What was your first husaberg experience?

enginenumber · Oct 2, 2006

Back then I used to want a 84 XR250 as these had heaps of travel and a motor that was a bit race orientated.However I stuck with my 81 XL 250. I wasnt strong enough or had enough experience to hold it up right,I broke seventeen brake levers from drops.
Some years had passed and hadnt ridden or owned a bike,decided to buy 88 XR 600.
Did that thing have some go ! Every corner I would turn I pulled full throttle and ended up on my back on the gravel and wonder why.Pull a wheelie and even at idle this would still drag you along on your knees hanging off the side after falling off the back ,and was heaps of go.
Sold that and years passed,brought a 92 XR 600 ,decided to try and race,many crashes tight wet slipery tracks,tree roots,deep lose mud ruts,heavy and lack of instant power,chased ruts,practiced heaps.modifications,strip weight off bike,run 2 litres on res, save weight.
Given up for a few years,worked in 2000 with a guy that rode,asked me to have a go on his husaberg,2000 FC 600 , this was new ,had only read a artical few years ago on husabergs,what ever they were?
Very different but good feel,the motor as soon as you touched the throttle hit, well like a 2 stroke,after riding in lose deep sand with whooped out track was amazing,stable a speed,frightening power,no weight in the front,everything was in the right position, would wheel stand on the peaks of 3-4 foot high sand whoops and no missing in the throttle, and power like youve never seen.Eyes were watering, went to give it back to the owner,he hit a switch and said ,now have a go ,and rev the thing!!
Well this time it went like i had never seen a 4 stroke , it made uncomprehenable amounts of power,it made it off the bottom,middle and top, it would make top end power then go another 2000 rpm and not break down or miss.
Still today, I wonder how such a compact light wieght engine made so much power.
The technology and development,it was all there.

Since that day i have owned 3 husabergs and no other!

What was your first experience on a berg????

jzfe · Oct 2, 2006

My first ride on my berg ended in a 35mph crash. I was heading home on the dirt access road after a single track test. Merrily riding into a blind corner.....a car appears on my side of the road :finger: . I hit the brakes, The brembo locks up the front wheel....bam...beoch slapped.....off into the ditch. :angry: Broke my knee pad, ripped buckles off my rt boot, scratched chest protector, ruined rt glove, lost 8 in. of skin on my rt forearm and a bloody knuckle.

I picked myself up...girls freaking out in the car I narrowly missed...Like THEIR life flashed before their eyes.. Some boob drives up and asks them if they are ok...not me.

uke: Pick up my berg and ride off into the sun set with a bent magura handle bay, broken throttle tube, scratched new plastics and a new found appreciation for brembo brakes....OUCH!!! Did I mention how fast and fun this bike is???

I have since put 1200+ miles on it and 60hrs. Its dialed in nature probably kept me from crashing more often. A rocky start, but a good relationship since then. :bow:

tinbanger · Oct 2, 2006

I as you jzfe, i too started with a old honda, 78 xr 100, to a 76 xl 250,to a 79 xr250 woaw! then i was finally able to get out of the 70"s(i was born in 84) and bought a 92 WR 200(yamaha) couldn't believe they made a bike under 350LBS, holly crap this this is awsome, went were i pointed it was easy to start and i didn;t have to constantly work on it. but ifter a year i got bored.

my good friend and riding partner bought a 97KTM 300 and he was handing my a$$ to me every time we wnet out. this had to come to an end. so i bought one. loved it was just as big of a step up as the last.after a couple of rebuilds and 6 years of tearing up my 94 KTM 300 it was time for a new bike. i loved my 300 but i wanted more power and the easy button. So this guy Rick talked me into buying a ) 06 FE 450. but in reality there was no persuasion involved, he darn near gave it to me.

so the first ride, i head over to my favorite stompin ground East fort rock(china hat) in bend oregon. i unload the beautifull blue and yellow stream of sunlight, she fires right off and purrs like a mean cat. gear up and go........ well for a couple hundred yards anyway. there might have been a little ice under the snow, so whaammm, down i go still in ear-shot of the truck. crap. well picker her up, refired and went on with the day.

Mi first impressions were shear JOY. i had no idea that there could be such an improvement on suspension, i gained MPH in the woopps and never looked back!!!!

