TE450

Cheers
Horto

t-jet-tim said:

Hey Huskyrips,what do you ride.
You probably own a quad too right?

Click to expand...

Whats wrong with riding/owning a quad??

Don't want to get into a slinging match as I really like Huskies, but, at the recent Australian 4 day enduro, 8 of 23 (35%) TE250s didn't finish and 4 of 5 (80%) TE450s didn't finish. The majority of DNFs were blamed on valve problems.

The only bikes with a similar DNF rate were Honda 7 of 13 (54%) CRF250s DNF and 6 of 8 (75%) CRF450s DNF. Again, mostly blamed on valve problems.

The DNF rate on most other bikes ranged between 10 and 30%.
3 Bergs entered a 450, 550 and 650. The 450 DNF, didn't hear why.
While its only a few entries for Husaberg, they didn't embarrass them selves in regard to reliability.

The 550 and 650 riders both earned Gold medals.

t-jet-tim said:

Hi enforcer 4,I new I would hear from you.
You are not the average quad owner.Most
quad guys I know should ride with a orange
triangle on the back.

Click to expand...

Just wanted to give you a hard time thats all, guess I was a little bored.

Horto
thanks for the review of the 'berg vs. Husky te450. I also compared the '04 te450 against my '02 fx470. I found the te to be revvy with soft bottom to mid power, which is actually easier to ride in tight woods than my fx, which tends to pull very hard and quickly from the bottom. The te wanted to stall easy whereas the fx is almost stallproof. I'm leaning towards a '04 fe550e, hoping to get a slower revving motor that better suits my standup riding style.

I haven`t seen or read the Cycle World test but it sounds to me that they have already made their minds up when it comes to certain makes.I would blame the people for not setting the bike up right in the first place.Since they should know what they are getting into in the first place with a camparison as such.Should have been preped and all sorted out before the bike even showed up.Sounds like some people would cut their nose off to spite their face.My 3 1/2 cents worth.

OK MY TURN! From what I got of the test article the Berg was sent with bent handle bars and carb settings were way off (this could be from another test session somewhere else that was rejetted also) someone needs make sure the Bergs are in good shape and running good before sending out to a test. They also said the Berg was good bike (wide feeling) after a good Berg Dealer had made repairs and reset up. The Cycle Worlds test I believe was one of the best as it wasn't a HONDA/YAMAHA Love Fest like all the Dirt Mags (ok the Honda CRF250X is a great bike, rode one and they will sell a bunch and the only other Honda tested was an XR650) I hope the Bergs Survive.

They should have a bigger tank avaliable for the Husky's in a couple of weeks. All manufactures should follow KTM and offer all Offroad/Enduro models with 3.2 gallon tanks and smaller for MX models.

I seen a new 550 at Motoxotica and the changes seem good (change that damn wide tank that uses wood/sheet metal screws to hold on the shrouds)

Kraig

Hey Husaberg’s are great bikes, I just don’t like KTM they are the Evil Empire.

And I wasn’t trying to bash the Berg it’s a great bike with only one problem in the States and that’s called dealer support. If you look back into the not to recent past the original Husaberg importer did a great job building a dealer network and supplying parts. KTM bought Husaberg for a few reasons.

1. 10 years ago it was easier to buy the technology than develop it in house. Remember KTM didn’t have the resources that they have today.

2. By buying Husaberg they would look like the good guys coming to the rescue, but their only plan was to convert the Berg customer into a KTM customer. They did it by making all their KTM dealers a Burg dealer, So that when they pulled the plug Husaberg the customer would switch to KTM because they had a relationship with the dealer.

3. KTM only has one plan and that is to compete with the BIG 4, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki. They bought Berg just for market share.

Say what you might, but KTM is evil.

all valid thoughts, Husky.

since we're all already around the water cooler, what are your :thumbup:'s & :thumbdown:'s with your Husky? Have your ridden both? If so, what were the biggest differences you noticed?

thanks,
json

I'm sorry I haven't ridden a Berg in a couple of years. And it wouldn't be fair to compare the two. I know that the one that I did ride was very nice though, but like I said all the Berg dealers became KTM dealers in New Jersey except for one and he moves more VOR's than Bergs and that's not saying much.

