2020 HUSQVARNA FC450
FIRST REVIEW
P76
H
usqvarna's flagship mo-
tocross machine is an
in-house favorite of mine. I
love its combination of controlled,
450 power delivery and high-end
components. I'm not a 450 ripper,
by nature. I'm more at home fully
(ok, almost fully) opening throttles
of smaller-bore bikes around a
track. Bluntly, 450s are just too
damn fast for me most of the time.
Tiring. Scary. Potentially full of
loop-outs. All of these come to
mind when jumping aboard a 450
after some time away from the
track—which I'm sure most of you
reading this can relate to.
And if 450s are aggressively
tuned for the top one percent of
motocross' elite, or modified by
wannabes to hit hard for the go-
fast-in-straightaways crowd, forget
it. Give me a 125 or something for
some fun on the track. You can
have your macho bike.
Husqvarna has offered a rare
exception to the 450 scenario
for me the past few years. The
FC450 is undoubtedly a serious
performer. It carries with plenty of
speed guys around tracks plenty
fast at the highest levels of the
sport. And, for those of you with-
out free energy-drink hats, it has
gobs of 450 performance in stock
form. But, still, it's been labeled
as slower than others because it
delivers power so smoothly and
quietly.
The bottom line is it's just easier
to ride for me than any of the
other players in the class. Com-
bined with insanely great clutch
and brake components and an
excellent lightweight feel, I have
plenty of reasons to back up put-
ting the Husqvarna FC450 on the
top of my shootout lists.
Powerfully
WE RIDE HUSQVARNA'S LATEST FC450 MOTOCROSSER
BY JESSE ZIEGLER I PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