I will never own anything else agian. BERGS TILL I DIE!!!!!

tm-enduro · Oct 2, 2006

Hmm, let me answer that a few times.
Firs t I rode the '85 Husqvarna te510, it was good, but kind of finicky. Next I rode the '86 te510, wow, I liked that bike and wanted to get one (I was riding a '86 wr250 at the time), but then Cagiva took over (bought Husky) and buying an '87 was not a good choice.
Next comes 1992 and I got a Husky te350, it was not a good choice, I liked the 4T power delviery, but the weight and heavy front end were awful. Later in 1992 I got a '92 Husaberg fe501, and felt instantly at home on it and race performances began matching matching what I could do on a 2T. It had 4T power delivery with 2T weight and (almost) handling (engine braking in the turns and whoops about killed me). I loved much about the bike (raced it in ~40 offroad races in 1 1/2 yrs), but still felt better on a 2T, so I went back. I've since had 2 more Hbgs (currenly on one) and do like how well they work.

DaleEO · Oct 2, 2006

It was 1996 and Dual sporting was on everybody's mind. All my friends were saying they were going to go and get a dual sport bike. They had me talked into it, and I saw a 94 & 1/2 FE501 in the cycle trader, called the guy up, went over and bought it for $3500 on the barrel head. He told me it had low hours, blah, blah, what a bunch of BS! This thing was totally clapped out. Even the carb slide was worn out b/c this guy didn't clean his air cleaners.

Turns out it needed the following: rod kit, cam chain, cam bearings, carb slide, piston, all new valves and valve job, while I had it apart I had the crank sent out and balanced. Turns out that this really nice guy had the motor apart and had just had them put the crank back together when he found out the rod was bad, and they had set the axial play too great so the cases were pushing in on the crank. It was a bitch to start. Long sad story short I invested $2200 into the re fit of the bike. And I wiped the skid plate off the bike finding out the suspension was way too soft.

What did I get? A bike that started unbelievably easy, made good low end and ferocious horsepower, great handling, and super reliable. I can remember gleefully smoking KX500's in the sand washes. The only bike at that time that would give the 501 a run for it's money was a committed pilot on a CR500.

That was my first Husaberg, I sold it but still have my second and third ones. Great bikes.

dsducati · Oct 4, 2006

After riding 250 2 strokes for years, I went through 4 Husky 4 strokes. 87 XC510, 90 TC510, 93 TE610, and a 92 TE350. All were simply too heavy compared to my 250s. Stumbled across a 92 FC499 and was amazed by how small and light it was compared to a Husky. Yes it was hard to start, vibrated like crazy, and all around lacked the refinement of the Huskys, but the basic package was correct. My next Husabergs were a pair of 96 models, a 400 and a 501. Much more refined! Then a 98 501, a 2000 501 followed, and finally an 03 501. Refinement went up as the bikes got newer. Since my 03 is blessed with an E Button and lighting, it has gotten a bit heavy. Recently rescued a new left over 99 FC501 from cobwebs so that I had a lightweight as well. Since it is the last of the original series of Bergs, don't know if i should ride it or put it away. Have a feeling it won't stay new long though.
dan

kzoo · Oct 4, 2006

After not riding for about 17 years I picked up an '04 YZ250F and rode the bike for 2 years. Although I like the bike I wanted more HP and also wanted to dual sport so needed something different. After my wife and I moved back to Michigan I discovered a Husaberg dealer about 25 miles north of us, Euro Motors, Davison Michigan.... So I went up to Euro Motors and Andy talked to me for a while about Husabergs. He had an '05 FE450 sitting on the showroom but wasn't willing to come out the extra $$$ since my bike was only a few years old. It just so happens that "jcoless427" bought it so I get to see it all the time. Well, he had an '03 FE400 that was his personal bike. The bike had 30 hrs and ~500 miles on it and the price was right so I picked it up. Well a year later I've put 70+ hours and 1700 miles on it and it's been nothing but a good experience. I took it on a 5 day trail ride that racked up just over 730 miles during the summer and it never gave me an issue.

felix · Nov 1, 2006

Bought my basketcase "berg from Ebay -
Drove three hours to get it -
My first experience was that it was in worse shape than I thought (typical for my "projects" )
My second experience was getting smacked in the shin from the spring loaded kickstand as I picked it up to push it into the rental van :roll:

It's been downhill ever since

See my Noooob question topic under general discussion ! It will live again ! ! ! !

