Looking at buying an FE

Hi all. I've just joined the forum so this is my first post, please excuse it being a bit on the long side!

I have a year-old Husky TE450 I use just for trail riding, and I'm looking to replace it soon. I'm considering the new BMW-engined TE450, but that won't be out for a while and there's no way to know for sure yet how good it will be. A long time Husky owner (and dealer I think) mentioned that his favourite bike of all was the FE390 which got me thinking. I looked at the Bergs when I bought the Husky, but the Husky comes with a 2-year warranty in the UK and the Bergs are only 30 days, which kinda put me off. Reading all the tests though, they get such good reviews that I thought it was worth looking again and my local dealer tells me that despite the short official warranty, they do replace things FOC if it was clearly a manufacturing defect and this has sometimes happened a long time after the sale. If the bike's good enough I may be prepared to take a risk on that. So:

I like the sound of the 390, but apparently they're sold out in the UK until the 2011 models arrive, which isn't too long but I'm not sure I want to wait. So I'll probably be looking at the 450 and 570. I will try to test ride both, and a 390 if they can find one for me to try (in case it's so much better than the others I decide to wait for the 2011s to arrive). I'm "solidly" built (just over 100kg in full riding kit but it's all muscle, honest) so might I be better with the 450 or 570 anyway?

I will end up doing fair distances on the road to get to the dirt, so might the bigger bikes cope with the road work better? What sort of speed can you cruise on the road on stock gearing without vibes being too bad or the engine life suffering? (the Husky will do 80+ but isn't really happy much over 50 for any length of time, so anything faster than that would be a bonus).

How stable do they steer over rock fields and really rough ground? Just wondering if that could be the flip side of being able to turn so quickly - less gyro stability from the engine could mean you get deflected off course more easily and end up turning where you didn't want to! Does that happen?

Any comments on reliability? From what I've read they seem to be pretty good, most likely better than the Husky which has had numerous things done under the warranty (so no great expense but frustrating, especially if you're without the bike for a while). Should I be worried about only getting warranty service after 30 days on an unofficial basis that I can't be sure about?

How long does an oil change take? At one every 15 hours I could be keeping busy!

Do we know yet what changes there are likely to be in the 2011 models? The dealer says nothing too significant as far as they know, but I'd hate to buy now then find out there were big improvements coming along. On the other hand, I presume I should expect a decent discount if I buy a 2010 model at this point.

Is there anything else I should be aware of? The fuel range seems likely to be a bit short for my use (I get over 100 miles on the Husky with an IMS tank and really need 60-70 miles minimum) so I'd probably be looking at fitting the sub-frame tank at least - not a huge increase but it's a neat solution without changing the bike too much.

Thanks for reading this far! And for any advice. I'm excited to test ride the bikes as I'm hoping the handling will be as sharp and the engine as good as everyone says, and I'll be hooked.
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Many thanks for the info. Obviously I'm not an expert on Husabergs (yet!), but AFAIK the bikes have been easy to plate in the UK for a while and the 2010 models definitely are as I asked about that (things are simpler here where we don't have so many independent states to cope with!). They already come with headlight, tail/brake light, indicators etc, so I don't know whether there will be any changes in that area for 2011 or whether the warranty will change. Now you've mentioned it though I'll definitely ask as it might be worth waiting for the new models if that would get me a full warranty.

I'll see how I get on with the standard suspension first, but most reviews do seem to say it's plush for the average rider so what you say makes sense. I like it to be quite soft but if it's too much I'll look at getting it resprung. I did have in mind to maybe fit a steering damper but again I'll see how I get on without it first as it struck me it would be a shame to have a really agile bike then lose some of that when you have to turn up the damping. Still, if it's mainly a problem on the road then that wouldn't be so bad if you can get the softest setting to be soft enough and just turn it down for off road. Are you using Husaberg's own damper or a different one? The Husaberg one lists at £322 here and then there's a bracket for it sold separately for another £113! This could start to get expensive... I know the steering head was changed on the 2010 models, so with the suspension set up for me maybe I'll be able manage without a damper. It will be fun finding out anyway. :mrgreen:

I would go to the Aquiline tanks if necessary, but I'll probably see what mileage I can get with the sub-frame tank first - hopefully that will be enough and I guess it still gives me a bit extra even if I end up getting one of the Aquiline tanks as well.

