fse 650 2004 is reliable?

so the little French boy is here with his question ^^

someone tell me the 2004 is not reliable , and the 2005 is reliable .

but nobody can tell me the difference , specially on the "low engine", is it the same crank shafts ? bearings ?

how reliable an engine from 2004 ? (this guy tell me they have to be more reliable )

hope you understand me, this is hard to me , I had English at school and I was not bad but mechanical English is ....:furious::furious:

thanks everyone !!

This is an exceprt from the Husaberg Wiki - Husaberg Owners Doc written by David (Taffy) Lloyd of Taffmeisters - Husaberg, KTM, Husqvarna, Gas Gas, dirt bikes - servicing, tuning, rebuilds, parts

2005 Husaberg Motorcycles:

Higher sweep which raises your elbows, is straighter and feels better. Motorcycle now sports titanium valves for FC/FX but steel still for Fe’s. New graphics but is generally accepted as a year of less radical change. Completely new exhaust said to aid power. Phenomenally strong battery means they all start on the button from cold. 450 soft off the bottom end, no KTM-type wheelspin but appears to be the first year without even medium type ‘faults’. FCs get an adjustable steering stem ala KTM allowing the trail to be adjusted 2- 0 +2mm. FS gets the 17mm triple Clamps: the first time a modern Husaberg isn’t running the standard 22’s.

The 650 has been reduced from 644 to 628cc with the stroke being shortened from 82 to 80mm, rod length remains 135mm. Also Husaberg goes to a ‘pork chop’ crank instead of the original circular flywheel. Here are the observations of a top engineer, Ben Ballard of JBS Racing, who develops 750cc conversion kits:
1.The big end pin has been uprated from 32mm to 35mm. The are using a slightly different heavier section rod, and have had to mill about 2mm off of the bottom of the rod just to get it clear the cases. The rod does not have the small hole under the little end facing down, drilled through the web anymore instead a hole is drilled at the top. This strikes me as a really good idea.
2.An oil jet has been added to the cases pointing at the bottom of the piston in the 12 o’clock position above the drive side bearing KTM style. 2005 also had this. This seems good to me, though perhaps un-necessary I can’t believe oil doesn’t flick up there as it bleeds out of the sides of the rod bearing. (not sure about this Ben as my 2002 has it as well!).
3.The water ways in the cases that feed the slots below the exhaust ducts in the head have been widened from 6mm holes to 6 x 12mm slots, and the head has been similarly milled in all the water ways. Also they have used a different core in the casting for the water jacket.
4.The piston is now anodized stock. This I think is a good idea. It seems to help on all fronts, being very hard it helps with wear, being low conductivity it helps with piston temp, the crowns of anodized pistons seem to accumulate less soot etc don’t know whether this is because they stay cooler or perhaps soot doesn’t like sticking to oxide.

So Max..........there really wasn't that many changes from 04-05. The 04 was never considered any less reliable than an 05.

In addition to what Taffy has written:

The starter motor size on the 05 650 (650 only) was increased slightly.

The 2004 header exhaust pipe bend was not tucked in enough and would rub on the front fender. The exhaust header pipe was replaced under warranty with 2005 pipes for those that complained.

As far as the second generation Husaberg motors from 2001-2008 go I would:

Avoid 2001's completely
Avoid early 2002's completely
Consider a late 2002 if well taken care of
2003's are O.K. but still had the SEM ignition
2004-2008 are all very good

The biggest difference in model years is from 2003 to 2004. This is when the Kukosan ignition replaced the SEM and the Keihin FCR replaced Dellorto carburetor.

I would not hesitate for a moment to purchase a well cared for 2004 model.

Good luck in your search,
Eric

first, thank you so much man !

what taffy has written seems to be very interesting , but ..:cry: this is si hard to understand.

The 650 has been reduced from 644 to 628cc with the stroke being shortened from 82 to 80mm, rod length remains 135mm. Also Husaberg goes to a ‘pork chop’ crank. instead of the original circular flywheel

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what's the rod length in French ? and also the last sentence is a mystery to me ?


so I'm not scared anymore by what this guy tell me about the difference of reliability

o but I already had the 2004, it seems to be well cared by the past , I run 10hours since I buy it.

when I buy this 650 I thought it was a 2005 , I didn't look to the VIN number, and yesterday I finally look at it ..:furious:

hope you understand my bad English

have a good day

Your English is just fine. Don't give it another thought.

