Husberg reliability

The time has come for me to for me to finally buy a Burger, as i believe they are a fully sorted unit and all the reliability issues should be pretty much behind them.
However i am still just a little apprehensive. I would like to hear good and bad stories about what its like to live with a recent model Husaberg, that include mechanical, electrical and how well the dealer/Husaberg looked after you when things went wrong.

I got 2002 model.
Husaberg is almost like any other Racing oriented motorcycle, with accurate maintenance program.
Almost, because it is almost the fastest, ready to race out of the box bike and on top of it, its more special (the last is passion kind of thing)

Welcome and avanti !

The 2004 & 2005 Husabergs are as reliable as any current model Japanese performance 4 stroke.

Before the 2004 models the majority of problems plaguing Bergs could be narrowed down to the starter sprag & the S.E.M. ignitions.

Clark

Husby is a lot improved to begin from models 02, until arriving to puts into effect them 05, a lot improved and perfected as far as the motor. They said that today, husby he is the much most reliable one also in the system of the distribution of the valves...

ciao

reliability ?

Hello fellow burgers, it's been a while since I last posted and I have not had the opportunity to tell you all about my July 4th weekend trip to Deals Gap Tn.

Work has been so damn busy I rarely get the chance to sit down at my desk anymore.

Oh well back to the question at hand, Husaberg Reliability.

July 3rd 2005 my friends Clete, Darwin, Mark and I trailer our bikes from St. Louis to Deals Gap Tenn.

I brought my 94FE 501 motard conversion and my 1800 Honda GL.
Clete brought his Honda Superhawk and a VTX1800.
Mark brought his Yamaha Warrior and R6.
Darwin Brought his Triumph Speed Triple and a R6.

On Saturday July 3rd we started out on the Husaberg, both R6's and the Hawk.

We rode from our hotel in Townsend Tn. to the gap and made two trips through the dragon, we fueled up and headed South to some skyway up in the mountains and ended up having lunch in Robersonville South Carolina. We fueled up and ran another skyway up in the mountains and coasting into a gas station out in the middle of BFE and then we ended up back at the Dragon's gas station just before dark.

I checked the burg's oil at each fuel stop and this time it was a little low so I squirted a couple ounces into the motor topped her off with fuel and back to the Dragon we go.

I must say Deals Gap is quite interesting in the dark!!!! I laid her down passing Darwin in a corner and I ended up at the bottom of a gulley.

Ouch!!!!

I swear Darwin kicked me going into the corner. No one got hurt, just my pride, the Burgs bars were bent and I tore the R-side number plate but she fired right up and we walked her out of the gulley.

It took about an hour to get over the logs and bolders and up the hill and the Burg out of the ditch, I rode her back to the hotel, sore but in one piece.

To make a long story short, on Saturday I went through 5-1/2 tanks of fuel about 3 ounces of Amzoil and we rode 273 miles per Marks trip odometer on his R6.

The burg was parked for the rest of the weekend because of the bent bars and mostly because my butt hurt from sitting on that rock hard seat all day!!

We rode the bikes hard on Saturday with a general skyway / highway speed in the seventies for hours on end.

Once we got back to STL and after I rested my bruised butt for a few days, I got off the couch and changed the bent bars and drained the oil on the burg.

As I pulled the oil plug I noticed the normal amount of metal stuck to magnet, not a lot, just the flecks and slivers that get stuck the magnet.

I closed my eyes as I pulled the filter screen out of the motor fearing large hunks of metal.

The screen was clean, nothing, no material on the filter screen at all.

I was like wow! This is cool, I ran the Burg hard all day, and if I had not been kicked by Darwin in the corner and laid her down, I would have
gotten out of the weekend basically on fuel and oil in regards to the Burg.

So yes, I believe the Husaburgs are very reliable!


P.S. another thing, down at Deals Gap store where all the bikes park, there were several KTM motards and a Suzuki / Kawasaki hybred motard of sometype. It was very cool, Kaw green plastic and frame with a Suzuki 650 motor, very interesting bike. Well any way when we pulled in to the Gap store for the first time, I slowly buzzed by the parked Motards where a crowd had gathered gawking at their bikes.

I went fishing, looking for one or more of the motards to run the gap with me, but they would not take the bait. Oh well, maybe next trip!

So we parked our bikes away from the motard group and within 5 minutes a group gathered at the Husaburg, and I swear it took 45 minutes to an hour to get through all of the people wanting to know about the bike and people taking pictures and stuff, it was really pretty cool, all of the interest in the burg motard!

It was very good for my ego, so many people having so much interest in my Husaberg, and I just have to say I could not have completed this motard project without the good people on this site!

once again thanks!

johnboy

I heard that theres still some issues in recent (inc. '05 bikes) with main bearings but it seems that its only in the 650cc engine...its that correct ? is there a problem ? ...and if yes, its only in the 650cc ?

BTW, several years ago there was some problems with cam chains quality,etc. i assume that its no longer an issue and now all bikes are made with correct high quality cam chain ?


