You'll be seeing a lot of...
You'll be seeing a lot of our Husaberg 450 in Dirt Rider Magazine and here at
www.dirtrider.com. After all, it's one of our selected Long Haul test projects!
The Husaberg 450 had an overall super smooth and easy ride feel for me. The power delivery was easy to control with an almost under-power feel but during cornering and riding ruts the Husaberg would send you straight every time. This bike I feel would make a great Hair-scramble / Enduro bike with the current set up. The Husaberg fuel injection system was spot on with no hick-ups or misses now only if KTM could switch over. Overall I like the Husaberg and would own / race one with some minor changes for my style of WORCS races. One change would be a little more overall Power with an exhaust system perhaps and some gearing changes. Second would be the factory suspension is way to soft I hit the stoppers on both forks and shock numerous times riding the Moto track and feel this would carry over on off-road when a sand whoop section arose. I liked the feeling of the suspension just need a little more overall stiffer feel to soak up moto jumps and fast off-road chop. In comparing this bike to another the Husaberg 450 feels just like the KTM 400EXC just with fuel injection which is a huge plus. The Husaberg would make a great ISDE bike with little preparation just only need that secondary option of a kick starter.
Jeff O'Leary/ 6ft 1in/ 172lb/ Regional / National Pro AA
My initial impression of the Husaberg 450 was a bit of mushy suspension. Now I am factoring in that no sag was set, and nothing was clicked. I weigh about 210 lbs so that could attribute to the overall suspension feel. The ergos were fine to me; the bike was comfortable as I began to ride it. It seemed like a good bike for trails but after 3rd gear it didn't have anything left in so far as hit or motor. I am riding a punched out Suzuki 450 at home and it is a ripper. This bike was good on the tight Rynoland 2nd and 3rd gear twisty turns but I don't think that it would be a good desert or grand prix bike. I was told that the Husaberg had a sensor and you had 3 available settings. I just ran it as it was set. This could have (I assume) been a major performance factor. I have heard many great things about this revolutionary bike but I just wasn't feeling it. The brakes and the clutch worked very well but I had nothing to compare it to as it was the only test bike I rode. I could only compare it to my Suzuki. My Suzuki is far from stock in the motor department and I missed that available power. I rode it a bit and then I decided to ride Jerry Bernardo's Honda CRF450X which is also stock but has a F2 jet kit in it. That bike was fun to ride also until I fried the clutch out in the woods.
All in all I would say the Husaberg is a good bike, a bike that if you tweaked it here and there would be a great trail bike. In so far as racing the desert in Lucerne, I think I would rather ride a Honda XR650 than the Husaberg. If I had time to change the sensor settings with help I feel the bike possibly had more to offer. I just did not know how to assess it.
"Burly" Bill Maxim
FAHQ MC
Apple Valley, CA