With time on my hands, studies more or less done, I'd been getting into trail and enduroish riding in the '90s after we moved to the bush and into the house we built. I started with a DT175, moved to an IT250 and then a 490. Then it was:
My 1998 FE501
I knew the Canberra Husaberg dealer and he offered me a great deal on a demo FE501. I'd test ridden hie FE600 and decided I needed one, it had similar power to my 490, but added brakes and suspension to the mix. It had about 25 hrs on it, having been leased to a competitor in that year's Australian 4 Day Enduro.
It was 100% stock. I added a home brewed quick release bash plate, some barkbusters, a digital bicycle speedo and a tool bag and rode it. Real suspension and brakes, fantastic
So now I had a race bike, and my trail pace wasn't so bad. The local dirtbike club has a 500 acre facility just 15 mins down the road with a small MX track, and ran MX, enduro and grass track events through the year. The grass tracks, AKA natural terrain MX, were held on various farmer's paddocks around the area. So around my 44th birthday I fronted for my first MX race.
An old school mate from Sydney was getting back into dirt bikes after a hiatus of study, family and career. He'd got himself a Suzuki PE250 and he reckoned we should do an enduro, so we signed ourselves up for a 2 day enduro at Taralga, about 2.5 hrs up the road. It was a warmup for the ISDE being held in Oz at Traralgon in Victoria a few weeks later. This meant not only our local best including Shane Watts at the height of his career were there, but numerous of the top internationals wanting to get an idea of local conditions were there as well. A full on international ISDE spec enduro with special tests etc as our ever first enduro, in over our heads or what?
I completed day 1 and stopped earlyish on day 2 to pull up at various vantage points to spectate. Shane Watts was amazing, monoing his 125 while zig zagging through the trees faster than most on 2 wheels. A few weeks later he went on to win the 6 Day outright on the 125.
I did the rest of the club events that year, learning more as I went, did some training days the club organised, and went again for the full season in 1999. I even podiumed a few times, and won the open 4 stoke club championship for most points in the year. Never the fastest, but always there.
Later on, along the way I picked up Motorcycling Australia coaching accreditation for coaching MX and Enduro so I could help the club juniors with their development, and mine a bit too.
At 11 months ownership, just inside the 12 month warranty, I was out helping set an enduro when restarting the 'berg became problematic. I called up my dealer and he said to drop it off when next in town, which I did heading up to deliver some learner training that I also did part time. Upon collection I was told it was fixed, and that I had no idea how to set the idle mixture!!!
The short version is that I then took it up to Sydney where the Husaberg dealer there found a disintegrating inlet valve seat. As each bit came away, the back pressure into the carb increased, changing the idle mixture needed for starting.
We sort of went halves on the fix, new valve seats etc, and I also paid for a freshened up bottom end, which was coming up according to the maintenance schedule. Maybe my Husaberg was living up to their reputation as being a bit of a grenade?
The Dellorto carb was always a pain and I swapped it for a 39 mm FCR off a WR400 with some jetting specs from Taffy.
The SEM stator did what they do and failed one day, but after cooling, I was able to ride it home with a couple more cooling stops which was good as we were in some snotty stuff when it went. I got a local rewind which almost lasted 5 mins, then got one from a 'Sparks' from Spain which is still working.
I picked up a big tank, 19 litres for some bigger trail rides. I'd got a good deal on it from my dealer in Canberra 'mate'. I fitted it up on a Friday afternoon, loaded the bike up with a full 19 litres onto the ute for an early Sat drive to the start of a weekend ride. Heading out to the ute on Sat am at sparrow fart, or sooner, I smelt petrol!!!!!!!
I swapped tanks as quick as I could, having identified that all the fittings on the new tank were wet. Its got a few, fuel from the left drains to the right where the pump pumps it across to the back left where the fuel tap is. Almost every one of the Acerbis's self tapping screws was too long and fuel was weeping out along the threads!!!!!!
I took the tank back to Canberra. I got a call to say it was fixed a few days later, they'd sealed all the screws up with Silastic!!!!!!!!!!
That was pretty much my last dealing with them. I took it home and fixed it myself with some Loctite Master Gasket.
Along the way I'd discovered that the perfect suspension could be better, and acquired a heavier rear spring to better set the sags, and had the shock serviced and revalved to suit too. A bit later I decided to have a go at revalving my forks at home, how hard could that be with a little help from the internet?
I worked on my posture, got a factory taller seat, steering damper, played with bars, and lowered and rearset the pegs.
A year or so later a rattle in the top end told me something was amiss. The manual reckons the cam's roller followers need swapping out at 150 hrs. It was at 180 hrs and one had let go. My bad, so new followers and a camshaft later it was going again, with note to self, to pay more attention. I also became more aware of oil, thanks internet!
To that point I'd been using Mobil 1, thinking that the full synthetic brand name stuff would be good. With advice from Lineaweaver here on UHE, I switched to Caltex/Chevon Delo 400 15/40 and the 501's engine now has over 800 hrs on it with the same cam followers. Go figure.
