New Husaberg 501 owner with a few questions...

Hi there, new to the site and Husabergs.

Just got myself a 2002 Husaberg 501 in a px deal. I was really looking for a light weight 2 stroke enduro like a KTM EXC.
I really could have done with the money, but I'm sure this'll be fun .
I've got it mainly for off road, but it does come with supermoto wheels as well.
I'm in Reading in the UK by the way.

My questions:
Does anyone know the standard chain size? It has supermoto wheels on at the mo, but the sprocket for the enduro wheels is 6 teeth bigger, so I'll need to get a new chain on extend this one.

The bike sounds a bit noisy: a bit rattly at low revs. Is this anything to be worried about?
I presumed that it would be a bit noisier that your typical road bike as it's a competition machine.

The Electric start does turn the engine, but doesn't seem great at starting it. Think I've now sorted the technique for kicking it, but it'd be nice to have the electric boot for off road riding when I've dropped the bike for the tenth time!

Is there any specific oil I should use? Going to give it an oil and filter change before I go off roading next weekend. I've got some Castrol R4 (fully synth) left over from the club (road) racing I did this year, will this be ok?

The enduro tyres are starting to look a bit old, with a lot of the side knobbles starting to break or breaking off on the front, think I'll definitely be replacing that. Just going to be basic trail riding for the moment; if I can sort my back out might try some enduros next year, but going to be pretty busy with my road racing. Any recommended trail tyres?

And lastly... it doesn't have any bash guards at similar; anyone recommend a brand?

Sorry for the rather long post and thanks for reading (unless you just got bored and skipped to the end!)

Cheers
G

look down the left of the page for the main menu and in it "owners doc" lots of info in that.

chain will be a 520. length will depend on what gearing you run but just buy a long one, 120 links i think, and cut to fit.

go to www.husaberg.se. look in downloads and former files for owners, parts and work shop manuals.

for bash guards go to ebay and search husaberg. there's a chap, dasur90 is the seller name who does sump, ignition, pipe and water pump guards at a good price. i've got a full set of his early ones but the most recent look even better.

if you come from rd biking. you are quite correct in expecting the bikes to be different. you'll find off rd bikes in general harsh, uncomfortable. they vibrate and make strange noises compared to most recent rd bikes.

in respect to the other points people who know more than me will be here soon.

Re: RE: New Husaberg 501 owner with a few questions...

Cheers for the info.

Actually looked at my chain and noted that it does indeed say '520' on the side.

I've downloaded the service manuals, but sitting at work where I'll print 'em off the next time I'm in the office late .

I've had a few off road bikes before, but the cloesest thing to an out-and-out competition bike was a 1987 KTM350 Enduro. Being a 2 stroke it had less bits to rattle around generally.
I've also got a CRM125 and used to have a DR600; but they're both fairly road biased.

Ta
G

I'll give it a go on a few subjects. Do realize that some of your questions are questions that folks on this site bat back and forth a bit. Tires are one. I like Dunlop 756 front and rear. Michelin, Bridgestone, other Dunlops, and various other brands are all favorites of some on this site. Oil is another. I suggest a synthetic multi vis with the upper vis being 40 or 50. Change it often. I use 100-150 miles as my upper limit per oil change. Check valves often. You will get a feel for the frequency needed after a few checks. On your model/year bike, the electric motor is referred to as a restarter. It is not expected to start a cold motor. If the battery is good, it will dependably start a warm motor every time. If your jetting is close to spot on, your bike should kick start quite easily from cold. When you have mastered the LH kickstart, you will be one of the few with the particular coordination for that task. I have learned to not let strangers try to start my bike. It is not uncommon for them to put a major readjustment on the shift lever, let alone their ankle, while flailing away on the kicker. Good luck with the Berg! We love 'em alot. And welcome to this site, Buzzard

GG

you've picked the year that has turned out to be the least reliable of the lot!

it's the last year they were madein sweden and lots went wrong with them.

go into the red for danger and check all that stuff out. if you have a noisy top end you need to check some stuff out and then spend some money.

camshaft is very harsh on the valve train. the '04 cams are better but not brilliant. the LX2 cam from the USA is.

cam followers. you can replace the follower bearings or just buy updated arms complete. it's vital you look for scoring there.

valve tuliping IF IF IF it was raced. otherwise ok i expect.
camchain tensioner and blade. check them out.

the dell orto wears out some of the innards. needle and atomizer come to mind.

camchain needs checking but should be on it's second or third by now.

it's all in the doc on your left mate.

regards

Taffy

Taffy said:

GG

you've picked the year that has turned out to be the least reliable of the lot!

it's the last year they were madein sweden and lots went wrong with them.

Taffy

Click to expand...

No worries GG, This is sort of taffy's way of saying "hello" and "welcome to the site." You have already gone through the initiation process although the secret handshake is something you'll have to experience in person. 8O

BTW, hello and welcome!

Log

Cheers for the thoughts.
Oh well, I did do some research, but been a bit busy so obviously not enough to find that this was the worst year for reliability :roll: .

Sounds like I've got some stuff to poke, though if it holds out for this weekend, whether my back will handle any more off-roading any time soon is another matter anyway .

I seem to have sorted kickstarting it, but the 'restarter' doesn't seem to work, even when hot. It turns the engine over fine and quite fast, but it doesn't actually fire up. Any ideas?
Any pointers to details of what the 'hi / lo' switch does on the starter? - Not that either setting seems to help.

Had got to downloading the manuals, but managed to ignore the 'owners Doc' bit; cheers for the pointer.

Ta
G

new here but learing fast

I recently entered the Husaberg world too...also with a 2002 501. The bike ran great but wouldn't start with the electric starter...after doing some reading here I figured it was the decomp for the electric starter. I took my bike in to my local dealer (Ron Bishop, memberof the Off-road hall of fame). He wasn't so sure of the problem but after a week he called to tell me it was the decomp lobe on the cam, wasn't allowing the exhaust valves to open...just what I thought after reading some postings on here. The people here seem to know what they're talking about....listen and learn, that's what I'm doing.