The rod length remains the same. The pin was just moved slightly toward the center.

What Taffy meant was that the crank design has been changed. When he mentions flywheel he is actually referring to the crank half's (right and left side of the crankshaft assembly) not the ignition flywheel.

Parfois, Taffy peut être un peu difficile à comprendre car il parle couramment l'anglais et il se peut qu'il ne se traduise pas bien.

thanks to comfort me about my English ^^

so if I understand, the crankshaft is not exactly the same , but it's reliable too.

what's the English word for "bielle" ?

if the crank design and the cc has changed , the bielle has changed too ?

oui l'anglais courant est difficile a comprendre pour nous, thank you for the time you spend to explain^^

The direct translation for bielle seems to be "link" as in the master link in a chain or in a web link.

As it relates to a crankshaft it could possibly be the "rod" which connects the crank to the piston.

right, so I would not worry anymore about the little changes who's happened this year (2004 to 2005)

think my 2004 is in good shape, 73 hours , do you think I can go to 100 hours ?

I only know the distribution chain was changed, I change oil every 10hours, only road for the moment (not track race)

100 hours should be no problem. At 150 hours or sooner I would replace the timing chain, rocker arm bearings and cam bearings.

You will need to replace the water pump seals and bearing when it starts to leak which can happen anytime.

Follow the factory recommended maintenance intervals if you race but some have got 300+ hours before doing any motor work. I wouldn't take the chance myself, especially with a 650.

thank you for these precious advice

yes I'll not take the chance too, rocker arm et cam bearings will not be a problem, crankshaft bearing will be another story ahah:cry:

hey husabutt , or others

I found a very interesting post here : http://husaberg.org/mechanical/17170-definative-main-bearing-thread.html

sad for us (French community) cause we don't have that kind of teaching in our language :furious:

in the sixth post of this topic bushmecanic told about some actions to fix main bearings problems.

what do you do about it?

1) first thing you can do is make sure the endfloat is big enough opinions differ but I suggest 0.5 - 0.6mm minimum for all the stock engines but i used 1mm on my 700

2) after a failure or during a rebuild check the crank isn't spread too much; correct the alignment or add pinch (opposite of spread) and..

3) weld the pin.. viewtopic.php?t=12083&f=5

4) use NTN mainbearings instead of skf ones

5) make the crank lighter reducing the outward loads due to the cranks own mass

6) use a completely different style of main bearing

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can you traduce me ... I don't understand the 1 , 2 , 3 , and 5

i understant 90% of the words, but the technicals one get my brain on fire :cry:

thanks !

up !

anyone can help me

You don't need those mods on the standard 650 ...if you start adding more power, main bearing and crank spread could be an issue

Is the 650 realiable? Yes it's a lot similar with the ktm frs and they are good engine

The crank on the husaberg and rfs doesn't like to be over rev for too long... it spread like a banana and the main bearing don't like it

o sorry , I didn't understand that was unnecessary on a stock engine,

I think I will just put ntn bearings when rebuild. thank you !

I wouldn't call it unnecessary...if you are going to buy a 650 and the engine sound/work OK then use it even if it's got the SKF bearing ...when is rebuilding time you can chose the NTN or other brands if you see that the old one are no good

All I want to say is that on standard 650 engine is good as long you don't over rev it constantly...when you start adding big bore and a lot more hp then you have to be a lot more careful on the component you got

I already got that 650 , it sounds pretty good for the moment and has 74hours

yes I'll choose ntn cause they have a better reputation ^^ in rebuilding time of course , I'm not going to open now

for the power, it's enough to me for the moment !

thank you my friend

in order of stress on the main bearings due to crank being too flexible for the style of main bearings we have:

550 (worst)
501
644
628 (least stress)
450 (not a real bike lol)

its not power that is the problem it is average rpm vs stiffness.

ok so I'm in third position , like your joke on the 450

I would say a big thank for all the knowledge you give here, it's gold !

bushmechanic said:

450 (not a real bike lol)

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My poor FS450c feels slighted :cold:

Goose916 said:

My poor FS450c feels slighted :cold:

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we pray for your fs450 ahah