VOL. 55 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 27, 2018 P87
cal terrain and holds its own on
wide-open roads. The suspen-
sion is surprisingly good at
race pace considering it also
provides good comfort. The
seat and bar position is right for
standing up and getting dicey.
The bike reacts to where you
want it to go immediately and
can stop-and-go across more
conditions than anything else
in this test. It's lighter-feeling
engine character makes it feel
more nimble than it's orange
brother, even.
Most rated the Husqvarna
engine character right on par
with the KTM 500, which is
a huge compliment consider-
ing the KTM is the big dog in
this fight. The 450 revs a little
quicker with a more spirited
soul than the grunty five-hundo,
and the displacement is a nice
balance of grunt and rev. The
engine is certainly livelier than
the Honda, but it's not sig-
nificantly superior for normal
dual-sporting and trail riding. It
is certainly more fun to ride and
is more exciting.
The Husqvarna FE 450
actually vibrates quite a bit less
than the KTM 500 EXC on
higher speed sections. It has
a frequency that doesn't annoy
as much, for sure, but still pro-
vides great power. What it does
lack in displacement is notice-
able on the bottom only.
The Husqvarna also fuels
well with zero stall issues in
our test and it gets great fuel
economy. Plus, it has a 90-mile
range pretty easily thanks to
holding extra fuel on board.
(We've stretched stock bikes
to 100 miles on a tank.) It
doesn't match the all-out
performance of the Beta, but
we feel the Husqvarna isn't too
far off the mark. Part of the
difference here is sound. The
Husqvarna has a quiet, strong
tone from the intake to the ex-
haust where the Beta certainly
sounds faster when it's lofting
the front wheel.
Husqvarna and KTM share
superior braking performance
and the Husqvarna's Magura
units seem to gain a bit of
ground on KTM's Brembos in
the feel department. They are
progressive and strong and
fight for class leadership here.
As far as the hydraulic clutch
components, most test riders
preferred the feel of KTM's
Brembo over the Magura on
the Husqvarna.
In our ownership experi-
ence, it's hard not to give
praise to the Austrian brands'
maintenance and durability.
Things like clutch plates and
brake pads have long lifes-
pans. The parts aren't cheap
to replace with OEM parts,
but they just last a really long
time. Maintenance tasks are
straightforward and uncom-
plicated, air filter access is
tool-less, and the bikes can
be absolutely thrashed in race
situations in their completely
stock forms.
Complaints for the Husqvar-
