- Joined
- May 12, 2002
- Messages
- 1,634
- Location
- Snowy Mountains NSW Australia
In answer to the question 'Why the 650?', the quote from the Husaberg website at the time summarised the answer nicely:
"When logic goes out the window and fun factor is a priority, the FE650E comes into it's own. A twist of the throttle is all it takes to engage warp speed and make your eyes water and mouth grin. This motorcycle is an addiction, once you ride one you won't want to stop."
I collected mine in early January 2007 and on my first ride I managed to ding the front rim. I knew then that as good as the suspension might be, it was OK out of the box, sort of, it needed work to get to the standard of the setup Frank had created on my 501, and no doubt he could make it better. We’d find out.
With a Whipps quick release bash plate, some proper barkbusters and a factory high seat it was ready to ride.
By March with the wisdom of the day here at UHE, I’d obtained and installed a Lineaweaver jetting kit with its dual taper needle and a Kouba T extended fuel screw.
I decided that the end result justified the kit, with a noticeable improvement over stock, making it more linear and progressive in its delivery. I still felt it could be a little smoother right off the bottom so I played with the TPS and ended up with a further improvement in its linear response by disconnecting it altogether.
I found that the standard 15/45 gearing meant that I was working the clutch a bit more than I preferred in really knarly, steep stuff. I tried 14/45 which was a bit low, and very similar to 15/48 so went for a Chain Gang 47 with the 15 up front which seemed just right.
It bought the gears together a bit, making 2nd and 3rd a bit more usable and hill starts simpler in either 1st, or 2nd. I didn’t really need the +/- 200 kph top speed either. Only one tooth can make a difference up back.
I siliconed the circlip that secures the countershaft sprocket and aligned the gap in the circlip with a hollow spline so that you get maximum bearing of the circlip on the shaft. I also carried a spare circlip in my tool bag, just in case.
As mentioned, I'd run Delo 400 in my 1998 FE501 for some years after originally running Mobil 1 Racing T and continued to run the Delo in the FE650.
Apart from lubing up all the frame bearings, which didn’t take much, at the first tyre change I removed every spoke nipple from the wheels and lubed them with antisieze, both the nipple threads and under the head of the nipple as is my MO. This makes life so much easier a few years down the track if wheel maintenance is required. This is also simplified by zip tying the spokes together where they cross, and if you break one they are less likely to cause grief with a brake or chain, or puncture.
When adjusting the gearing, I also lengthened the chain by one link which resulted in a wheelbase increase of about 6 mm. This loaded the front a bit more as well which I liked. This is not always understood, but moving the rear wheel back changes the weight distribution, putting more weight on the front, which can quicken the steering and maybe add front end grip and feel, YMMV.
When playing with the front wheel, I was surprised to find that the front rim was not centred between the forks. A proper string align with the rear confirmed that it should be centred. The rim was offset about 3 mm to the left. When truing it up I centred it and the bike then traveled in a straight line hands free, which it didn’t quite before.
I also ran another suspension weekend with my suspension guru mate Frank and and my FE650 was first on the job list. We upped the springs at both ends 0.46 in the forks and 9.7 up back and valving to suit. Very very nice it became too, even better. You just don’t know how good it can be until its made better. The best you’ve ridden is the best you know.
I’d noted an oil leak too, which made me unhappy. It was coming out of the case centre join and I was wondering how much more QC was happening in Austria compared to up north in Sweden. Sutto insisted that it be fixed after I emailed him photos of the evidence, so I dropped it off for that to be sorted, a trip to Sydney 400 kms away.
I added some more functional bling, a case saver, just in case, from B&B and some radiator guards from Force Accessories and a genuine thermo fan kit and later a lower temp switch than than supplied in the kit. The stator’s low output meant that sometimes after a tight single section on a hot day resulted in the the battery not having enough left for the estart, so the kicker was needed. Happily it was never more than 1 or 2 kicks.
I also decided to fit the accelerator pump push rod back onto the carb. I’d removed it in accordance with the Lineaweaver instructions. I did miss it when fully deactivated on my 501 so I added a bolt to make it adjustable on the 650. I could get at the adjusting bolt with an 8 mm spanner without taking the tank off, so no excuses not to get it right. I ended up with 1 mm of thread exposed on my adjusting bolt which resulted in a bit more snap, just what it needed. I figured I was adapting to the 650.
