2019 Husqvarna FE350

[typeone]

...relatively speaking for me the 350 was a beginner/gf bike.

Post #1:

-No 450's/500exc/501/etc.- I'm a 135-140lb beginner rider in my 30's. Those bikes will send me to an early death.

i still say KX500 is the answer. you're wasting your time + money with the 4T motors.



1998 Kawasaki KX500 DESERT MOTOCROSS RACER
This bike has a title.



2003 Kawasaki KX500 DESERT RACER
This bike has a title.

[Kurlon]

KX500? Are you also going to provide links to aftermarket training wheels? What he REALLY needs is a Maico KFX700. Go big or go home!

[Paul_E_D]

'busa

[TheIglu]

'busa

Already had one, remember?

[breakdirt916]

I did

I think where I went wrong is the brand and the style and tune...MX and even a 350 KTM are typically more aggressive. The Husky enduro time is tuned more mellow. I can likely go 450/501 to get what I am looking for without it being too crazy

[Paul_E_D]

Already had one, remember?

Sold it too soon apparently!

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[Chippertheripper]

even a 350 KTM are typically more aggressive

wrong.

it's fine if it was the wrong bike. you ain't got anything to prove. although I did literally lol at the beginner/gf bike thing. I reckon you weren't riding the thing to its whole potential. I'll have to go review any yootoobs to make sure, but I've seen enough footage of paint drying to last a lifetime.

[loudbeard]

I'd like to point out that on August 2nd I said:

You can buy a plated KTM 450/500 for $5/6k...why would you buy a DRZ at this point? You could sell the YZ to fund the difference, from what you say you get get ALL the money for a plated 2t in Cali. The KTM will outperform the YZ and DRZ in spades in literary every category.

I'm of the honest opinion that you should have done this and mailed me a check for $7,000. We would be in exactly the same spot now, except I would have seven thousand more dollars.

[tls25rs]

Thinking the issue isn't with displacement of the bike more the type of power plant.

Your main complaint about the 350 was it didn't have the hit that your YZ did. Hate to break it to you but a 450/500 four stroke won't have that type of hit either. The hit comes from the 2 stroke getting "on the pipe" and making lots of power relative to when it was "off the pipe". The thing about 4 strokes is that they have broad tractable power curves that don't have that same hit. The argument can be made that 2 strokes just have more power but even a powerful 4 stroke will not have the hit that a 2 stoke is capable of. Yes some 2 strokes are tuned for the broad tractable power curve and the hit isn't as dramatic as say a 2 stroke MX focused bike like a YZ would be but even a modern 300 2 stroke that has grunty power for days will still try to pull your arms out of their sockets when it gets going.

I would bet you would be happier on a modern 2 stroke enduro bike that is plated. Not sure how easy it is to get a plated modern enduro 2 stroke in Kalifornia though. Good luck in your quest to find the it bike for you.

[gixxer72]

Thinking the issue isn't with displacement of the bike more the type of power plant.

Your main complaint about the 350 was it didn't have the hit that your YZ did. Hate to break it to you but a 450/500 four stroke won't have that type of hit either. The hit comes from the 2 stroke getting "on the pipe" and making lots of power relative to when it was "off the pipe". The thing about 4 strokes is that they have broad tractable power curves that don't have that same hit. The argument can be made that 2 strokes just have more power but even a powerful 4 stroke will not have the hit that a 2 stoke is capable of. Yes some 2 strokes are tuned for the broad tractable power curve and the hit isn't as dramatic as say a 2 stroke MX focused bike like a YZ would be but even a modern 300 2 stroke that has grunty power for days will still try to pull your arms out of their sockets when it gets going.

I would bet you would be happier on a modern 2 stroke enduro bike that is plated. Not sure how easy it is to get a plated modern enduro 2 stroke in Kalifornia though. Good luck in your quest to find the it bike for you.

Well put. This is a strange tale...the numbers show the 350 isn’t that far off from the 450’s. Having owned/raced/ridden several modern 450’s I never found them lacking for power - maybe the 350 really is a slug, I haven’t ridden one.
It’s true, they don’t hit like a 2T, but that’s a good thing. I’ll second an earlier post that if you’re that aggressive/ power hungry the 500 2T is your ticket. Good luck.

[csmutty]

It’s true, they don’t hit like a 2T, but that’s a good thing.

Uhh what?!?!

[nhbubba]

maybe the 350 really is a slug, I haven’t ridden one.

It's not.

[Chippertheripper]

It's not.

Amen.

[gixxer72]

Uhh what?!?!

Ha! Don’t get me wrong, I love a 2T on the pipe (I went back to 2T’s after my love affair with thumpers was over). I was faster on a 4T...

