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/128122
2002 Husaberg Off-Road Bikes Husaberg racer Mike Grizzle navigates a Washington State watemole on the FE400e. the bike we focused on at the company's 2002 press Introduction. largest shareholder of KTM) in 1995, it remains a small, unique organization with design, production and distribution all based in Sweden. Whereas IKEA's mission is a largescale servicing of the common everyman, Husaberg aims more at the high-end, performance-oriented market, but when the company's bikes underwent a visual facelift for the new millennium, the blue-and-yellow plastic bodywork with perfectly round shroud vents linked the two companies in some people's minds (enough so, we hope, to support this tenuous story-lead). Last model year, the aforementioned campy plastic was joined by a new engine (with innovative counter-balancer), fork and swingarm, and since those machines have only been on the market for a few months, Husaberg decided to limit their updates for 2002. Still, the U.S. importer was excited enough with the new bikes to invite the press for a sneak preview ('!nd ride) in the Pacific Northwest, a happening that coincided with the company's annual dealer meeting. STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS JONNUM ~ ince a certain northern European YChain of home-furnishing superstores updated the manner in which young, thrifty Americans equipped their apartments, Swedes have become widely recognized here as accomplished creators of stylish household items such as CD racks and floor lamps. But before this Scandinavian country's designers were hip - back when its citizens were stereotyped by many as vacuous blonde ski bunnies and funny-accented chefs - Swedes were busily, quietly designing and building uncommonly competitive off-road motorcycles. They did so at erstwhile Swedish company Husqvarna until the mid'80s, when the company was bought out and relocated to Italy (at the same time that IKEA was opening its first U.S. store). Unwilling to relocate or find a new line of work, four former employees and a local businessman took on the daunting task of creating a new motorcycle manufacturer, registering the Husaberg name in 1988 and - working out of a barn - producing their first model one year later. The company has since garnered a plethora of titles in World Championship Motocross and Enduro competition, and although it was purchased by an Austrian holding company (the same one that is the 44 SEPTEMBER 19, 2001 • II: U II: WHO'S A BERG? Most of the 2002 updates were to the Dutch-made WP suspension (Husabergs used to feature Swedish Ohlins shocks, but WP was acquired by KTM a couple of years ago, so the switch made good business sense). The PDS shock got sep.arate adjustI • n _ VII' S ments for high- and low-speed compression damping, and the 48mm inverted fork (a special, large diameter that is available only in limited numbers) received new internals for smoother initial travel while still providing bottoming resistance. The carburetor jetting has also been dialed in, since a proper air-fuel mixture is key with the electric-start feature (standard on the cross-country-oriented FX and enduro-focused FE models, though the MX-biased FC units go without in order to save weight). Actually, it should technically be called an electric restarter, since Husaberg recommends getting the lightweight thumpers going the old-fashioned way (via your left leg and the high-placed kickstart lever) until they get warmed up. The cog that engages with the starter gear has been altered to help reliability during kickback. The all-new, much-anticipated Honda CRF450R tested in last week's issue is heralded as a lightweight, serious, big-bore four-stroke, but Husaberg was doing lightweight, serious, big-bore four-strokes since day one (actually, before day one, since its employees earlier made such machines for Husqvarna). In fact, that's all Husaberg has done, so it's not surprising that it's gotten it right. The 2002 'Bergs' claimed dry weights vary between 228 and 244 pounds (lighting-equipped FE models weigh slightly more), just a few pounds more than that of the new Honda - not bad for a bike that's received limited changes over the past decade. Like the CRF, Husabergs utilize singJe-overhead-cam motors, a configuration that allows a relatively short engine height and a subsequent lower center of gravity. The Husaberg line-up also features other trickery, including a carbonfiber-tipped aluminum silencer (with spark arrestor on the off-road models), wavy-perimeter brake rotors and a unique, high-breathing air-intake system, but mainly, it stakes its reputation on being the light, quick thumper that preceded not only the Honda, but the Yamaha YZF and KTM as well. WHOOSH-A-BERG Our test ride took place on singletrack trails in southern Washington state's Gifford Pinchot National Forest, just north of the Columbia River Gorge. The bikes we rode arrived in the States in a special air-freighted shipment, having cleared customs just days before we got our hands on them, but according to Husaberg, production units should have completed their boat voyage by now and be on showroom floors. (Our brief one-day evaluation was only on the off-road FE and FX models - not the FC motocrossers.) We were a bit slow in exiting the van once we arrived at the trailhead, and the other members of the attending press had gotten their hands on all the biggest Husaberg models, to which they were busily applying numbers and stickers. That was just fine with us, as we had noticed during the preceding automobile ride that the area was thick with the trees for which Washington and Oregon are known, prompting us to speculate Lightweight, competitive four-strokes are now all the rage, but Husaberg has been making them since before they were cool.