At the end of June 2007 I got some dyno work done. Note the difference between the before and after curves. When finished it was 43 hp, almost 1/3 increase, hmmmm. A short test ride out in the back paddock at the dyno place before loading the bike suggested that the AP seemed OK at 1 mm too, with some more snap off a closed throttle, but all still under control of the right wrist. Prior to getting up on the dyno, a road bike tyre was fitted, and some muffler mods were undertaken. This wasn’t the first FE650 the bloke had played with.
Also note that the Dyno Dynamics dyno numbers are lower than those that everyone quotes from the more common less sophisticated Dynojet. The conversion results in my FE650’s peak Hp at 63 Dynojet Hp. But whatever, I wondered what I'd do with 1/3 more HP, and decided I'd have fun finding out
A 15 min ride around my single track at home at home to warm the oil for a 20 hr service confirmed the first impressions, ie it was all good, maybe perfect, or at least the best I'd experienced to that point, linear, controllable, and with the 1 mm AP setting, a snap off the bottom into a huge mid range and a scary top end. Although maybe the snap off closed throttle was too much
An unrelated disappointment was a leaking water pump oil seal, again, which was upgraded with an OrangeBerg kit by Suttos when the did the case seal fix, which itself was still just weeping. The countershaft seal was also weeping
With some more time on the bike I started thinking that for the first time in my life I could see the need for a SLOW action throttle. It was a bit of work in the tight stuff compared to what it had been. I played a bit with the AP set screw went down to 0.5 mm and was happy. Still snappy, but in control, just. I had a standard 06 650 visit that was flat by comparison, no snap, and didn’t rev!! Bikes like a KTM 450 EXC, and my 501 felt slow and sluggish by comparison
I followed up the oil leaks with Suttos and they had a second go under warranty, he was keen to sort it, and frustrated that it hadn't been fixed the first time. They identified that the countershaft leak seemed to be caused by the bushing in there. The 07 design is different to earlier ones and this one seemed to float a bit. They fitted an older bush, a new seal, and it was leak free for perhaps the first time. And then the water pump seal was weeping again. A proper look identified that it hadn’t been fitted properly by Suttos, so I fixed it.
After 7 months of ownership, it was working great for me and many kilometres and hours of riding pleasure followed. I had plans for some FE650 grass track racing too, but knee surgery and stuff interfered....
We weighed the Berg, blinged, armoured and with a full 10 litres of fuel, it was 122 kgs ready to ride. The missus’ KLX in the same config, with its tank at capacity at 8 litres, was 132 kgs. My DR ready to ride with a typical 20 litres in its Safari was 202 kgs IIRC.
I also found that 650 used rear tyres more than anything I'd had before, and wasn’t sure why..........
The torque grunting up a gnarly hill with a little clutch in third gear is a wonderful thing on a FE650. You also learn that to get it moving in the tighter stuff requires not so much throttle control, as rear brake and clutch control. You stick it in 2nd or 3rd and control drive with them, not the throttle, or it wears you out real quick. The clutches take all the punishment. I’d learned this on the 501, and its needed even moreso on the 650.
In 2010, at 160 hrs and 5714 km, it was time for some FE650 preventative and reactive maintenance.
Both water pump seals, ie coolant and oil, were weeping so I got the latest version of Orangeberg's kit to put in. I also had previously got a cam chain kit and a Dual Valve Spring Kit, or DVSK from Taffy, aka Taffmeisters, in the UK in anticipation of putting them in sometime, and now seemed like a good time.
The dual springs are what came from the factory up to 1998, like my 501. After that they went to single conicals which were not unknown to break, so fitting the dual springs seemed like a good preventative measure.
I also got some new valve stem seals, cam bearings and roller followers while it was apart.
The cam chain tensioner was on 17 of 20 clicks and the chain was loose on the cam sprocket, so it was due. The replacement was a HD one and reputedly much longer lasting.
I pulled the head found no carbon buildup. A wipe with the finger in the combustion chamber and on the piston and it was down to aluminium! Good jetting achieves wonders for sure.
The valves all looked perfect. I debated with myself whether to change what appeared to be perfect roller followers and cam bearings, and decided to put the originals back. The roller followers were/are an upgraded design compared to the 501. The 501’s ones were still fine after I replaced them too, and switched to Delo 400. I had some spares in the shed for next time and they remained unused.
The water pump seals are a chronic problem with these engines, even with the aftermarket kit fix, so it got sorted a couple more times. Not a disaster, but should have been better.
And more fun riding ensued and some more tweaks followed. In April 2015, as previously posted, former inmate Mezcal uploaded some of his helmet cam footage from a ride that we did around my local Numeralla Mountain a few days earlier one of my then regular rides.