[breakdirt916]

check it out chippah - I completely wrung it's neck out on a dry lake bed at 0:43



you keep getting on it and winding it up, hoping for more...but more never comes

kinda like a WR250R or DRZ400...the FE350 is just a little more peppy, better suspended, and lighter.

when you can see far enough ahead of you to crank dat gas, they don't break the rear end loose and power slide out...those bikes go "hummm" "woooah" or "waaaah" and that's it.

but yes...joel and beard speaketh some wisdom...maybe it is the powerplant, and a 450/500 at the $6kish mark or a modern 2t (just plate 'em in AZ...arizona knows, and they don't care)...or just a classic 500cc 2t could be the way to achieve desert zen.

[Paul_E_D]

check it out chippah - I completely wrung it's neck out on a dry lake bed at 0:43



you keep getting on it and winding it up, hoping for more...but more never comes

kinda like a WR250R or DRZ400...the FE350 is just a little more peppy, better suspended, and lighter.

when you can see far enough ahead of you to crank dat gas, they don't break the rear end loose and power slide out...those bikes go "hummm" "woooah" or "waaaah" and that's it.

but yes...joel and beard speaketh some wisdom...maybe it is the powerplant, and a 450/500 at the $6kish mark or a modern 2t (just plate 'em in AZ...arizona knows, and they don't care)...or just a classic 500cc 2t could be the way to achieve desert zen.

Perhaps dirtbikes are not really the right thing for the desert at all? Even a 450 is geared really short to give it any punch. For the mmoney you spent you were is 701 territory.

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[number9]

Perhaps dirtbikes are not really the right thing for the desert at all? Even a 450 is geared really short to give it any punch. For the mmoney you spent you were is 701 territory.

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Sherco still sell their 500cc 4-stroke in Australia for desert use..

[maxim_X]

For those trails a 790 adv would probably be the ticket.

[nhbubba]

That was my thought as well. Video flattens everything. But I kept thinking that's ADV machine territory. Such wide trails. Basically roads.
Or a 690/701 Enduro.

[jimmycapp]

That was my thought as well. Video flattens everything. But I kept thinking that's ADV machine territory. Such wide trails. Basically roads.
Or a 690/701 Enduro.

I'd probably go 690/701, depending on how much weight he'll be carrying. The twin cylinder KTM's are really heavy (maybe light for their class, but it's a lot pick up off the ground).

Dry weight
FE350 241

690 Enduro 321

790R 417

[typeone]

...or just a classic 500cc 2t could be the way to achieve desert zen.

it is. see my post above with options already plated in AZ. KX500 runner will be ZEN for a 2T lover in that terrain. i'm surprised you haven't tried this route yet. don't get a 300, it's not enough. there is a reason Kawi dominated desert for so long, they just work, and for all skill levels.

i think a 4T ADV-focused machine is a mistake. too heavy, too linear in power delivery = boring.

[Chippertheripper]

check it out chippah - I completely wrung it's neck out on a dry lake bed at 0:43



you keep getting on it and winding it up, hoping for more...but more never comes

kinda like a WR250R or DRZ400...the FE350 is just a little more peppy, better suspended, and lighter.

when you can see far enough ahead of you to crank dat gas, they don't break the rear end loose and power slide out...those bikes go "hummm" "woooah" or "waaaah" and that's it.

but yes...joel and beard speaketh some wisdom...maybe it is the powerplant, and a 450/500 at the $6kish mark or a modern 2t (just plate 'em in AZ...arizona knows, and they don't care)...or just a classic 500cc 2t could be the way to achieve desert zen.

The only place I heard the motor working is when you came to a dead stop on that lake bed and dropped the hammer. The rest of the time the bike was barely midrange, at best.
This only leaves me with one conclusion: the bike wasn’t holding you back.
Again, if you just plain didn’t like it, that’s fine. But to insinuate the bike isn’t up to the task is wholly inaccurate.

790/710/690 seems fully appropriate for a big dualsport ride like this. I know from the social medias that there were plenty of each at this event.
One could’ve also geared that 350 up and flew along (more) effortlessly as well.

[loudbeard]

Yep, agree with Chipper. Other than the lake bed you you were barely pushing the bike at all.

[aldend123]

Don't think I heard the rev-limiter at all. And sounds like running at least a gear high on the dirt road. I probably would be too if it's a long day of riding. But it's in tractor-mode.

790/710/690 seems fully appropriate for a big dualsport ride like this. I know from the social medias that there were plenty of each at this event.

I don't have any seat time on that kinda bike, but I feel like that's going to have some heft to it that won't really fit the desire to get loose.

[TheIglu]

He just wants a light, nimble, well suspended bike that is great at tip toeing through the tight rock sections and can power wheelie at 110mph on a lake bed with two gears left to go. That's not too much to ask!