New '09 FE450, first race on Sunday

Here's the state of the new bike right now, after a week of ownership, with my first race coming up on Sunday. I negotiated with the dealer to include what I consider some essentials: springs for both the shock and the forks for my weight including proper sag setup, hand guards, frame guards, radiator guards, EFI map switch, lights including brake light, and he even through in my race number graphics since he also owns a graphics shop. Sweet.








I removed the rear rotor guard off my '07 450 EXC and swapped it over to the 'berg. That's the great thing about Husaberg and KTMs, a lot of the parts are interchangeable. No, it doesn't really bother me that the rotor guard says "KTM" on it. lol




I replaced the stock chain guide with one of better quality:




Word is the fuel gets a little warm with the way the exhaust is routed under the tank. So I applied some reflective heat shielding to the underside of the tank in the hot area to help keep the gas cool:






I backed out the chain adjusters and put on a good coat of anti-sieze:




The chain was a little long, so I removed a link:




Speaking of interchangeable, I swapped over the Akrapovic pipe from my KTM as well, I was real happy to learn it would bolt right on.




I also trimmed the bars down to around 30 inches for the tight woods.

And I installed a Rekluse.

I took care to break it in well, 3 20 minute heat cycles, up and down through the gears, getting some good back pressure to help seat the rings - long cool-down in between. I dumped the factory break-in oil after 1 hour, cleaned the oil screens, and changed the filter, refilled with a good synthetic. I then continued to break-in for 3 more hours, just riding, being mindful to take care and not push it too hard. After that, I dumped the oil again, cleaned the screens, and changed the filter again after that. And that's where it stands right now - ready to go.

Here she is as I left her tonight, pretty much ready to go except for gas:




I will take a little spin tomorrow to make sure it's good to go for the race Sunday which is a hare scramble. There's not too much else that I would do except for maybe a clutch slave cylinder guard, I just haven't had a chance to pick one up yet. Can anyone recommend a good one that is priced reasonably?

Thanks DaleEO. I did not wrap the fuel line with heat shielding, do you recommend doing that? I've got plenty of shielding left. I'll keep an eye on the under-tank shielding for separation. I'm thinking about ceramic coating the pipe, folks say that is helping a lot as well. I'll look into the header wrap you mentioned.

After some googling, I just ordered the Enduro Engineering slave guard this morning. It looks functional and is a lot less expensive than the Husaberg part. Thanks for the ref to the BPD swingarm guard. Seems like cheap insurance against having to replace the whole swingarm.

The dealer set the sag for me, I can't remember the number, but he said it was in the correct zone. He and his shop do a lot of race support, so I trust them to get it right. I got it from Bart Hayes at Genuine Dirt Racer Products. They did a great job on setup and have an awesome shop in Wilkesboro, NC. They treated me like a VIP there, and while I was in their shop as they were putting the finishing touches on mine, they had the bikes of several top GNCC and National Enduro racers there being serviced. They really seemed on top of things. They must be well aware of the finicky suspension issues on the new 'bergs, because Bart said they won't let one go out the door without putting in proper springs and setting it up for the buyer. He said it makes such a big difference in handling, it's just one of the things they include in the purchase and have a big shelf full of stock springs.

I'll post back after the race tomorrow. However, to call what I do "racing" may be a bit of a stretch. lol But I enjoy it. Even so, I plan to not push it too much since I'm still getting used to the bike, and it's supposed to be brutally hot here tomorrow.

I survived, the heat was ridiculous, though. I was doing pretty well for the 1st lap, OK on the 2nd, and I was really feeling the heat getting to me by the 3rd and 4th laps.

As far as the bike goes, I have to say this is the best bike I've ever ridden, the handling was just fantastic. I really felt like I was riding much better than my results showed, especially that first lap. I was able to carry more speed into the corners, mainly because I was confident I could set up for the turn much more quickly than my old bike. I was also hanging pretty well with some of the faster guys in my class on that first lap, at least until the heat caught up with me and I got a little lax after that. So I think my issue was likely fitness and being able to maintain my first lap pace for the whole race. I seemed to go backwards about 5 positions after the first lap. I've got to address that somehow.

On the heat shielding, I bought the 2ft by 2ft square, and cut it into various shapes to cover the bottom of the tank. I may do some more coverage, I'm not sure. But my gas did not boil, so I think it was effective. I probably didn't use 1/4 of it, so the 1ft square would probably have done all right. The only heat issue I had was after the race when I was taking it easy idling back through the pits. When I got about 10 feet from my pit, the coolant began to bubble over, but that was just because I was going slow through the pits, it never did that on the course for the 1.5 hour race duration in the 100 degree temperature and high humidity.

Otherwise, no problems at all. The bike was perfect. I love the EFI throttle response. It's like having my own personal factory mechanic dialing in perfect jetting for me all the time. The suspension was really good, nice and plush where it needed to be, but soaked up the big stuff, too. The bike seemed really well behaved, no quirkiness in behavior, or any surprises. I loved how it turned, and it felt really comfortable and stable, especially on the pegs.

Here's my helmet cam from the race, 1st lap out of 4:

http://www.vimeo.com/12935163

It took me a little bit to get the feel of the bike and the conditions, and also the guy in front of me had a pretty bad wreck shortly after the start which freaked me out a little. A little later in the lap I started getting in the groove and did OK by my standards. Unfortunately, the heat eventually took its toll and I felt myself slipping in later laps. But the bike was awesome, absolutely no complaints there, in fact, nothing but praise. It felt great.

Posting up a follow-up to how things are holding up. I now have 5 hare scrambles on the bike, I've done all the scheduled maintenance based on the hour meter, and my dealer checked the valves at 10 hours, everything in spec. The bike is running fantastic, I have absolutely no complaints.

Today I pulled the tank to check on the heat shielding. The shielding has remained in place and I have not experienced any more incidences of boiling, even though I've ridden and raced in some of the hottest conditions I've ever endured. There are a few edges that are peeling a little bit, but none of which concern me. Here's what it looks like under there from a few minutes ago:





Hmmm ... not sure why, but the top photo seems to be chopped off a bit at the right. Must be a forum setting. It actually does include the whole tank, and it is not cut off on the right.

Anyway, I'm still loving the bike. I could not get it plated, though. NC DMV said no. It's not a huge deal to me, but would have been nice. Maybe the 2012 FE450's will be street legal from the factory and that'll put an end to the DMV nonsense. Until then, I'll enjoy it as the great off-road machine that it is, I just won't be able to go on some rides that include connecting w/pavement.

Also, here's the helmet cam from my latest race, this past Sunday which was in the MIDEAST series. I normally race a different series, so doing one run by a different organization was interesting. In this one, I got to line up on the same row with 6 of my friends from around the area who don't normally race, but since MIDEAST decided to run a race at one of our local spots, we all decided join in. It was a lot of fun.

http://www.vimeo.com/14546652