First Berg - can you help a brother out?

mconnell said:

Gents - I bought a lightly used 08 FE450 yesterday. It only has 14 hours, and it is completely stock. I set the sag at 100 mm as suggested on this forum, and it still feels a little high in the rear to me.

I've been riding KTM's for a decade, and I have been setting them up with 110 mm and love the way they handle with that amount of sag. What do you think about me going to 110?

Now, to the particulars - I'm 155 pounds without riding gear, 5'8" tall, and 50 years old. I ride at the expert level in cross country races and can still win the over 40 class on a good day. I also love to trail ride in nasty, rocky stuff in Colorado and in eastern Oklahoma.

Are the stock springs going to work for me? I rode the bike for the first time yesterday for about 20 minutes. The forks felt in the ballpark, but the rear was a little stiff. I realize that I need more seat time before I make any major changes.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Do some testing and see what you like as far as sag. If 110 feels better, run it. It's your bike and there are no hard and fast rules regarding suspension set up except set it up the way YOU like it.

As far as the springs, if you still have 35 or so mm of free sag when you get your rider sag set, then you're in the ball park. At 155 lbs, you are probably good to go with the stock front springs, even riding at an expert pace.

It is sort of difficult comparing your bike to a KTM. Completely different feel, as you probably figured out by now.

I just thought I would mention the pre 09 Bergs seem to turn better around 100mm rider sag. In my opinion I like 100 to 105 and actually closer to 105. I've been doing it for years on my other bike also. Some of the Veterans here will tell you to keep it at 100 and below. You might like 110 but does it turn better at 100 is the question? I believe the owners manual states that the rider sag should be set between 85 and 100. So if you want to try 110 why not try 105 first?
Pollo

i think the earlier owner's handbooks said 85-100mm and then they changed around 2004 to 90-105mm or summink or other. suggest you wind the spring preload off completely and then back half a turn to pinch up the spring and it it's still too hard then time for it to go!

regards

Taffy

mconnell said:

Thanks. I have 35 mm of bike sag right now and 100 mm of rider sag. So, I'll set the rider sag to 110 and see how the bike sag looks. Obviously, it'll increase. At what bike sag value would you start consider a lighter spring?

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I'd say the stock spring is fine then. Obviously if you want to try more race sag, then your static sag will increase as well, probably about the same amount (10mm).

More sag = more trail. At some point too much trail will make the bike sluggish to turn in and harder to make quick direction changes, because more trail increases the bike's self-centering tendency.

My thought is that if you go fast enough to win the over 40 class then you probably know how to set your bike up best for you. My best advise is to test several different sag settings, make one change at a time, and go with what feels best.

Throwing my two cents in here.........

First of all, depending on how that 14 hours was put on your bike, the suspension components may still loosen up more as you put the hours on it.

While both the KTM and the Husaberg's both use the PDS system, the shock angle and stroke lengths are different between the two bikes. I'm not sure about the piston timing and needle profile differences between the two shocks. With that in mind, setting the sag has more to do with just how the bike "sits", it has a lot to do with how the PDS system works in relationship to the piston timing, and the position of the pistons in the shock.

It would also be interesting to know what the offset is on your 08 since no on line info is available. However, I would assume that the off set is 21 top and 22 bottom which is what the 07's came with. Where do you have your fork height set at the moment?


You also did not mention where you have the compression and rebound clickers set, as well as the high speed damping setting.

The Husaberg shock has a high speed compression damping feature, that, depending on which KTM you had may or may not have had that, usually only the SX's had that in the past, but I think the XCF's might have that now. This adjustment has a pretty good deal of influence on how well the bike settles into whoop sections, or over a rough section of chop, and any perceived stiffness. 1/4 turn on this knob makes a pretty big difference.


My "advice" to you would be the following: (of course keeping in mind that according to your resume', and like JohnF3 said, you probably know what you're doing)

Set the rider sag to 100mm's.

Set the fork height to 5mm's, that should be the first line on the tubes below the cap tube junction, and will put you in the middle of the fork height adjustment range.

Set all the clickers to their "normal" positions.

Go and ride a test loop and write down what you think. If you think the rear still feels stiff in the faster stuff, back off the High Speed adjuster 1/2 turn go ride your test loop again and write down what you think. You might even consider backing off the rebound adjuster on the rear as well to help free up the rear as well. And so on until you think you have used the available adjustments to get it the best you can.

Hope this helps,

Dale

mconnell said:

Thanks for the continued feedback. Dale - in answer to some of your questions:

- the fork position in the triple is such that only 1-2 mm of fork is sticking up above the top clamp. So, they are down about as far as they can go. I'll try the 5 mm that you suggest. That's where I always put my KTM forks, too.
- I'm not sure of the clicker positions on the suspension. Unfortunately, when the dealer delivered the bike to me, they forgot to include the owner's manual and I don't know what the stock settings are. The manual is on its way.
- I'm assuming the offset is stock. How can I check that?
- I'm familiar with the hi speed/low speed adjustment on the WP shock. I had a 250 XC that had that feature. Good advice on adjusting that to see the affect.

I plan on putting some hours on it this weekend. I'll have a better plan of attack after that!