TIA,
AJSB

PS: Some years ago Hsb was considered the most unreliable 4S on planet...since then, Hsb quality increased and Jap quality gone south....way south...so south that they seemed passed allready south pole and gone in direction of a black hole!!! (I feel sorry for him...that must be expensive) : http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showth ... p?t=277084

deals gap

SIRR1,

Most of the people at Deal's Gap store never ride the tail. They just buy a shirt that says they did, then they usually turn around and ride back out to the 4 lane.

I've not seen a lot of motards out there, but the few who go out usually have a good time. Any of the guys buing the Katoom SM's from the local shop run them in there.

thanks,
json

The main bearing issue does get more pronounced as you go up in capacity. the 650 is now a 630, and i believe one reason for that change was to try and reduce stress on the crank.

i have heard of a couple of 550's letting go early.

my 2003 501 did mains with about 140hrs on. i know of a dealer who had a few 2003 650 mains go with less than 10Hrs on motors. he ditched the Husaberg dealership as a result since 2 customers demanded their money back, and he agreed with them.

However the newer bikes do seem to be more reliable each year. from year to year they change the specs on the bearings.

in my opinion most new high performance 4 strokes are too highly stressed. i am not just picking on 'bergs but also honda etc since all these bikes have reliability issues if you do not follow a maintenance schedule which in my mind is rediculously intense and unreasonable.

plenty of people here get a lot of enjoyment out of their bergs, and i did too, but i also had several failures during that period which sent me mad!! These bikes will fail if you do a lot of hard riding. i ride about 160engine hours a year. if i followed the berg mainteneance schedule i would go broke.

if you only ride 40 or 50 hours a year, then you might get a bit more enjoyment out of it. also keep in mind i'm young and silly and probably rode my berg harder than your average trail rider!!!!!!keeping the revs down will extend the engine lifespan. i regularly did long wheelies in top gear near red line, did a lot of track riding where i held gears too long, really i am not surprised that it had problems. any 4 stroke would have.

for sure i enjoyed riding my berg but the reliability was not acceptable for me. at the moment i have gone back to a 2 stroke and love it.
94 hard engine hours........about to do first ring change, NO valve adjustments, only periodic oil changes.........hell i had to find things to do with the time i used to spend working on the 'berg!!!!

it all depends what you want to do with the bike. if you ride a bit steady you will likely get a good run.

for your own reference, i will list my 12 month horror run!!! failed/replaced

Piston/rings/sleeve (after piston grabbed sleeve for unknown reason - less than 8 hours on bike, not overheated etc)

Rocker bearing failure - (most likely my fault - valves running tight - needed new rockers, cam, bearings)

Cam bearing failure (only new bearings required - discovered by chance during inspection of rocker bearings for wear)

Ignition failure(50 hours - was OLD STYLE SEM ignition. common problem)

Main Bearing failure - 140 hours

Gear selector mechanism loosened/jammed. easy to fix.



I hope this has helped. the list of problems i had is NOT NORMAL!!!! i am not trying to tell you to expect any of those problems other than a possible main bearing failure which still lurks.

keep the revs down when possible, change your oil and keep an eye on the valves.

Have Fun
Jeff

quote:

PS: Some years ago Hsb was considered the most unreliable 4S on planet...since then, Hsb quality increased and Jap quality gone south....way south...so south that they seemed passed allready south pole and gone in direction of a black hole!!! (I feel sorry for him...that must be expensive)
...........................................................................................................
i think 'berg reliability has increased. Jap reliability has decreased because the only way to make a 4 stroke perform well is to tune it within an inch of its life and so make it unreliable. couple this high strain with more moving parts and high performance 4 stroke is a recipe for excessive cost and less reliability than a 2 stroke.

at the time when 'berg was considerd the most unreliable it was also the fastest 4 stroke you could buy. things have evened considerably both interms of reliability and performance.

Have Fun
Jeff

With the one year warranty if you have
problems you can trade it in after 364 days.
If you wait untill 07 you might be able to get
one with the new twin cam KTM motor.

The warranty was the carrot for me, however in the end it does not provide you with a replacement bike whilst yours is out of action. i was without a bike for 3 months of the the 12 months i owned it!!!!

the best bet is to look after it and not have it break down in the first place. the warranty probably played against me psychologically because i had the attitude "flog it, and if it breaks down it gets fixed for free" ... it never cost me a cent but like i said i was inconvenienced a lot.

Have Fun
Jeff

From now on I will keep a two stroke
spare bike around when owning a thumper.
Being without a bike during problem periods
does suck.

having replaced the mains in my little 400 i can say that i'm suprised nobody else has noticed this one; the mains are too tight in the cases!

no wonder dale can align the case halves and still use the same bearings! i asked how they werte aligned yet the use of an oversize OD bearing was never an issue!

now i know why!

GG used to have this problem on their 2Ts and now they have a looser tolerance. IT DOES EFFECT THE BEARING.

my 2 pence.

regards

taffy

Me to un 2002 gone back to 2S and im happy with...and if i buy a 4S i sure will keep my 2S just in case...my post was not to tell that Hsb 4S are now reliable as a XR, was to tell that now in comparison with Jap bikes they actually are not more unriable and may be even considered more reliable.
I couldnt agree more with your points.

