The Husaberg 70º FE Adventure Traveler Thread

Do you have the Face Book link?
Is it Colebatch? Solo? Or Lucas? I was reading their Face Book page when they were climbing the mountain in Chile ... but haven't checked in.

To me, making the LONG RIDE is a really good thing ... and will really test the 'Berg in a way most moto travelers would. Both Walter and Lukas are first rate mechanics and maintenance guys. If anyone can get those bikes home, they can.

I love seeing all this prep here on this thread ... but bottom line for is:
Would anyone here actually take their Husaberg down to Tierra del Fuego ... and back? Would it be your 1st choice for such a ride? Or would you only do it as a sponsored contractor? (like Lukas and Walter are)

I'd like to see Husaberg permanently hire Walter and Lucas and let them develop a true Adventure Travel bike, one as reliable as the Japanese yet still retaining that 'Berg magic. Tough, able to carry gear and reliable with easy maintenance. I'll buy it tomorrow.

(love those Wolfman bags! Brilliant!)

http://www.facebook.com/#!/HusabergAdventureTeam Same link as before but Lukas and Walter have moved on.

Right, it's the USA rider, Barton, who is on the long journey back on the 570. Remember he was one of the 3 Berg riders who made it to the high point.

Cool. I checked in on the Face Book page. Looks like they've picked up a few new members in their Posse. I see a KTM and a Berg ... and a woman ?? Isn't she the one Colebatch dragged across Mongolia.

I wonder if they have a separate ride report as the Face Book think has no info and not much about the trip or the bikes.

Sherri Jo Wilkins (SJ) was also on the big mountain with the boys and I think set a record for high point for a female on a motorcycle this trip. Look farther back in the Facebook log. She is on the KTM IIRC.

Thank you for posting cyborg, that's very helpful in our quest for packing and traveling on the Husaberg. I really like that setup, and am looking forward to your further experiments.


Gany
I've been changing my oil about every 1200 miles or so. Last time at that milage the oil came out looking very clean. 50% highway miles.
Of course I'm looking for a way to expand the oil capacity like many FE owners, I think the use of the frame rails was pretty innovative, but a less intensive install would be more attractive to me.





And a little husa-porn from earlier today.

Did you guys custom this yourself or someone else or was this a production sort of bolt on? :eek1

how did your oil look after 1200 miles? the dealer recommended 600 mile changes on my 2012 570 with easy riding which seems about right, the oil was getting pretty dark after that many miles.

i'm keen on adding some extra oil capacity too without breaking the budget. i added an extra liter to a WR450F for a total cost of $100 using an oil catch can (write up here) but that was quite easy just diverting the plumbing that went into the frame and there was plenty of room behind the radiator, unlike the berg.

tapping into the cam chain and oil filter covers looks fairly painless, it's a bummer jagg dont make their oil filter adapters for katos/bergs as they are very reasonably priced.

i'm wondering if there would be room on the FE570 for one of the universal jagg oil coolers or some kind of inline oil cooler like this could be adapted?

I spent yesterday servicing the bike, changing the oil with a 1000 miles on it. My bike now had 3900 miles, around 100 hours. This oil saw more highway than dirt as I have only been doing local rides lately, hopefully I can pack it up soon and go somewhere.
Here's what the oil looked like, though I did take a sample and am going to totally geek out and send it in to www.blackstone-labs.com to get analyzed to see what's really going on. I'll post up the results when I get them, and if anyone else cares to send in their own sample for comparison that would be great. They will send you the sample kit free of charge.
As you can see there was a little bit of particles on the plug, the Scott's filter had a very small amount of visible debris on it, the other screen-plug underneath had a couple of small bits too.

















Old and New oil.


















After the service I gave the bike a throughout washing and then with great Adventure spirit and determination I rode it to the grocery store and pushed the limits of how much BBQ supplies I could fit in the onboard bags... It was so frikin' gnarly I almost didn't make it home, but the Berg' pulled through and delivered.

Finn, I would be interested in your lab oil results.

Did you hit some really gnarly speed bumps and catch 6" of air with a big BBQ load on the bike? Hardcore man! :eek1


I just went with another Berg for a little limber-up ride in the Capitol Clearcut errr.. Forest (WA) area yesterday. Wallowed in mud puddles, slid around on slimy clay, and generally meandered over big rocks, logs and roots -- a typical riding day in the Pacific Northwet.

No big air, just needed to negotiate the packed holiday weekend roads with squadrons of Harley Clones turning gas into noise, I live near a very popular biker destination....

Beautiful riding you have there!
While my area sure does have it's beauty and good riding, I sure do miss riding in moist dark dirt with plenty of traction with lots of green all around. Rocks with some sand and then more rocks gets old with my A.D.D.

Took mine out for some groceries yesterday as well.. I made a wrong turn, however. Me desperately trying to keep the bike from a complete dunking.

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Nice!

Good thing my hardcore grocery run didn't have trails like that, with the Giant Loop bags I have everything would have gotten soaked, possibly ruining the BBQ!

my inner geek says ditto on the oil sample, it'll be good to know the results. my geekiness makes me research then list known issues of bikes before i buy them, thread is here if anyone wants to have a look and see if i missed anything.

digesting all the info here on luggage, i needed stuff quickly for a three day ride after collecting the new berg. just got a 10 liter kriega tail bag and some cheap generic tank bag off fleabay.

these are a friggin awesome bike. the three day ride was a mix of tar, mountain tracks and fire roads. then its first gnarly single track ride last weekend. it just lapped up everything and has to be at or near the top of any list if you are after one bike to do everything. now if they would just put on an alloy subframe, add four liters to the tank and take the oil capacity to two liters....

Won't happen on these models since they are phasing out the 70degree engine in 2013 (2012 is the last model year). Get 'em while you can.

There's solutions to the fuel situation (70degree subframe tank or Safari) and oil capacity (add on oil cooler or "tap-your-frame"). AL alloy frame, that will be some other conventional engined model down the road probably.

yep, checked out the fuel options but blew the budget on the bike so just carrying extra in the tank bag for the time being. i read up on the tap your frame option for extra oil but haven't found any oil cooler that suited. is there a particular berg one you had in mind?

I don't plan to do the oil mod any time soon since I don't race or push my 390 that hard and the PNW is pretty cool most of the time.

Only one I've seen is the Twin Air and it's for a KTM but I think could be used on a Berg with longer hoses because the oil filter covers are the same.

http://www.twinair.com/usa/news/150-twin-air-new-unique-oil-cooling-system

and there always the super-mod route I think most of us have seen by now.

No more 70 degree engines? Wow! News to me! Any explanations on that or inside info? I wonder if the change was a KTM decision or from the Husaberg engineers?

Any links on info that talks about what is planned for a replacement engine?

Word on other forums is that they are now going to be identical engines to the die-cast KTM line-up. Also, word is that Husaberg will now be KTM's entry-level brand vs. a premium brand. If true, this is quite a bad move.