That's interesting about the oil changes. I asked the Husaberg dealer about that because there's a similar frequent requirement for the Husky when racing but the Husky dealer said as I was only trail riding I could change oil every 500 miles and it would be fine. The Husaberg dealer told me that it has to be done every 15 hours no matter what, as that's what the manual says. I've downloaded the 2009 version of the manual which is the latest one on the Husaberg site, and I can't see anything about extending it past 15 hours. There are other service items which have a different period for "Hobby" use but oil changes isn't one of them as far as I can see. I'll ask the dealer again when I go in for the test rides, as I don't want to risk harming the engine but 30 hours would be much better!

Great to hear about the reliability and how tractable the bike is. I have a KTM 690 Enduro which I believe uses a similar EFI system and that's dynamite on the full power mapping, so I'm expecting great things from the FE (not as much raw power due to the engines being smaller, but if the throttle response is as good as / better than that I'll be very happy).

Thanks again. :cheers:

Yes it sure makes sense to do the oil changes as per the book at least until the official warranty expires, so I will do that. I'm not sure yet about the 1H one but they said they want the bike back to do the 3H one as there are other things to check at the same time (valves etc) which they want to do so they'll do that oil change while they're at it. After that I will be tempted to spread out the oil changes, but I'll discuss it with them. They did say that after the first valve check, the clearances usually don't change much for quite a while so hopefully it will be just checks rather than adjustments.

Motosportz do lots of kit for Huskys too; I'll keep their damper in mind. I too have about 30 minutes on the pavement to get to the trails we use most often (there are some closer but most of my most of riding buddies live in the other direction). I can fuel up about 5 miles before the end of the outward journey and at the same place on the way back so it's really just the off road sections (and pavement in between) plus about 10 miles. Some days we ride for several hours though, and can do 80+ miles in the off road part so ideally I need 90+ miles to avoid refuelling. At a pinch, so long as I can do say 50+ I can probably manage for a while until I get an additional tank fitted; I'll just need to detour off the route to find a gas station when necessary. Luckily around here you're rarely more than 10 or 15 miles from one, but that can still be a 30 mile round trip to get back onto the trail and you've used 10-15 miles of fuel before you get started again. :roll: Course, a few of my buddies have small tanks too so when they're out to play it's not a problem as we'd have to stop for them anyway. Other days it's just me and a guy on a BMW 1200GS Adventure with a 33L tank, so I'm never going to be last to need a fill on those days! A total of 3.3 US Gallons isn't too far off the size of the IMS tank on the Husky, so hopefully the sub-frame tank will be all I need unless I decide to take up rallying at some point. Funnily enough, I also need more fuel capacity on the 690E to do decent trips so I'll be adding safari tanks to that when I can afford it.

Hadn't noticed there was no tacho - there are more options on the speedo than the Husky has, but one of the ones it does have is a digital tacho. I've only used it for checking the revs at road cruising speed just for interest sake after changing the gearing, so I won't really miss it.

Davo said:

I have had 3 of the cough and stop things that all the new Husabergs seem to do, it is something that does not worry me. Just hit the starter and away you go again.
When my bike was new it was a little hard to start occasionally when hot but that seems to have gone away. Starts every time now. My mates Husky TE450 it is a pig to start and he is always friggen around with the decompression lever to start it.
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I’m only a newbie on this forum so I’m not sure if it is appropriate for me to say, “welcome to the forum”, but welcome anyway.

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Thanks for the welcome! My TE450 used to do the cough and stop so it's not new to me, but it can be a literal pain if you're half way through climbing over an obstacle! It almost never happens since I fitted the Ti exhaust system and race ECU, so it is fixable on the Husky if you spend enough money (that's not why I fitted them, it was just a nice little bonus). If you're mate's bike is an EFI one, the only time I've known them difficult to start is when the water temperature sensor has failed (I've had 4 die in a year as they had a bad batch of them). It won't always show FAIL in the dash as it depends how it fails - it most often sits permanently at a high but acceptable temperature so the EFI just thinks it's starting a warm engine, which doesn't work well when it's cold and I often found that pulling/releasing the decomp lever while turning it over helped so it sounds like the same problem. Once warm it then starts ok-ish, but the fan wouldn't run if the engine overheated as it wouldn't know, so ideally it needs fixing. Worth checking it out on the iBeat software if it is an EFI bike.