Between KTM dropping the brand and Knightline getting and then loosing the distributorship and then doing the same with VOR, It didn’t really help the either brand Stateside.

It’s really a shame because with all the Quality Euro Brands that are out there like Husaberg, Vor and Gas Gas the weak link has been the distributors.

Just like with the Cycle World shootout. That bike should of been setup properly, and there is no excuse for the way the bike was delivered. And even though CycleWorld isn’t just a Dirt Magazine it’s the only test that matters, because they don’t have a reputation for being bias like DirtRider and DirtBike. They also have Jimmy Lewis running the test and he probably has the best reputation of all the American Moto journalist. He’s also probably one of the best riders in the country as well. Hey the guy got 4th overall in the Paris to Dakar a couple of years ago.

And please don’t throw me off this site for anything I said, I like coming here because everyone is so passionate about the Brand.

Long live the Berg...Oh yes and if I didn’t say it before...Husky’s Rock!

Hey Husky -

You'll never get thrown off the site for having an opinion... we love a good debate!

... just keep it clean and honest.


~ Ken

twistthethrottle said:

Don't want to get into a slinging match as I really like Huskies, but, at the recent Australian 4 day enduro, 8 of 23 (35%) TE250s didn't finish and 4 of 5 (80%) TE450s didn't finish. The majority of DNFs were blamed on valve problems.

Click to expand...

From MCnews.au

"All new Husqvarna enduro and supermotard machines (ADR approved) carry a limited warranty of 24 months, and there is a limited 12-month warranty on motocross bikes."

and

"The warranty will cover things such as engine and suspension components, instruments, and control parts, plus other 'hardware'," said Feeney.

He said a notable feature of the warranty was it covered labour costs of replacing any parts found to be faulty.

"Some warranties are restricted to parts only, but we've gone a step further by offering to cover the labour and the factory have said they will give us their total support,"

I saw this the other day and wondered why Husky was implementing this warranty program, now I see why. It looks like Husky is trying to keep the buying public from facing the full impact of teething for the new engines. soemthing Husaberg/ KTM never did.

IIRC, Husaberg(AUS) adopted a very aggressive warranty plan w/the '04 Bergs. I forget the terms, but Rodney would know(Bahnsy). Some distributors seem to push the bike more than others, but I imagine it's incredibly cost prohibitive. Unlike 'Varna, Husaberg Co. won't back the distributor, thus the distrib gets the final bill on any extended warranty work.

thanks,
json

I must get in on this, I just got a Husky TE 450, ridden it twice, it's very quick with little flywheel wieght, suspension is good, brakes good, feels more like a Berg than a KTM does. My last Berg was a 2001 FX470, not my favorite Berg, but it was ok, in the tight narly slow speed stuff it was easier to ride than the Husky is, and the Husky came jetted wierd, to rich, on one end and too lean on the other, but after you get that straight it doesn't want to hiccup and die like it did. Now compared to the 04 KTM 450, the front end is a lot lighter on the Husky, it feels like you're sitting on the bike not in it, the engine feels faster even with the very stopped up exhaust, I'm not a fan of changing mufflers and making my bikes louder, but the Husky needs to breath, and what I miss most about my Berg, it's different! Looking at it from my view, the Berg was like a big block Chevy, could not bog it down, and it just kept going, the KTM is more like one of these new v-8, yeh it's fast, handles o.k. but so does everything else, now the Husky is making me grin, this bike feels like it has a turbo, faster than it sounds, kinda hard to ride in trials type stuff, but I have rode one with a Doma exhaust, it ran and sounded like my old 97 501 FE Berg!! The Husaberg problems have really shown up with the split engine design, I know they needed to update, but the 97 501 was bullet proof if you kept the ignition dry, and it ran better than the new Bergs I have rode, that includes a 02 501, 550, and 470. LONG LIVE HUSABERG!!