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/128110
It's like a stra ight - ou t of th e slick turns . Ahh, relief! I tried , ho we ver, to sta y ou t of first g ear a s m u ch a s p o s s ib le , ins te ad re lying on second gear to get the job done . First gear se emed a little to o low for m y lik ing , but it d id come in handy in emergencies. I a lso qu ickly came to appre c iate the 'Be rg 's light-pull hydraul ic cl utch and s lic k-shifting operation. I also liked the wa y the Husaberg steered. In the real tight stuff, I eventually found it e a sy to flick the ' Be rg from turn to turn wh ile avoid ing the ruts. The ov erl y stiff rear suspension prob a bly he lped me out here a little bit , s ince the back end refused to settle. As the ra ce we nt on , I started fee ling better and bette r on the bike , espe cially on the motocros s track . Tha t' s when you could grab a handful throttle and re a lly fe el the Husaberg 's fo urstrok e po wer ki ck in . a n d th e re ' s plenty of it. So much , in fa ct , that Hus aberg team racer Rya n Terleck i nearly took the holeshot in the next day's Pro class on .the ver y same bike that Sun and I rod e . (If yo u don 't be lie ve me, check out the photo on page 50. ) I went o n and fin is h e d the race , feeling a million times better at th e end th a n I di d a t t h e beginn ing . In fac t , for once, I wa s actually disap po int ed to s e e the chec ke red flag, as I had at least another good lap left in me. Oh well. In a span of a little more than an hour, I went from hating the Husaberg . which , agai n, reall y wasn' t the bike 's fa ult . to loving it, though th e re a re a c o up le of t hi ngs that c o me to m ind that I do n't particul arly care for, c hief among them; th e kick sta rter. It is n' t so much the left-s ide positioning that bothers me, bu t th e fac t that th e lever its e lf is too tall , and th at yo ur fo ot te nds to slip off the traction-less lever as yo u kick it throug h the stroke . As fa r as th e motor, the bike sta rts p retty ea s ily. I did stall it once in the race; lu ckily I was taught the starting drill befo rehand: Find neutra l, pull in the compression -releas e le ve r, k ick it th rough a b un ch o f times w ith the throttle held wide open , release the lever, kick from the top of the stroke with no throttle, and c ross your fingers (I threw in the crossing -fingers part). Two kicks and I was back on my way . While Husaberg's on -tra ck repute tion has never been in doubt , the b ike 's dependability has be e n questio ned a bit. I can say , though, th at the bike I rod e at Wa shougal was rid den in pra ctice and raced th ree times tha t weekend , including the two-hour Pro race, and it never m issed a beat. So, maybe things are c ha nging in the re lia bility department. But o n th e trac k , I thoroughl y enj oyed riding the Hus aberg a nd le ft Wa sh ou gal wantin g more . Hmm, I wonder if Chuck is plann ing on go ing to Unadilla next m onth? CN F. ctory Ri e... a .. .on\y srnaUer IGm~=~~~~~~~~i~~~~ ~ This summer Husqvarna and made It even better by int roducing mini motocross bikes has taken the best value In race ready Mini Madness! Purchase any 2001 Husqvarna CRSOJ or CRSOS min ibike and you will receive a HUSky Mlnl· Bucks· coupon worth $200 AND a FREE N·Style Team Husqvarna replica graphics kit. And with over $180,000 In minibike cont ingency up fOr grabs this year your kids cou ld have the same benefits as a factory ride. on ly smaller. SjOO - f"VrV-8 I.1C.)O- c.o'-POt' redeetnoble f or gear. apparet.part3 &. oc.c.~~ at 'fOil ~al dealer. Of fe.r."oVd on p~ of onynew c.R5OJ.kIVor or CRSOSSeniorrnodelfrOlnJl.l\e. et thn..l A\I9l.6t 3t5t JODlet part~ting o",thonz.edtt~q"orna de.ale~ . for more. Information or to find 0 Hl.t5q" oma deale r ne ar yo~ ."bIt wwwJu,~qvoma~o .c.Otn. cue I e n e _ S • JUNE 27, 2 0 01 55