I guess 130Km/h would be enough! If I could cruise at anything over 100Km/h I'd be happy. Oil change sounds easy enough, so I'd probably do them every 15H as per the manual - the cost isn't an issue, I'd just be reluctant to keep doing it so often if it took 2 hours. DaleEO: I was asking about extending it because my Husky dealer (who is also the UK importer) said the periods in the manual really are intended for race use as it too is a race bike, and for trail riding there was no point doing it that often - the 2-year warranty isn't invalidated by doing it every 500 miles for trail use so that tells you they don't think it's a risk. The oil never came out particularly dirty and all four filters were always quite clean. If the Husaberg dealer tells me it really does need to be done every 15H on the FE then it will be. BTW, it will cost more than 10 USD here - the oil change kit is £12 and that doesn't include the oil (probably another £10 or more I'd guess so something like 35 USD total); not a problem as it *will* get done as often as necessary regardless of cost, but it does start to add up if you do that after every ride.

The air filter looks if anything slightly easier than the Husky - I don't mind washing/oiling the filter and it does get changed after every ride (I keep a spare which gets washed during the week so it's always ready).

DaleEO: noted about the springs, thanks for the info. I'll discuss it with the dealer as they have a race team, so I guess they'll either have someone in house who does suspension or someone outside they normally use. If I can get the bike quickly it will probably be on the stock suspension to start with so I'll get a chance to see how undersprung it is for me, but most likely I will get it resprung/revalved as soon as time/money allows.

I have the Husky's wheels spin-balanced and will do that on the FE too, as it's really noticeable otherwise at road speeds. I've seen it suggested that having the lock and the valve close together makes it easier to fit the tire, but I'm not convinced it's necessary and as you say it doesn't help with the balance. Like CodeMonkey said, I've seen it discussed that there is some sort of cushioning/damping in the transmission near the clutch - if so what is that meant to do and how effective is it? I won't be dual-sporting it so no really long road trips, just getting to and from the dirt but it does need to cope with maybe 30-40 minutes at a time on the road. Glad to hear the sub-frame tank's about to start rolling out! Good timing for me and it sounds like it could give me a big enough range for most rides (of course it will take the usual 6 months to get through UK customs but no avoiding that I guess).

CodeMonkey: Re the air pocket in the tank, does it help if you fill up, do a few wheelies next to the gas pump to shake the air out, then top up again? :mrgreen:

Or is it like some tanks where the bit at the top near the filler neck actually has a very small cross-sectional area and so drops very quickly when you first start using fuel? My 690E tank's a bit like that with a flat section just below the filler neck which only holds a very small amount of fuel so it soon drops below that into the main (wider) section of the tank when you start riding.

Lots of useful info, thanks guys! :cheers:

fakesy said:

i suspect you ride up the planes & this bike is a perfect toy for up there.
iv ridden 450 back to back with 570 & whilst many people say they dont feel any different in weight i thought the 570 felt lot heavier when sitting on it but not to heavy when riding it.for me fun factor i like the 450 but not ridden the 390.
ps what dealer are you looking to buy from,i know ams have 10s with fair bit knocked off

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Thanks for the tip - just had a look at AMS and they do have some good deals. I went up to Midwest Racing today as they are my closest dealer (AMS is twice as far which would be awkward as I don't have a trailer or van so I'd have to ride the 75 miles each way - doable, but not much fun on the Husky at 50mph). I had a ride on the 450 which is the only one they had in, and I love the feel of it - very small and light. Doesn't actually feel heavy to me when stationary either, but it's almost the exact same weight as my Husky so apart from some of it maybe being a little higher up (which TBH I didn't notice) it's no different to what I'm used to. Felt less stable than the Husky (which is rock solid) espcially at high speed but I guess that's just part of being able to turn it so easily and it was an 09 so the change to the offset on the 10 may well have improved it. Never actually felt uncomfortable or dangerous and the engine didn't seem to be struggling at 75mph which is good (less vibes at that than the Husky has at 55mph so a higher cruise speed should be comfortable on the FE and no problem doing overtakes). Love the induction roar!