For much of the footage he is chasing me on my FE650, but for a couple of bits he was sweeping. Four bikes total, me on Big Berg, Mez on his FE570, BB on SWMBO's KLX and Ross on his AWD 450 Christini. FYI BB supplied me with DR2.
At the end Mez does a lap of my 400 m test track, which is just outside my shed, on my FE650, where he almost gets it into the midrange
All the terrain shown has been conquered on my DR, but its more fun, and forgiving on the Berg. And I had a choice then
As ever, its steeper and rougher than it looks on the video.
Latterly I picked up a Clarke 16 litre tank with pretty much the same ergos as stock and giving a 200+ km range in any conditions. I also fitted a set of Stegpegz to aid hill climbing and whooping out in the desert. I did a few rides out at Murray Sunset and the adjoining Big Desert in NW Victoria.
I fitted a Montana GPS mount, cutting up a top bar clamp originally intended to take an MSC steering damper left over from a DR project for some more remote riding, almost ADV.
The original disc got a bit thin, just a bit under spec, and similarly the front disc was at or just below min thickness, a 10 mm oversize full floater with billet carrier for $150 was too good a deal to pass up and worked good too.
Then my aging body and its worn out knees started to tell me I needed think even more about the ergos. I fitted some some Fastway pegs that ended up 12 mm back and 8 mm down. And I added more foam to the factory high seat I’d also picked up along the way. I have now had 6 knee surgeries, 5 arthroscopes and an ACL reconstruction and am on notice that replacements are needed. My hips aren’t great either, and my ankles are worn out too, with bone spurs and not much cartilage left.
And then more riding through to 12,500 kms and 340 hrs when in September 2020 the time arrived. I sold my beloved FE650. It was hardly being used, my bones and joints suffering when I did get on it for a bit. Old age has some good points, but old bodies aren't a great part of the package.
It went to a good home, a Husaberg enthusiast, to add to his collection not too far from away.
One of my favourite things became the expression people have on their faces after they test rode it, with the view generally being something like, "How easy is this to ride, but how freaking faaast is it?' Trouble can come up quickly as it changes your frame of reference. It just consumes 450s. Cracking it at 100 kph had it spin up and snake away. Lots of fun.
All shinied up and about to be loaded for delivery.
The new owner later told me it had become his favourite too, compared to his later 570s, yes plural, 300 2t, 350 and 450. He also has other bikes, including an LSR streamliner for Lake Gairdner with turbo R1 power, a V8 Boss Hoss, and numerous others, quite a collection.
"When logic goes out the window and fun factor is a priority, the FE650E comes into it's own. A twist of the throttle is all it takes to engage warp speed and make your eyes water and mouth grin. This motorcycle is an addiction, once you ride one you won't want to stop."
I collected mine in early January 2007 and on my first ride I managed to ding the front rim. I knew then that as good as the suspension might be, it was OK out of the box, sort of, it needed work to get to the standard of the setup Frank had created on my 501, and no doubt he could make it better. We’d find out.
With a Whipps quick release bash plate, some proper barkbusters and a factory high seat it was ready to ride.
By March with the wisdom of the day here at UHE, I’d obtained and installed a Lineaweaver jetting kit with its dual taper needle and a Kouba T extended fuel screw.
I decided that the end result justified the kit, with a noticeable improvement over stock, making it more linear and progressive in its delivery. I still felt it could be a little smoother right off the bottom so I played with the TPS and ended up with a further improvement in its linear response by disconnecting it altogether.
I found that the standard 15/45 gearing meant that I was working the clutch a bit more than I preferred in really knarly, steep stuff. I tried 14/45 which was a bit low, and very similar to 15/48 so went for a Chain Gang 47 with the 15 up front which seemed just right.
It bought the gears together a bit, making 2nd and 3rd a bit more usable and hill starts simpler in either 1st, or 2nd. I didn’t really need the +/- 200 kph top speed either. Only one tooth can make a difference up back.
I siliconed the circlip that secures the countershaft sprocket and aligned the gap in the circlip with a hollow spline so that you get maximum bearing of the circlip on the shaft. I also carried a spare circlip in my tool bag, just in case.
As mentioned, I'd run Delo 400 in my 1998 FE501 for some years after originally running Mobil 1 Racing T and continued to run the Delo in the FE650.
Apart from lubing up all the frame bearings, which didn’t take much, at the first tyre change I removed every spoke nipple from the wheels and lubed them with antisieze, both the nipple threads and under the head of the nipple as is my MO. This makes life so much easier a few years down the track if wheel maintenance is required. This is also simplified by zip tying the spokes together where they cross, and if you break one they are less likely to cause grief with a brake or chain, or puncture.