BTW, 140 hours in my book is acceptable for a racing engines...also, my opinion about wheelies in a 4S was allways that they will damage seriouly rockers,etc. i remember my KTM 620 stated in manual that we should avoid do wheelies because top end damage and possible oil pump lack of oil pumping...and was an LC4 engine.

JJW501 said:

quote:

PS: Some years ago Hsb was considered the most unreliable 4S on planet...since then, Hsb quality increased and Jap quality gone south....way south...so south that they seemed passed allready south pole and gone in direction of a black hole!!! (I feel sorry for him...that must be expensive)
...........................................................................................................
i think 'berg reliability has increased. Jap reliability has decreased because the only way to make a 4 stroke perform well is to tune it within an inch of its life and so make it unreliable. couple this high strain with more moving parts and high performance 4 stroke is a recipe for excessive cost and less reliability than a 2 stroke.

at the time when 'berg was considerd the most unreliable it was also the fastest 4 stroke you could buy. things have evened considerably both interms of reliability and performance.

Have Fun
Jeff

Click to expand...

All the 2005 4st race engines are pretty
equal in dependability.Of the 450s some
do make more horsepower than the berg.
The Yamaha WR450 is probably a little
more durable but not as good a handler.
I would not get a berg older than an 04.
(Unless Lineweaver personally built it.)

Me to un 2002 gone back to 2S and im happy with...and if i buy a 4S i sure will keep my 2S just in case...my post was not to tell that Hsb 4S are now reliable as a XR, was to tell that now in comparison with Jap bikes they actually are not more unriable and may be even considered more reliable.
I couldnt agree more with your points.

BTW, 140 hours in my book is acceptable for a racing engines...also, my opinion about wheelies in a 4S was allways that they will damage seriouly rockers,etc. i remember my KTM 620 stated in manual that we should avoid do wheelies because top end damage and possible oil pump lack of oil pumping...and was an LC4 engine.

JJW501 said:

quote:

PS: Some years ago Hsb was considered the most unreliable 4S on planet...since then, Hsb quality increased and Jap quality gone south....way south...so south that they seemed passed allready south pole and gone in direction of a black hole!!! (I feel sorry for him...that must be expensive)
...........................................................................................................
i think 'berg reliability has increased. Jap reliability has decreased because the only way to make a 4 stroke perform well is to tune it within an inch of its life and so make it unreliable. couple this high strain with more moving parts and high performance 4 stroke is a recipe for excessive cost and less reliability than a 2 stroke.

at the time when 'berg was considerd the most unreliable it was also the fastest 4 stroke you could buy. things have evened considerably both interms of reliability and performance.

Have Fun
Jeff

Click to expand...

Paul a mate of mine and I purchase 2000 model FE501E in Jan 2000. In my opinion the 2000 models were an absolute cracker as far as reliability. Paul still has his and he has completed 6- six day rides (approx 1200km each) withot so much as a loose bolt or broken spoke. He had it freshened up in 2003. It is still going strong with over 14000km on it. I chose to replace mine after 3 years of the best trouble free years of trailbike ridding purchased the 2003 FE501E . A stranger who is now a regular trail ridding mate bought my 2000 and rode it another year without one problem. He now has a 2003 FE501E as well.

Whilst my 03 model is a slighly better bike to ride the 2000 model will long be remember as a absolute gem. I know of several other who had similar experiences with 2000 models. My 2003 has had one SEM ignition falure and a broken wire resulting in a flat battery otherwise its been faultless.

My advise to all berg owners new or old is to not only change oil reguarly but to never ever do a second days ridding withot yopping up oil as bergs reguarly burn between 100-200mm per day. Given that they only hold 1000mm to start this means by the end of the second day oil level will be very low, hot and thin with all sorts of faliure a real possibility. Other than that adjust valves every 5 or so rides and replace roller rockers every 100 hrs.

5.5 years of the best (1 SEM failure) years of ridding Ive ever had or could of hoped to have.

Cheers Horto

Indeed, if bike only has 1000ml of oil and burns 100-200ml per day (a normal value for racing 4S with that small level of oil), it will soon reach a critical level.

Lets not forget that the rockers,etc. are not pressure lubbed in the most recent years bikes but only lubbed by oil carried by camshaft chain...if bike oil level drops 300-400ml you can be sure that the chain will hardly "capture" any decent (if any) amount of oil when you do a wheelie or go a nasty uphill...

I don't know how common it is with the new bergs but on my 650 I had a counterbalancer let loose at about 60hours. Then on a 05 FC450 I had another counterbalancer let loose at about 10hours. Oil changes were done at lees than 100 mile intervals....

ajt said:

I don't know how common it is with the new bergs but on my 650 I had a counterbalancer let loose at about 60hours. Then on a 05 FC450 I had another counterbalancer let loose at about 10hours. Oil changes were done at lees than 100 mile intervals....

Click to expand...

'05 FC450 ?!?
I tought that the '05 engines didnt have a counterbalancer !?!