2006 Husky TE450 - Dirt Rider Magazine

The equation was simple. Take one Husky. I like them. Add Unadilla. I had never been there, but I have to like it-what moto junky wouldn't? Factor in mud. Even though we didn't really expect it. I'm from the desert of California so I look at mud as a treat, yes, even to ride in. And what you get is a good mix. So I jumped at the chance to race the first GNCC at the famous New York facility.Luckily, I had the chance to break in and ride the shiny TE450 a few days before the race at the Race Tools ride day at Hoghill in Palmyra, New York. They had the MX track all prepped, and some of the club members had ribboned off a GNCC-style loop through the surrounding woods. My bike was set to competition mode from its original street-legal stock condition. The throttle limiter was removed, a straight-through muffler (still quiet) was installed and turn signals were ditched, but the horn was left on. It was a button push away from running and only a few extra turns of shock spring preload from 105mm of sag. Get with it!At first, the Husky felt a little sluggish on the MX track. After a few weeks of 250cc two-stroke MX bike testing, this wasn't shocking. Factor in that Italian bikes typically want a little time on them before they begin running nice and free. The same goes for the brakes and suspension. All were happy for the day of riding, a nice break-in of about two hours.Unadilla was waiting, and it looked as if it was going to be a dusty bowl, but race morning greeted us with thick skies and weathermen promising rain. I hooked up with Kinney Jones prerace for a few quick photos, just in case. That turned out to be the second-smartest thing I did all day. The first was to race!The start was held during a brief break after an hour-long downpour. The usually picturesque Unadilla was a muddy mess, trying to somehow wash itself downstream. It was going to be carnage if I didn't get a good start from the front row of the industry/sport line. But even the slow-spinning electric starter fired just fine, and I was off to a good jump in second place around the first turn. From there it became just a matter of dodging roost courtesy of motocross and GNCC helmet-cam rider John Ayres on his KTM 125.The Husky isn't the lightest 450cc enduro four-stroke out there, but after three turns there were about 60 pounds of mud on the bike, but who's counting? The nice bottom-end power delivery, which is a little slower at low rpm, was helping me get great traction in the slime and slop, but then when the motor worked up into mid and top, it screamed, quietly though, and would shoot the bike wherever it was pointed and clean off the rear tire. The clutch was hardly necessary, even when we came back around and got into lapped traffic. The spread of the six-speed gearbox is low enough for a real slow first gear and quite tight between the rest of the speeds. Sixth is pretty tight, unlike the sixth gear in a KTM EXC. Overall, the bike has the power to get whatever needs to be done, done, and it isn't so squirrelly or violent as to exhaust you or make extra work out of tough trail situations. Unadilla was tough!The chassis and suspension were about as good as you could get for the conditions largely due to one standout Husky trait: stability. The bike would go where it was pointed and do everything in its power to stay straight when I was seeing orange and red bikes slip sideways! But the back end on the TE resisted coming around as I dodged the downed bikes, and it tracked straight and true even while crossing ruts. Sometimes it felt a little tall in the turns, but it stuck just fine. The suspension feels as if it rides a bit high in the stroke (it isn't the plushest initially, but it isn't bad) and then blows through when it hits something. Not as progressive as some other setups, it does work, especially on grass track-type terrain or in the nasty woods. It is a setup that keeps the tires planted to the ground. You can actually dial it in pretty well with stiffer compression settings for the faster stuff and softer settings for the slower. I even got really comfortable on the motocross track with only some additional compression damping.The rest of the bike was a really good package to be racing on. The brakes were strong and progressive. The riding position wasn't too cramped, and the seat and tank allowed plenty of movement and were great for hanging on. The bike didn't steam in some long bottlenecks even with mud-caked radiators, though I'm pretty easy on the clutch in those situations. About the only bother was the bike was a little hesitant about full-power upshifts. It also stalled a little easier than normal if I whacked the throttle too fast and hard. And there was the horn. Evidently illegal during AMA competition, I just couldn't help but honk when I wanted to get by. Hey, my bike is street-legal-I deserve a horn!And back in the rainy mud, sloshing through the trees and then finally coming out onto the famous motocross circuit that looked way more like the 1987 Motocross des Nations circuit than the one the factory riders are usually greeted with on sunny days, I was actually having fun. I was keeping Ayres in sight and just waiting for the final lap to use my Husky power and blow his doors off. So about a mile from the finish, I wicked it up and got really close. Since the bike was quiet it was a sneak attack-that was, until I laid on the horn and let the pressure take over. A few turns from the end on a slick set of roots, Ayres' KTM 125 flew sideways and onto the ground, and I blew straight across it on the Husky. Victory was mine, and I think the Husky liked it, too. It wasn't shiny anymore; it was broken in. Not too bad for a dual-sport bike. Not too bad for a Husky. And when you consider in this level of performance and the availability of a license plate, Husky has a licensed winner here.What's Hot
