Joined Feb 2005
177 Posts | 52+
Perth Western Australia
I remember my first ride on a bike , was 6 yr old (1976), mate had a Honda 50cc , I asked for a go , he said ask your mother , she said no!, keep away from the motorbike. I went out and said she said it was ok to have a go.
As I sat on bike it took of out of control , after a few minutes screaming in terror , I was pulled from the bike , resulted in getting the end of the handle bar in the face , 4 stitches in top lip, from the doctor for that one!!!
Age 11 grandparents purchased us kids a Honda atc 70 1981 model.
First real bike was at age 17
1981 Honda XL 250 had for 3 years
1988 Honda XR600 had for a few years also, later on
1991 Honda XR600 another few good years of riding, tried a couple of local enduro and grass track races
1993 Honda XR630 (bothers bike) had a couple of grass track races and odd enduro, big fin head , 100mm forged piston, fmf headers and pipe, 41mm mikuni Flat side carb ,suspension reworked , higher compression (had to run on Avgas)
After quite some time away from bikes and relocating. Spoke to a guy who had a 2000 model FC600 ,(brand new) asked me to come out and have a go...after hearing my XR600 stories.
Well I had never seen a 4 stroke bike engine rev so fast , make so much power or get up and wheelie in deep loose sand , mind blowing. It just kept making power , so light weight. could not understand how such a small compact engine put out so much bang.
I had the biggest smile and didn't want to give it back, the guy laughed and said ,that was nothing , now have a go , he put the handle bar switch on high, it now made unforseen amounts of power and just free revved to the point where I thought it was going to blow up, and still made power...
That was it for me, I went out and bought the first near new FE600 2000 model kicker that I could find in 2001.It was a fast bike, was great to pass 2 stroke 250s by just short shifting with heaps left to give , it made plenty of power it would not get traction till 4th on hard ground. Well I remember on open ground ,top end with standard gearing would read 180kmh on the analogue speedo , at 140kmh it would come up into a wheelie without even popping the clutch!!! I hardly ever seen other husabergs , no one ever really new the bikes either ,though it was great, when you did see another husaberg rider they instantly become apart of your husaberg journey.
After a couple of year I sold the 600. there was bad vib getting around about reliability and not much positive , except they were fast.
I walked in bike shop a few year later seen a new 2004 FE550 , they just didn't sell quickly the bikes. I had a look at that model could see vast improvements on the older bike and bits were redesigned. Took a chance , against the odds , that bike come home with me.
I raced the 2004 550 enduro , open desert a couple of times and put about 200hrs on it, only replaced the follower and cam bearings as precaution. Tried to push the bike some, the harder you rode the better it handled .Sold that bike.
Searched for something else out on the market , nothing came close to it, so bought another second hand 2004 550FE. Rode that for many years , estimating putting about 500-600hrs on the bike. Turned out to be one of the most reliable fun bikes I have ever owned.
Sold that bike a few month back which brings me to just about the end of my Husaberg journey so far. I must have clocked up a combined 700-800 hours on various husabergs over a period of 14 years. Cant say I am any sort of mechanic on bikes, however I know one thing with certainty ,I am an enthusiastic rider of bikes.
Cheers,
As I sat on bike it took of out of control , after a few minutes screaming in terror , I was pulled from the bike , resulted in getting the end of the handle bar in the face , 4 stitches in top lip, from the doctor for that one!!!
Age 11 grandparents purchased us kids a Honda atc 70 1981 model.
First real bike was at age 17
1981 Honda XL 250 had for 3 years
1988 Honda XR600 had for a few years also, later on
1991 Honda XR600 another few good years of riding, tried a couple of local enduro and grass track races
1993 Honda XR630 (bothers bike) had a couple of grass track races and odd enduro, big fin head , 100mm forged piston, fmf headers and pipe, 41mm mikuni Flat side carb ,suspension reworked , higher compression (had to run on Avgas)
After quite some time away from bikes and relocating. Spoke to a guy who had a 2000 model FC600 ,(brand new) asked me to come out and have a go...after hearing my XR600 stories.
Well I had never seen a 4 stroke bike engine rev so fast , make so much power or get up and wheelie in deep loose sand , mind blowing. It just kept making power , so light weight. could not understand how such a small compact engine put out so much bang.
I had the biggest smile and didn't want to give it back, the guy laughed and said ,that was nothing , now have a go , he put the handle bar switch on high, it now made unforseen amounts of power and just free revved to the point where I thought it was going to blow up, and still made power...
That was it for me, I went out and bought the first near new FE600 2000 model kicker that I could find in 2001.It was a fast bike, was great to pass 2 stroke 250s by just short shifting with heaps left to give , it made plenty of power it would not get traction till 4th on hard ground. Well I remember on open ground ,top end with standard gearing would read 180kmh on the analogue speedo , at 140kmh it would come up into a wheelie without even popping the clutch!!! I hardly ever seen other husabergs , no one ever really new the bikes either ,though it was great, when you did see another husaberg rider they instantly become apart of your husaberg journey.
After a couple of year I sold the 600. there was bad vib getting around about reliability and not much positive , except they were fast.
I walked in bike shop a few year later seen a new 2004 FE550 , they just didn't sell quickly the bikes. I had a look at that model could see vast improvements on the older bike and bits were redesigned. Took a chance , against the odds , that bike come home with me.
I raced the 2004 550 enduro , open desert a couple of times and put about 200hrs on it, only replaced the follower and cam bearings as precaution. Tried to push the bike some, the harder you rode the better it handled .Sold that bike.
Searched for something else out on the market , nothing came close to it, so bought another second hand 2004 550FE. Rode that for many years , estimating putting about 500-600hrs on the bike. Turned out to be one of the most reliable fun bikes I have ever owned.
Sold that bike a few month back which brings me to just about the end of my Husaberg journey so far. I must have clocked up a combined 700-800 hours on various husabergs over a period of 14 years. Cant say I am any sort of mechanic on bikes, however I know one thing with certainty ,I am an enthusiastic rider of bikes.
Cheers,