When adjusting the gearing, I also lengthened the chain by one link which resulted in a wheelbase increase of about 6 mm. This loaded the front a bit more as well which I liked. This is not always understood, but moving the rear wheel back changes the weight distribution, putting more weight on the front, which can quicken the steering and maybe add front end grip and feel, YMMV.
When playing with the front wheel, I was surprised to find that the front rim was not centred between the forks. A proper string align with the rear confirmed that it should be centred. The rim was offset about 3 mm to the left. When truing it up I centred it and the bike then traveled in a straight line hands free, which it didn’t quite before.
I also ran another suspension weekend with my suspension guru mate Frank and and my FE650 was first on the job list. We upped the springs at both ends 0.46 in the forks and 9.7 up back and valving to suit. Very very nice it became too, even better. You just don’t know how good it can be until its made better. The best you’ve ridden is the best you know.
I’d noted an oil leak too, which made me unhappy. It was coming out of the case centre join and I was wondering how much more QC was happening in Austria compared to up north in Sweden. Sutto insisted that it be fixed after I emailed him photos of the evidence, so I dropped it off for that to be sorted, a trip to Sydney 400 kms away.
I added some more functional bling, a case saver, just in case, from B&B and some radiator guards from Force Accessories and a genuine thermo fan kit and later a lower temp switch than than supplied in the kit. The stator’s low output meant that sometimes after a tight single section on a hot day resulted in the the battery not having enough left for the estart, so the kicker was needed. Happily it was never more than 1 or 2 kicks.
I also decided to fit the accelerator pump push rod back onto the carb. I’d removed it in accordance with the Lineaweaver instructions. I did miss it when fully deactivated on my 501 so I added a bolt to make it adjustable on the 650. I could get at the adjusting bolt with an 8 mm spanner without taking the tank off, so no excuses not to get it right. I ended up with 1 mm of thread exposed on my adjusting bolt which resulted in a bit more snap, just what it needed. I figured I was adapting to the 650.
At the end of June 2007 I got some dyno work done. Note the difference between the before and after curves. When finished it was 43 hp, almost 1/3 increase, hmmmm. A short test ride out in the back paddock at the dyno place before loading the bike suggested that the AP seemed OK at 1 mm too, with some more snap off a closed throttle, but all still under control of the right wrist. Prior to getting up on the dyno, a road bike tyre was fitted, and some muffler mods were undertaken. This wasn’t the first FE650 the bloke had played with.
Also note that the Dyno Dynamics dyno numbers are lower than those that everyone quotes from the more common less sophisticated Dynojet. The conversion results in my FE650’s peak Hp at 63 Dynojet Hp. But whatever, I wondered what I'd do with 1/3 more HP, and decided I'd have fun finding out
A 15 min ride around my single track at home at home to warm the oil for a 20 hr service confirmed the first impressions, ie it was all good, maybe perfect, or at least the best I'd experienced to that point, linear, controllable, and with the 1 mm AP setting, a snap off the bottom into a huge mid range and a scary top end. Although maybe the snap off closed throttle was too much
An unrelated disappointment was a leaking water pump oil seal, again, which was upgraded with an OrangeBerg kit by Suttos when the did the case seal fix, which itself was still just weeping. The countershaft seal was also weeping
With some more time on the bike I started thinking that for the first time in my life I could see the need for a SLOW action throttle. It was a bit of work in the tight stuff compared to what it had been. I played a bit with the AP set screw went down to 0.5 mm and was happy. Still snappy, but in control, just. I had a standard 06 650 visit that was flat by comparison, no snap, and didn’t rev!! Bikes like a KTM 450 EXC, and my 501 felt slow and sluggish by comparison
I followed up the oil leaks with Suttos and they had a second go under warranty, he was keen to sort it, and frustrated that it hadn't been fixed the first time. They identified that the countershaft leak seemed to be caused by the bushing in there. The 07 design is different to earlier ones and this one seemed to float a bit. They fitted an older bush, a new seal, and it was leak free for perhaps the first time. And then the water pump seal was weeping again. A proper look identified that it hadn’t been fitted properly by Suttos, so I fixed it.
After 7 months of ownership, it was working great for me and many kilometres and hours of riding pleasure followed. I had plans for some FE650 grass track racing too, but knee surgery and stuff interfered....
We weighed the Berg, blinged, armoured and with a full 10 litres of fuel, it was 122 kgs ready to ride. The missus’ KLX in the same config, with its tank at capacity at 8 litres, was 132 kgs. My DR ready to ride with a typical 20 litres in its Safari was 202 kgs IIRC.
