What to watch for? Buy used 235-hr '05 FE 450?

Hi all,

Longish post. Summary of questions: What to watch/listen for when inspecting a 2005 FE 450 w/ 236 hours on it? Is there any major and crucial maintenance around that time in a bike's life?

So ...
I'm helping a friend buy a 'Berg. (As he doesn't have the license in hand yet, I test rode a 550 the other day for him ... That was a fun favor to do for someone. Heh.)

Anyway! There is a reasonably clean FE 450 on offer, model year 2005. The price is pretty low and friend and seller may be able to do a win-win non-motorcycle trade-in. The bike has been ran for 236 hours and the seller claims to have maintained the bike properly. (Which I trust is true. Seller is a solid bloke - I actually know him.) So if the bike is generally OK, it's the perfect deal. My buddy has had a pretty intense last couple of years and really needs some 2-wheel therapy

What should we most critically watch/listen for when we go check out the bike? I.e., anything beside the standard checks for external wear, alignment, worn wheel/chassis bearings, goofy suspension, difficult starting, rough running. Any sounds from motor we wouldn't want to hear?

I only have a DR-Z myself so I don't have a direct comparison with how a Husaberg should feel, but I did ride an FE 550 for a short while so if this 450 feels SUPER different I should be able to tell (bearings shot etc.). I have also ridden with a number of Berg owners on the trails so I know roughly what they should sound like.

At 236 hours, is there any significant unmissable maintenance coming up that couldn't wait until after a season of mild riding?

If the bike looks and sounds reasonable, the plan was to do some reasonable pre-flight checking, ride the bike this summer, keep an eye on it, feed it with oil, etc. Then garage it in the fall and have a look inside and do a major-ish overhaul, check everything / replace / tune.

Backstory ...
A friend is getting back into motorcycling after having spent his childhood on a battered '80s Suzuki TS. Money isn't exactly overflowing in our lives so we're looking to optimize a bit for price ...

There is A LOT of used Husabergs in the local market here in Iceland. The Husaberg dealer moved a ton of bikes in the boom years of 2006-2008 or so - I believe the 'Berg dealer had some kind of introductory offer running to establish themselves, flush with currency basket loans. Iceland was an exaggerated example of the pre-crunch boom, everybody and his dog had "discretionary income". Currency fluctuations caused imports to be SILLY cheap and everybody bought bikes of all kinds. Then the crunch hits and people realize they don't have the time or inclination for the sport and low-hour bikes are being sold off. KTMs "retain value" (i.e. used KTMs are overpriced ...) but the market isn't particularly well informed and Husabergs are considered unreliable ... Which is great for buyers. Perfect time to get into enduro bikes. People are selling of their gear too for a pittance. Love it

So ... sorry for the long post. Any input would be most well appreciated.

The bike has been bought

Looks like a very fine deal. The bike is late-ish for some maintenance but it runs REALLY well, very strong, starts on the first kick almost. Compared to the DR-Z I feel like I can hear the much higher compression and aggressive engine, each pulse from the engine is like a SLAP! almost. Handling is a little strange atm, heavy turn-in, but I'm confident that correcting sag and suspension clickers is going to fix it. (That said, I find it interesting how I appreciate the my DR-Z more for what it is, even though I'm very smitten with the 'Bergs I've been riding in the past weeks. The Husabergs are light and stable steering - or you can say that feel a little flimsy and are hard to turn ... it all lies in the mindset and the choice of words. Whereas I can understand that the DR-Z simultaneously feels top-heavy and skittish to some, it can also be described as comfortably solid and agile at the same time - at least now that I am getting used to my bike which has relatively aggressive steering - it's jacked up very noticeably higher in the back than the DR-Z's I've been riding with. I'm relatively lightweight but have decent reach, and the DR-Z's ergos had been set up as roomier than stock when I bought it, so I guess I in particular am lucky in being able to work well around this particular DR-Z's limitations. I wouldn't want to weight much more than 75 kg on a DR-Z, for example )

But anyway! ... if there was anything we needed to watch for and didn't see, I guess we'll find out

... We're also fixing up a non-running 1996 Husqvarna TE-410. Very cool bike!. It's interesting to compare it with the 'Berg - you see the ancestry in it and the evolution from it.

Roger that Will do!! heheh

Well, it does need new swingarm bearings, that's for sure. Also new fork oil probably, they feel a little stiff and/or dry. It also wobbles/shakes quite a bit more than I like at 60kph+ ... felt like the DR-Z with rimlocks and unbalanced wheels, but perhaps a bit faster wobble and more aggressive. Not great, but I am willing to assume that the wobble can be fixed by tightening the slop from the swingarm, balancing the wheels (unbalanced atm), putting correct pressure in tires (might have flat spots even?), and doing some axle and suspension adjustment and maintenance. Let's hope.

Very good deal though overall, both parties are happy I believe, even if the bike is needs some not insignificant maintenance. Only normal replacement-of-wear maintenance though it looks like, nothing borne from neglect. I think the plan will hold - petting her a little bit now, riding for the summer under a watchful eye, and then doing some proper work on it next winter.

We figured out the odometer, it's gone 10 000 km. Doesn't seem like it's been ridden all that hard then? 40kph average?

Wow, the suspension was set up mighty strange. Rear preload was basically turned all the way to max. Static sag was 20mm ... The damping adjusters were pretty goofy imo, all compression and rebound clickers were only 3-4-5 clicks out. We set the sag and got 35mm static, 90 race. Cool! Exactly in range. The bike feels reeeaally nice w/ stock settings. Very elegant and stable dynamics.

The power!! damn, this is NOT a DR-Z ... I accidentally took it a bit faster than intended in a 60 kph zone passing a bus: Go full throttle in 3rd or 4th and ZOOM it goes ... and then power just builds and builds!! ... and then I think 'hmm that bus swooshed behind me pretty quickly" ... look at speedo: 120kph - was expecting 85 or so. Doesn't take long on these things, now does it?

I WANT ONE FOR MYSELF

hoosie5seventy said:

Anthon Berg said:

The power!! damn, this is NOT a DR-Z ... I accidentally took it a bit faster than intended in a 60 kph zone passing a bus: Go full throttle in 3rd or 4th and ZOOM it goes ... and then power just builds and builds!!

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:mrgreen: you should get a ride on an FE570 and see what that's like!

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oh God, I know, it hurts. There's an immaculate 2011 570 for sale here w. 35 hours on the clock and some very nice goodies forrrr, what, €5000 / $6500 or so. (OK price internationally, VERY good for the market here.) I have to do yoga and aromatherapy and have myself hypnotized just to keep from obsessing about ways to invent the money to buy it. If I saw a gaping hole of debt and a glimpse of that 'Berg down in it, I'd jump in head-first and love it.