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/127691
on my wave - Kenny and Keith McGee. After explaining my situation, I knew I was in trouble when they said, in uniso n, "Hey, you 're the guy who wrote that editorial about how much you love woods riding. You'll probably do great here!" . I admitted to bein g the au th or, bu t hurriedly tried to explain that my skills at woods ridi ng we ren't in th e sa me league as my love for it, and tha t th is was in fact the furthest east that I had ever raced . For one thing, the start had me nervous. We were lined up in waves on the town's main street, and were supposed to leave in two-minute intervals, following an ATV "pace car." I was entered in the Four-Stroke class, and our wave was the sixth to leave. As we reached the end of town, the A TV made a r ig h t turn off the road, and everyone else turned left. Well, almost everyone. A couple of guys ap parent ly di d n't notice the arrows, and a hu ge . pileup was the result. Fortunately, my timid ap proach allowed me to avoid the carnage, and I was about midpack as we made the si ng le, crowd-pleasing river crossing. I had hea rd hor ror stories of the stream being deep in pas t years, and was happy that the Husaberg's air intake was so high . The p rim a ry air filter is mounted where the left side of the tank us ually is, a nd a secondary in ta ke resides on the frame 's backbone, below the tongue of the seat. Not only are the fil ters m oun ted nice and high, b u t they're easy to access. As it turned out, however, the water was only a couple of feet deep, and we ent ered the main course with little difficulty. The early part of the loop consisted p ri marily of tight woods, a nd th e ' Berg wo rked perfectly. I hooked onto the single-file freight train through the trees, waiting for riders of bigger bikes to make a inistake. I knew from experience tha t muscling the heavy, powerful big -bores around required a lot of effort and concentration, and the mo re flickable 350 steadily advanced through the pack . At first, the FE seemed to want to stand up w hen taking the inside line in co rners, but th e feeling subsided as I beca me familiar with the machine. We began to pick off some o f th e slower two-s trokes fro m the waves ahead of us, and soo n, we arri ved at a gnarly u p hill, where a bottle ne ck had started to d evelop . I easily picked my way through the carnage on the tractable bike, and when I arrived at the top, I was near the front of my class. My hero ics were short -lived however, as I missed a turn soon after, and was several positions down by the time I rejoined the fray. St uck in the middle of the freig ht train once again , I was still enjoying the H usaberg until we came to ano ther sligh t bo ttlen eck, w here I kill ed the m oto r while wai ting for my tum at the obstacle. Though tractable, the 'Berg has a light flywheel and piston, so it is easier to stall than other thumpers. In the past, I've rid den two Husabergs - a '93 FE SOl and a '94 FC SOL The '93 was a breeze to fire up , whi le the '94 was next to impossible. The '95 FE 350 I was rid ing was somew here in between. It had been hesitan t to cold-start that morning, and it refused to start while in gear. The highmounted, left-sid e kickstart lever d idn 't he lp matters, nor d id the fact that my bike seemed to be jetted a tad rich. My goggles fogged up from the effort and I had to remove them. Husaberg is working on an electric start option, which sho uld ease starting at th e expense of extra weight. Personally, I'd just like to see the manual starting improved . The overall leader s would run five laps on the 20-mile course, and I was sched uled to pit after the second and fo urth loops. The comforta ble, lowhanging, tw o-ga llon tank was easily capable of going a t least 40 miles, but I stopped at the end of my disastrous first lap to get fresh goggles. The bike continued to work well through the rest of the race, towing my tined carcass back up through the pack. The motor was grea t in the tight woods, and still perform ed decently on a long, sa ndy uphill and on a one-mile sand whoop section into the pits. No, it I I I · does n't have the acceleratio n of an openclass