I spent a good part of Wednesday riding an 06 FE380 that belonged to my buddy. We rode about 180kms of rugged Canadian Shield on Wed and about 150kms on Thurs.
I had the pleasure of riding his 380 for at least 50kms. I have to say, I really liked the bike. It was quite the change as I was riding an 07 Husky WR125 with a FBF 135 BB Kit. The 380 has great power. Not too much to make it hard to control, but more than enough to get up the gnarliest hills that a smaller bike would have troubles with. It did seem to sign off pretty early but it didnt matter to me with the 6 speed tranny.
There were 2 other guys riding 05/06 FE450s with us, including a WEC bike, but I never had the chance to compare the 380 to the 450 as none of them wanted to ride my 125.
My buddy has taken the e-start off his 380 and I was totally amazed with how easy it kickstarted, hot or cold. Just a nice slow, smooth kick and it fired up every time. The left side kicker was not an issue like I thought it would be. It is still different, but not a big deal once you get over the "wierdness" of it.
Once I got into some rock gardens I remembered how well thumpers are in the rocks. The 380 tracked perfectly over the rocks whereas my 125 ping ponged around a bit. The FE chassis turns super and yet is very stable at speeds. I like the chassis a lot. It didnt feel any heavier than my 06 TE250 did.
Now the bad part. I really noticed the wide tank. Compared to the alloy one on my buds WEC bike, the stock tank is very wide. I never really got completely comfortable with it. I remember Fryguy saying a smaller plastic version of the Omero tank is coming in November. I would really look into one of these as fuel range is not an issue to me. As long as I can go 65kms, I am happy.
Also, my buddy apparently likes his suspension way softer than me. Initially, the bike was very mushy and I felt very nervous on it. 4 clicks more compression front and rear, and it was a different bike. The owner agreed as well.
All and all the 380 is a great bike. Nice trail power and light weight chassis. The only downfall is that you cant buy one this way out of the crate. I sure hope that HSB makes the 380 a production model for 08. I think that this is the bike that could put Berg back on the radar of new buyers.
I had the pleasure of riding his 380 for at least 50kms. I have to say, I really liked the bike. It was quite the change as I was riding an 07 Husky WR125 with a FBF 135 BB Kit. The 380 has great power. Not too much to make it hard to control, but more than enough to get up the gnarliest hills that a smaller bike would have troubles with. It did seem to sign off pretty early but it didnt matter to me with the 6 speed tranny.
There were 2 other guys riding 05/06 FE450s with us, including a WEC bike, but I never had the chance to compare the 380 to the 450 as none of them wanted to ride my 125.
My buddy has taken the e-start off his 380 and I was totally amazed with how easy it kickstarted, hot or cold. Just a nice slow, smooth kick and it fired up every time. The left side kicker was not an issue like I thought it would be. It is still different, but not a big deal once you get over the "wierdness" of it.
Once I got into some rock gardens I remembered how well thumpers are in the rocks. The 380 tracked perfectly over the rocks whereas my 125 ping ponged around a bit. The FE chassis turns super and yet is very stable at speeds. I like the chassis a lot. It didnt feel any heavier than my 06 TE250 did.
Now the bad part. I really noticed the wide tank. Compared to the alloy one on my buds WEC bike, the stock tank is very wide. I never really got completely comfortable with it. I remember Fryguy saying a smaller plastic version of the Omero tank is coming in November. I would really look into one of these as fuel range is not an issue to me. As long as I can go 65kms, I am happy.
Also, my buddy apparently likes his suspension way softer than me. Initially, the bike was very mushy and I felt very nervous on it. 4 clicks more compression front and rear, and it was a different bike. The owner agreed as well.
All and all the 380 is a great bike. Nice trail power and light weight chassis. The only downfall is that you cant buy one this way out of the crate. I sure hope that HSB makes the 380 a production model for 08. I think that this is the bike that could put Berg back on the radar of new buyers.
