ktm 690 Enduro or Husaberg FE570?

only just seen this thread. hard to be very objective as personally i didn't like the 690R and found the FE570 is by far the best bike i've every owned. i can only fit one bike in my apartment's garage so the bike had to do adventure rides and gnarly dirt rides too. for me, the 690r was just too big, heavy, unpleasant at low revs for the dirt riding and needed too much spent on it to lick it into shape.

the FE570 excels off road, and is quite capable as a light weight adventure bike with a cush drive hub fitted, repadded seat and a budget luggage/fuel setup (the aftermarket tanks cost a bloody fortune). however, it does get a bit twitchy at speed and won't feel anywhere near as planted on either tar or bitumen roads once you get to 60mph and over. i find with adventure rides you need to do oil changes by 1600 miles max, and say 1000 miles max for dirt riding (less if really tight and gnarly). this is around twice as often as the 690. longevity-wise, the berg 70 degree engines seem to last forever but i think in the long run the 690 would probably go longer before you'd need rebuilds.
approx FE570 miles before valves, top end rebuild etc?

if you buy an FE570, there are the usual tweaks and mods needed. i listed the common ones here:
Buying a new FE570? Known issues, problems & common mods

i think if you were spending most of your time on easy dirt roads and tar then the 690 would have to be considered. but from what the OP is describing, i think it would have to be berg all the way. i've got it geared very high (14/45) so it's just chugging along at 60mph in sixth gear, but with the rekluse auto clutch fitted you can pretty much trials ride it and tackle the snottiest hills with ease.

and now to be completely biased, my vids on the overall awesomeness of the FE570!


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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x5NbVpoUqrI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Very nice. That bike is quite a stunner.

Thanks for the reply mr B1. I'm pretty sure you have a mate with a Freeride and a 690, Mr B2? or are they two different blokes?

My feeling is that the 350 / 690 combo leaves a bit of a hole which my lack of talent can't seem to fill. Admitedly the hole isn't as big as it used to be after a season on the wee bike. I'm generally quite happy to takle stuff on the 350 that I wouldn't have dreamt of a year ago; once I've done it a few times and got the hang of it, I give it a go on the 690 next time I'm passing. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't. The Freeride is fitted with a Rekluse auto clutch which makes it pretty much unstoppable so I'm probably being a little unfair on the 690.

How much of an overlap do you think there would be with a Freeride 350 / 570 combo when it comes to mountain goat duties? Do you and your mate find there is gap in the 350 /690 combo or is it just me?

B1 makes a bloody good case... you cant argue with a video that tells you to buy the Berg... Should be fun

b2 doesn't own a freeride,we just got to test ride for a day as the dealers like him for some reason.
from my limited experience, there would definitely be a big hole between the freeride and the 690 and i think the 570 would plug the gap with suitable mods, especially a rekluse clutch. like a lot of fuel injected bikes, it's a bit snappy off idle but if you buy a G2 throttle tamer (or do the cheap-arse mod mentioned on one of my posts) it becomes very smooth off idle for gnarlty stuff. i actually leave it on the aggressive ignition setting, but you could also put it into pussy mode for an even softer response. you can adjust the steering stops to increase your turn radius too, until the forks touch your radiator guards for a good turning circle.

i messed around with a bit of trials last year, and now enjoy tooling around with pseudo trials on the berg, it's surprising how capable it is when it weighs 15kg or so more than the freeride. it's certainly not a total overlap, the freeride is sort of halfway to a trials bike in a way the 570 definitely ain't. but once the trails open up... i can't see a freeride effortlessly popping up the front wheel in top gear at 60mph....

i tried to be objective but can't help it. the 570 is almost criminally fun.

the freeride is sort of halfway to a trials bike in a way the 570 definitely ain't. but once the trails open up... i can't see a freeride effortlessly popping up the front wheel in top gear at 60mph....


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the Freeride wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding in top gear never mind lift the front

I'm glad it wasn't just me that thought there was a hole in what the 350 and 690 could do. I'm gonna make some calls today as I've found a used 2011 with 50 hours on it and a brand new 2012 up for sale. I asked the question about 570's that have been abused since birth on the Husaberg thread and the reply I got was not to worry; a used bike should be fine.

Deposit down today I'm hoping. It will be a few weeks before I can see either of the bikes so I will just have to wait and see how shiny the 2011 is.

Just need to order the tires now for a 3 way comparison - Just for shits and giggles really - I've a good ide what I'm getting into with the 570 and it sounds perfect.

EDIT: It's done. bought the 2011 as it was 60% of the price of the new one. Too good a deal to pass up on.

Lucky bastard

so lucky you still have new ones around. they disappeared in no time down under. as per that thread on known issues, if built before oct 2011 it may still have the crap fuel pump but lots of guys replaced them with the newer berg item or an aftermarket one. some guys report never having issues with the older ones though...