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Mconnel,

You can down load the 06/07 owners manual for free from the Husaberg.com site. I doubt there was much change in the suspension in the 08 models, I could be wrong but I think 08 had only a few changes other than bng's, however they did make a change to the web area of the crank mains on the 550, and I think all the bikes came with Akro slip ons as well.

Anyway, here is what the 06/07 owners manual shows for your suspension

Forks:

Standard Springs: 4.4NM (good for 149 to 180 lbs of rider with gear)
Standard Compression Setting: 21 clicks out.
Standard Rebound Setting: 20 clicks out.

Shock:

Standard Spring: 8.0/250 (good for 149 to 180 lbs of rider with gear)
Standard Low Speed Compression Setting: 22 clicks out.
Standard High Speed Compression Setting: 2 turns out.
Standard Rebound Setting: 15 clicks out.
Rider Sag: 90-105mm's
Static Sag: 35mm's + or - 2mm's.

On the offset, you may have the adjustable KTM clamps on your bike come to think of it, 20-18mm. The way that you can check is to look at the part number on the triple clamp, and the offset number will be the last two numbers of the part number. And if you have the 18-20 variable I believe it will be stamped on the triple clamp as well. You can also download the spare parts manuals for free from the Husaberg.com site as well.

So now you have what I think are the standard settings for your suspenders, and will give you a starting point. Best of luck!!

Dale

mconnell said:

Excellent! I noticed that the specs you list show the stock spring on the shock to be 8.0. My spring is 8.4 250. But, I can achieve 35 mm bike sag and 100 mm rider sag with it.
So that tells me that the 8.0 must have been REALLY light for most riders.

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Hmmmmmmmm, wonder what's in the forks?

My spring is 8.4 250

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took a look im my 08 manual, and it says:

8.4 is the OEM -shock spring for 08 models
shock clickers
18 LS
2 HS
20 Rebound
5 mm preload

fork: offset can be set at 20 or 22 mm
keep in mind, that the 08 do have a pre Load adjuster!

4,4 spring
comp: 19
reb: 20
Spring preload 2 turns

peter

Something additional:
It took about 25-30 hours until my suspension really worked well.

Something else to consider: what gearing are you running?
Stock is (in Europe 16/40) and way to long, so what the location of your chain adjuster right now?
should be close to the middle of the adjustment-rate.
Get a 14/51 Gearing,
take a look into the doc (carburation!) change oil often and have lots of fun with your Berg

16/40!!??? I'm surprised the motor can pull that tall gearing. It must run 150 mph with those sprockets!

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well, for emission and noise-regulations the bikes are delivered that way (over here) & the carb is heavily restricted...(8hp!)

don´t know what terrainyou´re riding, some of my friends use even 13/52 in the tight stuff.(but chain slider get´s abused)
14/51 it´s still good for 101mph - measured by daleO on his GPS

Mcconnell

What did you end up going with for your final suspension setup? I'm a light weight too at 140lbs, 5' 8" but not an A level rider just a trail rider and doing some MX training now. I'm getting a used 2008 FE 450 this next week and want to get it set up right. Right now I'm riding a DRZ 400 and a BMW 1200 GS so this will be a big change for me. Thanks Colleen

no mx..

Colleen,
I do not think you will want to take the berg to any MX track....that thing is a handful for us guys that weigh 215 !
Get the right springs for the suspension for your weight, and get a Rekluse clutch. Then you will be happy.
Mike

RE: no mx..

Mike,

I found out from the seller that the 450 berg has the suspension revalved and sprung for a 160 lbs, so that should work great AND I won't have to cut the calories over the winter LOL. I'm riding my DRZ400 at the MX track now and although a bit on the porky side, I'm doing great on it but it's work to get air. No doubt the Berg will have more power and a better ride,that's why I got it. The MX track is great for winter training but the 450 will be a woods bike for fun once the snows gone.

Not sure I need a Rekluse, do you have one? I used to race BMW/Ducatis in my much younger days so I'm really used to working traction on the street and love all the siding fun in the dirt. Open to options and newbie at Bergs.

Thanks Colleen

Dang.....

Colleen,
Ok, so you have a history....that is great ! I am impressed.....I am not accustomed to girls riding 450's. The DRZ 400 is a friendly bike, I have one of those too. I got it for my 15 year old daughter that just loves thumpers. She is about 5'6" and 155lbs. Athletic build, basketball player. But my Berg would just be too much bike for her....too tall, too much power...just too much. If it had a rekluse, it would be better, but still be too much. You on the other hand, have a lot of seat time, so you are not in the same boat as her.
I do not have a Rekluse in my berg....mine is a dual sport bike, and sees mostly road use...lol....I have a Husqvarna WR 250 for my woods weapon. My brother has a 450 berg, with a rekluse...very sweet. On eof my riding buddies has an 09 berg 450 with a rekluse....extremely sweet......Now we ride nasty gnarly, slick, snotty stuff here, and single track. Big hills, just real gnarly stuff. The bergs can be a handful in the real nasty stuff, but they are a lot more pleasant with the Rekluse.....If we rode out west, sand, desert, etc.....there would be no need for the Rekluse.....You got a website? Videos of you riding? I love watching girls ride fast...I am also a soccer coach, and my girls teams are always my favorites .
Mike