* Street-legal
* Straight-line stability
* Six-speed nicely spread for tight woods work
* Exhaust note is stealthily quietWhat's Not
* Heavy, even for an enduro bike
* Suspension not very progressiveSpecifications
MSRP: $7199
Claimed dry weight: 238 lbOne Wet Dog
First Test 2006 Husky TC250
What is it with Huskys and rain? It's not that I can't deal with rain. Actually, when I'm riding off-road, I kind of like it. It lets you know you're outside. It makes you feel the ride. But when I pulled into the Broome-Tioga Sports Center for the motocross portion of our 2006 Husqvarna intro, the wet stuff really began to piss me off.It's really not fair. I mean honestly, ask yourself how many times you'll have the chance to privately ride Broome-Tioga with only a handful of other lucky souls. For this hombre, the answer's pretty much, well, never. That's why the drippy-drips began to irk me when I sat under the Husqvarna big-rig's awning. That's why I took my sweet-ass time putting on my gear. Somewhere in my life I'd made some poor choices. And now the karmic payback department was making me wait as a perfectly groomed albeit waterlogged national track mocked me in the distance.Needless to say, as the rain fell and my mood grew ever more glum, the urge to ride simply overcame me. Even though it'd be a soggy, sloppy mess, I was still excited to ride. Besides, I didn't have to wash the bike!So I took my first spins around the swampy circuit and the mud flew and the bike groaned and the mud flew some more. I had the TC250 pinned. Well, not at first. At first I had it putting, rolling over every little hump and bump, and I was on the lookout out for puddles and the occasional slop-filled crevasses along the way. But eventually such a pace became boring, so I stoked it up a notch and felt something surprisingly good-traction. It got to the point where my gas-to-brake ratio was about normal, and surprisingly, the little Husky thumper chugged along at a pace perfectly suited for the soupy conditions. Also, Broome has some impressive off-camber hills. I can honestly say the 250 from Italy proved torquey enough to get me up and down them all day. But that's about all I can say about my day at Broome-Tioga and the Husky TC250. That is, until a few months later...Two months had passed, and the TC250 sat in the Dirt Rider cage in dry and sunny Southern California like an unwanted puppy. It'd been thoroughly broken in during the previous flooded flogging and came to us clean as a whistle, patiently waiting for a real moto test. So I took it out to Cahuilla Creek MX Park with a couple of our 250F shootout bikes to see exactly how the Husky would perform without 73 inches of rain to muck with.The first thing you'll notice when you take the bike off the stand is that she's no lightweight. For '06, Husky lost the electric start that once graced its motocross models, added a kickstarter and managed to cut about nine pounds. But guess what? It's still too heavy. At 231 pounds, it's the heaviest moto-specific 250F in our stable-outweighing the next heaviest by more than 10 pounds and the lightest (the CRF250R) by a whopping 15 pounds. This proved to be the biggest downfall of the Italian design. The weight isn't high and awkward as to throw off the handling so much, it's lower and deeper as if it's under a different degree of gravitational pull.Start it up and you'll notice the exhaust noise-or complete lack thereof. The TC's Arrow titanium exhaust system is top-notch, with a sound so subtle you can literally sneak up to people on the track. The best part about the diminutive sound output is you can totally concentrate on other aspects of the bike, such as the motor and handling, without being distracted by the exhaust. Carburetion seemed spot-on from the factory, and the bike literally purrs without hesitation.Speaking of the motor, it pretty much follows suit with the rest of the Husky lineup. They pump out initial slow-building rpm, a torquey power delivery and a mid-high to top-end acceleration that makes high-speed passing a quiet riot. Is it a rocket? Well, yes, actually it is. It's just hard to tell because it blitzes by at a whisper. Speed isn't a problem with the Husky for sure. What is missing from the package is an initial aggressive hit. Don't expect to blip the throttle when you want to clear a jump. The Husky builds slowly and would rather hit a jump higher on the tach than other bikes in the class. The rule here: Get a run. A mild-mannered motor and the addition of a 10-pound handicap to its competitors make a noticeable difference in performance out of the hole. But get the motor revving and you'll settle in for a nice, smooth ride.As with a lot of Euro bikes, the Husky mounts require a little time to get used to, especially regarding suspension. It's crucial to take the time and dial it in to your liking. Even when at its best, the fork doesn't act as progressive or as ready to race right out of the box as our Japanese bikes. The Marzocchi units offer decent bottoming resistance but have an initial harshness that needs to be dialed through proper ride-height control