I also found that 650 used rear tyres more than anything I'd had before, and wasn’t sure why..........
The torque grunting up a gnarly hill with a little clutch in third gear is a wonderful thing on a FE650. You also learn that to get it moving in the tighter stuff requires not so much throttle control, as rear brake and clutch control. You stick it in 2nd or 3rd and control drive with them, not the throttle, or it wears you out real quick. The clutches take all the punishment. I’d learned this on the 501, and its needed even moreso on the 650.
In 2010, at 160 hrs and 5714 km, it was time for some FE650 preventative and reactive maintenance.
Both water pump seals, ie coolant and oil, were weeping so I got the latest version of Orangeberg's kit to put in. I also had previously got a cam chain kit and a Dual Valve Spring Kit, or DVSK from Taffy, aka Taffmeisters, in the UK in anticipation of putting them in sometime, and now seemed like a good time.
The dual springs are what came from the factory up to 1998, like my 501. After that they went to single conicals which were not unknown to break, so fitting the dual springs seemed like a good preventative measure.
I also got some new valve stem seals, cam bearings and roller followers while it was apart.
The cam chain tensioner was on 17 of 20 clicks and the chain was loose on the cam sprocket, so it was due. The replacement was a HD one and reputedly much longer lasting.
I pulled the head found no carbon buildup. A wipe with the finger in the combustion chamber and on the piston and it was down to aluminium! Good jetting achieves wonders for sure.
The valves all looked perfect. I debated with myself whether to change what appeared to be perfect roller followers and cam bearings, and decided to put the originals back. The roller followers were/are an upgraded design compared to the 501. The 501’s ones were still fine after I replaced them too, and switched to Delo 400. I had some spares in the shed for next time and they remained unused.
The water pump seals are a chronic problem with these engines, even with the aftermarket kit fix, so it got sorted a couple more times. Not a disaster, but should have been better.
And more fun riding ensued and some more tweaks followed. In April 2015, as previously posted, former inmate Mezcal uploaded some of his helmet cam footage from a ride that we did around my local Numeralla Mountain a few days earlier one of my then regular rides.
For much of the footage he is chasing me on my FE650, but for a couple of bits he was sweeping. Four bikes total, me on Big Berg, Mez on his FE570, BB on SWMBO's KLX and Ross on his AWD 450 Christini. FYI BB supplied me with DR2.
At the end Mez does a lap of my 400 m test track, which is just outside my shed, on my FE650, where he almost gets it into the midrange
All the terrain shown has been conquered on my DR, but its more fun, and forgiving on the Berg. And I had a choice then
Latterly I picked up a Clarke 16 litre tank with pretty much the same ergos as stock and giving a 200+ km range in any conditions. I also fitted a set of Stegpegz to aid hill climbing and whooping out in the desert. I did a few rides out at Murray Sunset and the adjoining Big Desert in NW Victoria.
I fitted a Montana GPS mount, cutting up a top bar clamp originally intended to take an MSC steering damper left over from a DR project for some more remote riding, almost ADV.
The original disc got a bit thin, just a bit under spec, and similarly the front disc was at or just below min thickness, a 10 mm oversize full floater with billet carrier for $150 was too good a deal to pass up and worked good too.
Then my aging body and its worn out knees started to tell me I needed think even more about the ergos. I fitted some some Fastway pegs that ended up 12 mm back and 8 mm down. And I added more foam to the factory high seat I’d also picked up along the way. I have now had 6 knee surgeries, 5 arthroscopes and an ACL reconstruction and am on notice that replacements are needed. My hips aren’t great either, and my ankles are worn out too, with bone spurs and not much cartilage left.
And then more riding through to 12,500 kms and 340 hrs when in September 2020 the time arrived. I sold my beloved FE650. It was hardly being used, my bones and joints suffering when I did get on it for a bit. Old age has some good points, but old bodies aren't a great part of the package.
It went to a good home, a Husaberg enthusiast, to add to his collection not too far from away.
One of my favourite things became the expression people have on their faces after they test rode it, with the view generally being something like, "How easy is this to ride, but how freaking faaast is it?' Trouble can come up quickly as it changes your frame of reference. It just consumes 450s. Cracking it at 100 kph had it spin up and snake away. Lots of fun.
All shinied up and about to be loaded for delivery.
The new owner later told me it had become his favourite too, compared to his later 570s, yes plural, 300 2t, 350 and 450. He also has other bikes, including an LSR streamliner for Lake Gairdner with turbo R1 power, a V8 Boss Hoss, and numerous others, quite a collection.