Now I'm torn though - power was ok (on the standard setting) - about the same as the Husky, but I'm thinking now if the 570 feels something like a 450 or smaller to ride, I could have a bike which probably still out-turns the Husky but would have more get-up-and-go and would be more relaxed on the road and able to tractor along at zero rpm up steep hills all day long - could be the best of all worlds (it's only 0.5kg heavier than the 450 though some of that will be rotating mass). Ideally I'd want to try one first but it wouldn't be easy to find a demonstrator so I might have to take it on faith. My 690 Enduro is easy to ride off road on the soft mapping so if the 570 is the same I'd always have that to fall back on if it was a bit too much for me to handle on slippery days, but from what I hear I suspect it would be ok anyway, just go up a gear or two and lug along.

Midwest have given me a price for either the 450 or the 570 and a discount on the add-on bits I need (fan etc) as well as a part-ex price for the Husky and the 1H/3H services free; it isn't too bad a deal overall but they quoted quite a bit more than the AMS price for the new bike. I'll speak to AMS in the morning and see what they'll offer me on the Husky and what discount on the add-on bits and services then see which deal is best overall. I'd prefer to use Midwest if possible as they seem ok and are much handier for popping in and they agreed to do the first two services on the day I collect it (if I go out and ride the 1 and 2 hours) which will mean I'm then ready to rock, but at the moment AMS look like they could be £300-400 cheaper which is too much to ignore. Also the AMS web site says they have the 570 in stock, where Midwest would have to order from the factory (only a week's delay, but still...). We'll see what tomorrow brings when I speak to AMS.

Yes I do ride the plains once in a while, and routes between Andover/Salisbury/Shaftesbury, though most of the people I ride with are based in the Basingstoke area so it's usually around there we ride. Whereabouts are you? Can't be too far away so maybe we could meet up for a ride one day, once I have a bike the right colour!

CodeMonkey said:

I do need to get a fan kit since I sometimes overheat the bike on hard technical trails when I get stuck and I am going too slow.

I am pretty sure the fuel level drops that much because of an air pocket - the area is not large, but enough that it is noticeable.

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Noted about the EFI - it generally seems to have a good reputation and was fine at all speeds on the 450 I rode today, including some low speed lugging even up a steep hill. The main reason I didn't go over 75mph was cos of the wheels not being balanced - the shake gets quite bad at that speed! I will be getting mine balanced so that problem will go away. I will also get the fan, just to be on the safe side in case I'm stuck in slow going.

I tried looking for the air pocket effect today, but the tank wasn't full to start with so no dice. They said they hadn't noticed it happening but wouldn't be surprised if it did do that a little bit due to the convoluted shape of the tank.

CodeMonkey said:

The 570 is not a fire-breather - at least not the way I am riding it. It will move right along when you tell it to though - it just won't surprise you.

Between the Rekluse, the 12 tooth sprocket, the trials tire and the engine, the bike is a tractor. I just have to remember that it is a tractor because at times it will just keep clawing and bring the front wheel up when going up/over something steep. Not that it won't spin the rear wheel and lose traction sometimes, it does, but when it grabs traction it just won't stall either. I have looped the bike twice doing that.

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You mean you looped it when you suddenly got traction on something steep? I could understand that and the Husky could do that too on a steep slope. But if you've looped it on the flat then I might worry a little for my safety!

Midwest racing told me that there were no 390s left for sale in the UK until the 2011s come in, but the AMS web site says they have stock. I'll find out whether that's true when I call them, but the main reason I ruled out the 390 was cos there wouldn't be any until later in the year. If they do have one I might be tempted in that direction rather than the search for raw power with the 570, because the reviews say the 390 has better traction than almost any other bike and is so easy to ride for long periods. Maybe not the same buzz as the 570, but probably as much power as I really need in practice. OTOH, there's almost no discount off the 390 price, presumably because of short supply, so it's £300 more than the 570 and £600 more than the 450 (yikes 8O).

Oh dear, so many bikes to own and so little time/cash... :?