and compression clickers. The fork isn't terrible by any means, and part of the reason we pick on it here is because it's opposite a great shock. The Ohlins rear shock is a welcome addition and really steals the show underneath the bike. Its progressiveness is smooth, and it resists kicking up on all but the biggest braking or square-edged bumps. The shock adds another stable dimension to an overall solid ride.Stability is this bike's best trait, and it comes from two sources. One is the power delivery. The slow-revving high-torque feel the motor pumps out gets the rear wheel going in controlled motion. It doesn't bark and break traction-it purrs and grabs and claws. You really have to drop the hammer with a big helping of whiskey-throttle to get the back end to break loose and chase the front. It simply wants to go straight since the power characteristics tell it to. The second trait contributing to the stability is the weight of the bike. As mentioned earlier, the weight is definitely low to the ground. While this negatively affects airtime and muscling the bike around, it does nothing but help the bike maintain straight-line efficiency at speed. Combine that with a planted rear tire thanks to the rear shock and you've got traction. This also works in corners, especially high-speed sweepers with solid berms. Once the bike settles in the corner, sit back, relax, twist the go-stick and enjoy a great ride. Standing up through high-speed rights and lefts is also a treat. The bike likes to go fast and rail corners thanks to its low center of gravity. Slow, tight and off-camber corners need to be tackled patiently and with as much momentum as possible. This isn't a stop-and-go arenacross machine; it's a railing machine, and it likes to keep up the pace.Now, that's not to say it won't slice and dice with the best-turning 250Fs in the class, though. I picked lines underneath an '06 CRF250R with a rider whose ability is at least as good as mine and usually a step above. The final word is that this bike is so stable it inspires a little confidence and you can really push it. Also, the Pirelli combo (MT32 rear and MT32A front) hooked up great on the sandy and loose soil of Cahuilla Creek MX Park. If it had a lighter motor with more snap, it would be a serious contender.Fit and finish is top-notch, and with the new red and white color scheme, the bike is beginning to actually become quite a looker. You will definitely attract attention in the pits when you roll in with a Husky. Standard trims include Brembo brakes front and rear, a Magura hydraulic clutch, a factory holeshot device, Excel rims, an oversize bar and a comfy gripper seat. Still strange are the radiator shrouds and front number plate that makes background installation a pain.Overall, I was pleased with the Husky. So I jumped on our '06 KTM 250 SXF and did some back-to-back comparisons. First off, I never felt the KTM was the biggest hit off the bottom during our shootout, but compared to the Husky it felt like a 250 two-stroke. It had a snap to it the Husky just didn't. While this made the ride a little more exciting and motolike, it also sent me sideways more than once. Also, the KTM felt about 75 pounds lighter and easily cleared some jumps that were a stretch for the Husky. Other than that, I think the excess noise coming from the KTM's horrific exhaust and the fact the rear slid out more often showed that even with the weight and sluggish power, the Husky has game.Can the Husky compete? Absolutely. Should it be your choice when buying a new 250F motocrosser? If you ride open, GP-style circuits, value stability and want something truly different than what is becoming a world of look-alike and ride-alike Japanese-esque machines, then go for it.What's Hot
* Brembo brakes front and rear
* Excel rims
* Quiet performance of the Arrow titanium exhaust
* Stability, stability, stability
* Handlebar's height and fore/aft adjustabliltyWhat's Not
* 231 pounds is a lot to lift onto a stand
* Slow-revving power sometimes not enough
* Stiff clutch pull for a hydro unitSpecifications
MSRP: $5999
Claimed dry weight: 210 lb
Weight (ready to ride, no gas): 231 lb
Seat height: 37.5 in.An Intro Interrupted
First Ride 2006 Husky TC450
We wanted the TC450 to get here in time for our 450 motocross shootout, but our boat (or Husky's?) didn't come in.As with all the Husqvarna four-stroke motorcycles, the TC450's introduction to the press was burdened heavily by torrential downpours in the state of New York. Even in the rain, Broome-Tioga begged to be ridden and yours truly obliged with a thorough flogging of Husky's premier-class motocrosser. While a complete analysis of the bike was impossible to reach, I did get some first impressions. First, the power on the 450 is exactly like that on the 250 (see accompanying story) except for a lot more across the board. Second, in the mud and muck of New York, it proved to be just as stable and straight-line happy as the little thumper proved back at the dry SoCal tracks. Now, if the 450s would only hurry up and get here so we can see what they're made of in the dry stuff. For now, we'll have to settle with what's new on the big-bore thumper from Husky.What's New
* 50mm Marzocchi sealed cartridge fork
* hlins shock
* Handlebar can be adjusted for both height and fore/aft offset
* The intake valves have been enlarged from 33mm to 37mm and the exhaust valves from 28.5mm to 31mm
* Arrow all-titanium exhaust systemSpecifications
MSRP: $6599
Claimed dry weight: 222 lb