In 2003, after a few attempts myself it became apparent to me that I needed to pay a pro to make my forks better. Sidetrack Magazine at the time was holding a subscriber draw, subscribe, and win a weekend at the editor, Tony Kirby's farm with Frank Pons who'd sort your suspension. Seemed like a good idea, so I subscribed. Frank, sometimes known back then as Frank the File for his 2 stroke tuning prowess had road racing and enduro championships on his CV as both a rider and tuner. He's also mentored a lot of top riders, including taking Mat Mladin to Europe for his Cagiva 500 year when he even got to do a few laps on the 500. At the time he was running his own business in outer Sydney, and was the local Ohlins rep. The subscriber prize with Tony Kirby, AKA Mr Sidetrack, was a marketing exercise for him, with the spiel being he'd come to you.
For some unknown reason I didn't win, so I called up Frank to find out what he'd need to come down for the weekend. A few others, up to 6 per day, and their bike etc info in advance and he'd be there for cash on the day. So I got 11 clubmates together, plus me and down came Frank with his van and toolbox, including a portalathe. You'd park your bike in the shed, pull the forks and shock and hand them to Frank, he'd do his thing and hand them back. You'd put it back together, with assistance as needed and then test ride on my test MXish track and enduro loop just outside the shed. Living in the bush, I can play anytime on my tracks.
Frank would come over to my MX track and watch, its just outside the shed, maybe offer some advice, and maybe twiddle a clicker. Over the years, once or twice a shock or forks would come apart again for another internal tweak, and almost everyone went away happy. At peak we ran 4 or 5 workshops a year, my records show we did it 36 times. I learnt helps, Frank is now a good mate and his suspension on my bikes has made me look a better rider than I am. Great suspension, you know you need it!
In 2006 on a club trail ride, I got to sample a new FE650
A new 2007 FE650 arrived just in time for Christmas 2006, along with a new KLX250 for the boss. This meant the 501 became my backup and loaner for visitors. After a number of years I let its registration lapse and it got ridden occasionally around home to keep it ticking over.
It was sitting in storage and had got very cranky starting. With a number of other bikes taking priority, I had to decide what to do with it, fix it, or sell it as is/was. A bloke in Qld came on here a while back asking for parts for a '98 and we did a deal. So I sold it last year after 25 years of riding pleasure, the arthritis said no more.
I farewelled it and it went up north.
He tidied it up and has been racing vintage MX on it for the last 18 months. Reckons its suspension and carburation is fantastic and I think its now his favourite bike of the numerous he owns.
Bloody great bike and still going strong after all these years. A couple of minor hiccups along the way, but for me it was a solid reliable bike once sorted.
My 1998 FE501
I knew the Canberra Husaberg dealer and he offered me a great deal on a demo FE501. I'd test ridden hie FE600 and decided I needed one, it had similar power to my 490, but added brakes and suspension to the mix. It had about 25 hrs on it, having been leased to a competitor in that year's Australian 4 Day Enduro.
It was 100% stock. I added a home brewed quick release bash plate, some barkbusters, a digital bicycle speedo and a tool bag and rode it. Real suspension and brakes, fantastic
So now I had a race bike, and my trail pace wasn't so bad. The local dirtbike club has a 500 acre facility just 15 mins down the road with a small MX track, and ran MX, enduro and grass track events through the year. The grass tracks, AKA natural terrain MX, were held on various farmer's paddocks around the area. So around my 44th birthday I fronted for my first MX race.
An old school mate from Sydney was getting back into dirt bikes after a hiatus of study, family and career. He'd got himself a Suzuki PE250 and he reckoned we should do an enduro, so we signed ourselves up for a 2 day enduro at Taralga, about 2.5 hrs up the road. It was a warmup for the ISDE being held in Oz at Traralgon in Victoria a few weeks later. This meant not only our local best including Shane Watts at the height of his career were there, but numerous of the top internationals wanting to get an idea of local conditions were there as well. A full on international ISDE spec enduro with special tests etc as our ever first enduro, in over our heads or what?
I completed day 1 and stopped earlyish on day 2 to pull up at various vantage points to spectate. Shane Watts was amazing, monoing his 125 while zig zagging through the trees faster than most on 2 wheels. A few weeks later he went on to win the 6 Day outright on the 125.
I did the rest of the club events that year, learning more as I went, did some training days the club organised, and went again for the full season in 1999. I even podiumed a few times, and won the open 4 stoke club championship for most points in the year. Never the fastest, but always there.
Later on, along the way I picked up Motorcycling Australia coaching accreditation for coaching MX and Enduro so I could help the club juniors with their development, and mine a bit too.
At 11 months ownership, just inside the 12 month warranty, I was out helping set an enduro when restarting the 'berg became problematic. I called up my dealer and he said to drop it off when next in town, which I did heading up to deliver some learner training that I also did part time. Upon collection I was told it was fixed, and that I had no idea how to set the idle mixture!!!
The short version is that I then took it up to Sydney where the Husaberg dealer there found a disintegrating inlet valve seat. As each bit came away, the back pressure into the carb increased, changing the idle mixture needed for starting.
