rear tire to propel forward. When
guided in a rut the bike feels glued
to the ground with traction aplenty.
Other premium features like
the Brembo brakes and clutch are
some of our favorite components.
These parts certainly add to the
"top-of-the-line" feel and make the
higher MSRP a little more sensible.
Some riders still don't love a hydro
clutch, but the Brembo unit on the
FC is the best in class.
The lowered stance on the
Husqvarna lowered its score too.
All our taller riders docked it for
feeling too crammed and too low
to the ground. The Pro Taper bar
and its low-rise bend also add to
this smaller stance and cramped
cockpit. Regular ruts feel deeper
than normal and riders with large
boots felt extra aware of their
boots grabbing the line's edge.
If this was a short guy shootout,
the FC would stand above the rest.
The Husqvarna's suspension
didn't do the front end any favors,
either. The fork felt harsh in the
riders' hands and overly chat-
tery on small, repeating bumps. It
stayed down in the stroke longer
than we'd like, and playing with
rebound still didn't give us the
feel we wanted. This made it hard
to truly trust the front end under
load, as it felt like it could push out
unexpectedly.
When putting on our consumer
hat, we must factor the Husqvar-
na's price tag into this debate.
At a price north of 11 grand, our
riders just didn't find the extra
money worth it when compared to
the other bikes in the lineup. The
Husqvarna is very similar to the
KTM and arguably just as good in
many situations. However, be-
tween the two, the extra $100 and
shortened suspension gave our
nod to the KTM.
P104
SHOOTOUT I 2025 450CC FOUR-STROKE MOTOCROSS SHOOTOUT