bergy · Nov 1, 2006

I have a friend, who will go unnamed, who had a ride with Husaberg, he ran GNCC's and the series here in the south. Some of the folks from the factory were coming down to test suspensions on the '97 models and they needed 3 new bikes broken in, so he volunteered to get it done. So here he is pulling a trailer with a 400, 501, and 650 on it, behind a chevy luv that he paid $200.00 for! the bikes were $7 grand then so do the math! We spent all day at a riding area, about 6 of us, pounding brand new Husabergs in the dirt! A bunch of rednecks! Well I was hooked, I traded a yz 250 for a lightly used 97 501 kick model, I won 2 SETRA championships 4 stroke A on that old gal. I will have to add that the 2001 470 just about ruined it for me, but now the bikes are better than ever.

J-S · Nov 5, 2006

My first and only experience on a berg was on an 05 FS650E and it wheelied in 4th at 115 km/h 8O :mrgreen: Since then I'm hooked and can't wait to be able to afford one then I'll sell the DRZSM and get the FS650E of my dream, hopefully a 07 they are so cool.

osubuckeye · Nov 5, 2006

Today was my first experience on a berg !!!!!!! bought the fe400e off ebay in 2 laundry baskets and a frame, pics are in my gallery. drove to indianapolis in july to pick it up and finally got it all together yesterday and running...Wooohoo !!!!! I finally got to experience what all of you have been talking about. had to go to my local john deere dealer to get a 16mm x 230mm bolt cuz the swingarm pivot bolt and nut was missing. so i guess i have a 99% berg and 1% JD...LOL. very impressed with the handling and ride. And having ridden 2 strokes my whole life I was thrilled with the low end power delivery. the e start doesn't work yet but started with the second or third kick.Battery is fully charged, so not sure what is up with the starter. My past started with an old metal tanked honda elsenore at 13. when i turned 16 I bought a new yamaha dt100 on off road, but didn't cut the mustered off the road so I bought a 79 yamaha yz125, then in 84 when yamaha found a bunch of unsold 82 yz490's I bought one out of the crate for $1200.00. rode for 2 years regularly then sat in my parent's barn for 20 years until last year. Still on the original bore !!!!. i plan on bringing both bikes, the berg and big bore to utah come march....My buddy who rides an exc525 was very impressed too. now if we could only get david knight on a berg.....I wouldn't have the only berg around columbus......LOL. But i am now hooked.....Just need to get used to the difference in the fork rake.

buba_zanetti · Nov 7, 2006

When I got my 92 FE501 I took it to the dirt and the fuel filter clogged after about 20min. I pushed it down the trail and through a silk bed for 45min until I got to a place a truck could pick it up. Then I cleaned everything out and put street tires on it. Went to the supermoto track and had it leaking oil out of 2 or 3 seals within 2 sessions, then it wouldnt start.
Adjusted the valves, changed the seals, and went back out. It suddenly couldn't run down the front straight. Played with jets, changed fuel filters, finally adjusted the float hieght and fixed the problem. Replaced another leaking seal, adjusted the valves, and parked it for 4 months. Came back home, raced it once, and managed to only blow the kickstart shaft seal. Went to Iraq, and when I got back I rode it a few times in the dirt, but I got sick of replacing all the fasteners it shook loose, so it just kinda sits there now. When it's all dialed in it sure is a hoot though. Freaking pulls like a demon and feels terrifyingly large when it's ever more than4 feet off the ground.
b-z-

JJW501 · Nov 8, 2006

i was a tyre kicker at a dealer. they had a demo bike. dealer insisted i have a test ride. i bought the demo bike shortly afterward for a good price. these things are addicitive. beware. oh yeah its prob too late if you are reading this!

Have Fun
Jeff

kelsow · Nov 8, 2006

JJW501 said:
i was a tyre kicker at a dealer. they had a demo bike. dealer insisted i have a test ride. i bought the demo bike shortly afterward for a good price. these things are addicitive. beware. oh yeah its prob too late if you are reading this!

Have Fun
Jeff

Exact same thing happened to me because these bikes sell themselves.

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What was your first husaberg experience?

enginenumber

jzfe

tinbanger

tm-enduro

DaleEO

dsducati

kzoo

felix

bergy

J-S

osubuckeye

buba_zanetti

JJW501

kelsow

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