We sort of went halves on the fix, new valve seats etc, and I also paid for a freshened up bottom end, which was coming up according to the maintenance schedule. Maybe my Husaberg was living up to their reputation as being a bit of a grenade?
The Dellorto carb was always a pain and I swapped it for a 39 mm FCR off a WR400 with some jetting specs from Taffy.
The SEM stator did what they do and failed one day, but after cooling, I was able to ride it home with a couple more cooling stops which was good as we were in some snotty stuff when it went. I got a local rewind which almost lasted 5 mins, then got one from a 'Sparks' from Spain which is still working.
I picked up a big tank, 19 litres for some bigger trail rides. I'd got a good deal on it from my dealer in Canberra 'mate'. I fitted it up on a Friday afternoon, loaded the bike up with a full 19 litres onto the ute for an early Sat drive to the start of a weekend ride. Heading out to the ute on Sat am at sparrow fart, or sooner, I smelt petrol!!!!!!!
I swapped tanks as quick as I could, having identified that all the fittings on the new tank were wet. Its got a few, fuel from the left drains to the right where the pump pumps it across to the back left where the fuel tap is. Almost every one of the Acerbis's self tapping screws was too long and fuel was weeping out along the threads!!!!!!
I took the tank back to Canberra. I got a call to say it was fixed a few days later, they'd sealed all the screws up with Silastic!!!!!!!!!!
That was pretty much my last dealing with them. I took it home and fixed it myself with some Loctite Master Gasket.
Along the way I'd discovered that the perfect suspension could be better, and acquired a heavier rear spring to better set the sags, and had the shock serviced and revalved to suit too. A bit later I decided to have a go at revalving my forks at home, how hard could that be with a little help from the internet?
I worked on my posture, got a factory taller seat, steering damper, played with bars, and lowered and rearset the pegs.
A year or so later a rattle in the top end told me something was amiss. The manual reckons the cam's roller followers need swapping out at 150 hrs. It was at 180 hrs and one had let go. My bad, so new followers and a camshaft later it was going again, with note to self, to pay more attention. I also became more aware of oil, thanks internet!
To that point I'd been using Mobil 1, thinking that the full synthetic brand name stuff would be good. With advice from Lineaweaver here on UHE, I switched to Caltex/Chevon Delo 400 15/40 and the 501's engine now has over 800 hrs on it with the same cam followers. Go figure.
In 2003, after a few attempts myself it became apparent to me that I needed to pay a pro to make my forks better. Sidetrack Magazine at the time was holding a subscriber draw, subscribe, and win a weekend at the editor, Tony Kirby's farm with Frank Pons who'd sort your suspension. Seemed like a good idea, so I subscribed. Frank, sometimes known back then as Frank the File for his 2 stroke tuning prowess had road racing and enduro championships on his CV as both a rider and tuner. He's also mentored a lot of top riders, including taking Mat Mladin to Europe for his Cagiva 500 year when he even got to do a few laps on the 500. At the time he was running his own business in outer Sydney, and was the local Ohlins rep. The subscriber prize with Tony Kirby, AKA Mr Sidetrack, was a marketing exercise for him, with the spiel being he'd come to you.
For some unknown reason I didn't win, so I called up Frank to find out what he'd need to come down for the weekend. A few others, up to 6 per day, and their bike etc info in advance and he'd be there for cash on the day. So I got 11 clubmates together, plus me and down came Frank with his van and toolbox, including a portalathe. You'd park your bike in the shed, pull the forks and shock and hand them to Frank, he'd do his thing and hand them back. You'd put it back together, with assistance as needed and then test ride on my test MXish track and enduro loop just outside the shed. Living in the bush, I can play anytime on my tracks.
Frank would come over to my MX track and watch, its just outside the shed, maybe offer some advice, and maybe twiddle a clicker. Over the years, once or twice a shock or forks would come apart again for another internal tweak, and almost everyone went away happy. At peak we ran 4 or 5 workshops a year, my records show we did it 36 times. I learnt helps, Frank is now a good mate and his suspension on my bikes has made me look a better rider than I am. Great suspension, you know you need it!
In 2006 on a club trail ride, I got to sample a new FE650
A new 2007 FE650 arrived just in time for Christmas 2006, along with a new KLX250 for the boss. This meant the 501 became my backup and loaner for visitors. After a number of years I let its registration lapse and it got ridden occasionally around home to keep it ticking over.
It was sitting in storage and had got very cranky starting. With a number of other bikes taking priority, I had to decide what to do with it, fix it, or sell it as is/was. A bloke in Qld came on here a while back asking for parts for a '98 and we did a deal. So I sold it last year after 25 years of riding pleasure, the arthritis said no more.
I farewelled it and it went up north.
He tidied it up and has been racing vintage MX on it for the last 18 months. Reckons its suspension and carburation is fantastic and I think its now his favourite bike of the numerous he owns.
Bloody great bike and still going strong after all these years. A couple of minor hiccups along the way, but for me it was a solid reliable bike once sorted.