th umper, but it's faster than any 3SO I've ever ridden. For those that want some thing in be t ween, H usabe r g is developing a 400 that they may begin selling. Like KTM, they realize that mos t customers aren't en tering their bikes in Q ua li fier s o r the Six Da ys - the only events to offer a 350cc class. Like the mo tor, the fork and shock seemed a good compromise. The course began developing some good-Sized stutter bumps late in the race, and both ends reb ound ed well a nd didn' t pack up, though the fork wasn' t as plush as the conven tiona l Marzocchi on the KTM I rode a week lat er. The bike was a tad wallowy in the whoops, so Western riders will probably opt for stiffer spring ra tes. As I started the fourth loop, I began to notice some of the quirks that show up only w he n yo u're goo d and tire d . The clutch p ull is qu ite stiff, and the levers must be d esign ed fo r tho se big foam hands tha t foot ball fans wa ve ar ou nd. Shifting is also on the notchy side. . Hu sab er g is a sma ll compan y, and the bike has a so mewhat cobb y, homemade feel to it. The bike's basic layout is nea rly iden tical to th e firs t H usa berg tha t came out well over five years ago, w hi ch d oes n' t necessa rily mean tha t it d oesn't wo rk. The low fron t en d gives the FE an aggressive feel that begs to be raced , though I wouldn't recommend a Hus aberg for a dual sport conversion. This bike is designed for one thing competition, and trail ride rs will probably want to make another choice. I still lov e the brillian tly d esign ed low tank, whi ch uses a fuel pump to carry the gas u p to the carboThe rear fender is ugly but keeps the mud off, especiall y since it does n't break off anymore. Apparently, it's made from a less brittle plastic than last yea r's fender, wh ich would fly off w ith startlin g regularity. The fork guards are too narrow for an off-road bike, and the new graphics are a bit over kill, bu t we like the shiny exhaust. European Husabergs have lame swingarm stickers tha t read "4-Stroke 4U2," but American versions have slightly less tacky Surdyke Racing decals . I was lapped by overall leader Steve Leiven just a few miles from the end of the fourth loop, and though embarrassed, I was happy I didn't have to ride (Right) A tiny fuel pump ca rries gas from the bottom of the low-hanging tank up to the carbo (Below) Working on the bike Is now easier. Brake s hoes can be changed with the wheel in place, and spacers sta y In place durlng ti re cha nges. (Right) We were pleasantl y s urprlsed when we didn't break the rear fender . (Below) The FE is the mos t powerful 350 we've ridden, and Husa berg is working ona 400. another la p . I wasn't as happy to be overtaken by "Doc" Chris Sloan, a Husabe rg-mo un ted podiatrist who was in my class. I'd been tho roughly schooled by the local woods aces, and fini shed eighth despite riding what I imagine was the best possible bike for the event. The McGee brothers finished first and third, and are probably now less impressed by the big-time California ed itor . Luckily, the organizers were liberal with the trophies. . Okay, so I d idn't come too close to duplicating Anders Eriksson's lSDE final moto performance. The bike was good, but I think the rider still has a ways to go to be in the same league. But hey, at least I avoided the first-tum crash in my race. Q While Cycle News believes theforego test reli ing able, it is the opinion of the reviewers only and slwuld not be relied upon in determining the performance or safety of the oehicleis). The reader should makehisor herown investigation. 19 9 5Husaberg FE 350 Displacement 349cc BoreX stroke 86X 60.2mm Compression 10.9:1 Transmission 6 gears Ignition . •. . .....SEM electrical, 140watts Frame Chrom&-lllOly steel Front suspension WP inverted Front travel 11.6 in. Rear suspension : .Ohlins Rear traVel • .• .• .. • . • .. • ...• ... .12.9 in. Front brake Hydraulic, 260mmDisc Rear brake " . , •. .Hydraulic, 220mm Disc Front tire : . . . . 3.00 x 21 Rear tire . : .4.50 x 18 Wheelbase .•. ...• .. •. .. . . .... . ..59.6 in. Length : . ' 86.4 in. Seat height 38 in. Ground cleerance , , 15.6 in. Fuel capacity .2.21 gallons Claimed dry weight .237 Ills.