Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1266635
R I D E R E V I E W P76 2020 HUSQVARNA FE 501S PROJECT stop the bike extremely well. But the stock Magura brakes on a Husqvarna FE 501S are fantas- tic, as well. More bling stacks on top of the triple clamp with Husqvarna's in-house kit to upgrade a fork-to- frame connection by mounting up a Scott's stabilizer. The split- design triple clamp system is effective at eliminating pressure points on fork tubes at clamping surfaces to ensure smoother fork action. And adding a Scott's stabilizer to a bike that is com- fortable going about a billion mph is a pretty solid upgrade. In our experience, nothing beats a BRP/Scott's parts combo to ensure all the components line up and work flawlessly. And that is true in this case, as well. We had a clearance issue with the bar-mount bolts contacting the frame-mount for the stabilizer pin. This is likely easily fixed with some installation adjustment, but that's something we don't nor- mally have to, or want to, worry about on something as vital as being able to steer. This mod will set you back over $1000, too. Out back, Akropovic adds some pop with a slip-on line muffler. This titanium treat is 50-state street legal and avoids any uncomfortable conversa- tions with constables you could encounter. It doesn't negatively affect the power character or do anything weird to the fueling like some exhaust add-ons can. It's very high-quality and, sur- prisingly, is a relatively reason- able mod on this unreasonably modified bike. At $700, it is a high-quality replacement for a damaged stocker, for sure, and comes with a weight and power advantage. For comparison, the $475 Akropovic titanium footpegs are just super cool, without a ton of performance benefit other than they are sharp, and you don't slide around at all. Super cool, but not worth it to most. As far as power mods go, the exhaust is about all that's bolted on to boost the oomph. There is a Rekluse inner basket and pressure plate under the race team cover as well as fancy high-volume factory radiators and an overflow catch tank to go with the factory oil plug and oil pump cover. The rolling business is fancy here, as well. Custom factory hub/spoke systems combine with Excel rims to make strong wheels. And a ProTaper complete final drive system powers the fun and matches the handlebar brand. Guards and protections are Light- speed carbon and Husqvarna's own in-house products. Finishing touches are courtesy of Guts on the seat and a slew of graph- ics from race team takeoffs and available-for-purchase kits. (Rigiht) Seeing a Scott's stabilizer on a bike is like a dose of comfort, unfortunately, some fine-tuning on the Husqvarna Technical Accessories mounting kit and handlebar mount combo is necessary to make it work right. (Left) We don't have street-legal dirt bikes, or ADV bikes, without Doubletake mirrors. They're great. But this reservoir cap mount from Zip-Ty Racing seems like an easy-to- break point to mount them on. We do flip our bikes over from time-to-time!