The Husaberg 70º FE Adventure Traveler Thread

[LukasM]

KTM makes a nice guide that should work perfectly for keeping the chain from hitting stuff, and it's actually reasonably priced at $28 retail in total! Just need to drill and tap two holes in the swingarm, nothing difficult.

I have one on order because I'm running a 160 tire on a 5" rim, talk about tight clearances!

Stock part on the 640 SM and 625 SMC:






You need:

part 60 (58307068300 SUPPORT F. CHAIN GUIDE 03),
58 (58604067000 CHAIN GUIDE INSIDE 05)
59 (58604068000 CHAIN GUIDE OUTSIDE 05)

[Lost Rider]

Once again Lukas, AWESOME!

That looks like it would really do the trick.
I should buy a bunch of them, anodize them blue and sell them for $69.

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by Lost Rider

Once again Lukas, AWESOME!

That looks like it would really do the trick.
I should buy a bunch of them, anodize them blue and sell them for $69.

You are welcome!

If you added the word "factory / works" in the description some people on Ebay would probably pay $169 for a blue one!

By the way, the pics above are from a 530 EXC-R which has the same swingarm as the 70° Bergs, so that placement should also work for us. Right behind the stock chain glider:

[rensho]

Originally Posted by LukasM

You are welcome!

If you added the word "factory / works" in the description some people on Ebay would probably pay $169 for a blue one!

By the way, the pics above are from a 530 EXC-R which has the same swingarm as the 70° Bergs, so that placement should also work for us. Right behind the stock chain glider:

Thanks LucasM, I forgot that one! The SM guys say just buy the 2 blocks inside and keep those as spares.
I think we can improve on those nasty looking bolts/heads.


Finn, I want to say I hope I didn't come across the wrong way with my physics statement. I'm just trying to say that while everything in my body says the problem is due to a loose chain, it may in fact be due to a tight chain. I'm going to try running my chain looser and see if the rubbing changes. I ruined a new non oring chain in less than 250 miles recently, most likely being due to being too tight.

[B1]

Originally Posted by rensho

I'm going to try running my chain looser and see if the rubbing changes. I ruined a new non oring chain in less than 250 miles recently, most likely being due to being too tight.

i tightened the stock chain on my berg more than the specified amount and it stretched it quickly over the next few rides. i've been sticking to the recommended tension (or a bit looser) since then and haven't had any issues with chain slap or excessive wear etc on the new chain.

interesting what lost rider said about taking the shock out and putting the swing arm through its complete arc without finding excessively tight spots for the chain though...

[Cruz]

Every now and then your chain will pick up debris that gets forced through between the front and rear sprockets. How often this occurs will depend on the areas you ride in and the conditions. Your chain requires a bit of play to allow this debris to pass through without over tightening your chain and placing pressure on the sprockets and drive shaft seal. I ride with guys who subscribe to the tighter chain idea, and over the years the percentage of broken or twisted chains occuring during rides would be around 90% on their bikes compared to others.

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by B1

interesting what lost rider said about taking the shock out and putting the swing arm through its complete arc without finding excessively tight spots for the chain though...

The tightest spot will always be when countershaft, swingarm axle and rear wheel axle are completely aligned. Once that is done, you roll the wheel around a bit as not all parts of the chain always wear equally.

When it's aligned like that, and you've got it at the tightest spot, then only a little bit of play is enough, like 1 or 2 cms. Interesting about the debris issue that Cruz mentioned, but I think this should be fine.

[D K]

Is it just me, or does the 70deg engine look like a regular engine tilted back 90deg, and then flipped 180deg left to right?


What's up Luke..... way to re engineer what KTM should have done at the factory

[OhioPT]

Originally Posted by Lost Rider

The bags are a Wolfman Medium Rollie on the tail and a Kreiga US 10 strapped to the left side on top of the GL Mojave.

Sleeping bag, pad, and grill in Wolfman. Tent, stakes and stove/pot combo in the Kreiga. Most tools in the secret stash spot, what I need to adjust chain is easily accessible in Mojave along with a spare rear tube and air pump.
I have a front fender bag that wasn't on in these photos with a spare front tube.

Nice looking setup. What's your thoughts on the Medium Wolfman Rollie vs the Kreiga US 10, as far as quality, ease of access, flexibility of size, mounting, setup/takedown, etc?

Also, what are the packed dimensions of your tent?

[Lost Rider]

Originally Posted by OhioPT

Nice looking setup. What's your thoughts on the Medium Wolfman Rollie vs the Kreiga US 10, as far as quality, ease of access, flexibility of size, mounting, setup/takedown, etc?

Also, what are the packed dimensions of your tent?

The wolfman and kriega both are durable, same access with roll top, both have mounting straps included, etc. I've used them both quite a bit, but if I had to say which seemed like it will last longer and stay waterproof I'd say the Wolfman due to it's rubber material. I have poked a hole in the liner in kriega with my grill, it uses a liner for waterproofness which is less robust than the WM rubber. Both are great products and have their own place on my bike.

My tent is a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 2, it compresses down to about the size of 2 softballs when in a compression bag.




I'm back from Baja, and once again the mighty Husaberg ran flawlessly! I rode about 850 miles of the Baja 1000 course in 3 days heading south, the rest on pavement, then 200 miles of the course heading back north with the rest on pavemnt to get to where I was to stay for the race. Just pounding the hell out of the Husa the whole way. The trip total was about 2800 miles, all I did was add fuel, lube the chain, and change air filter skins (thanks for that info).

Rode into the night each day, the HID light I have was very good, but was lacking for real high speed night desert travel, not having enough throw to go as fast as I wanted. I missed the 8" Baja HID light I had on my last bike.
I'm going to be adding some more lighting to my bike, since stopping riding when I'm traveling in winter isn't going to happen at 5 or 6 o'clock, and I grew a fondness for the challenges of night time dirt riding on this trip. While I was pitting for the race I saw a wide variety of excellent lighting on bikes and quads to give me some ideas. One thing is obvious, 1 light is not enough, you need a long throw spot and flood lights too. My HID does some of both and is excellent for night street riding but not enough for what I want to do in the future.

The Safari tank is just plain awesome, I smiled many times passing by the very spread out places to get fuel, getting 40-50 MPG, though maybe a little less MPG in the section of a 120+ miles of big sandy whoops in Baja Sur.
No issues with the Safari besides the slight reduction in handlebar turning radius, for this high speed desert adventure without much tight technical stuff it didn't matter at all. I can live with that only issue with the Safari. Filling it is a non-issue.

The Mefo Super Explorer tire was just awesome. Once I got to trusting it in the corners I was surprised the traction it provided, especially on fast loose roads, and in deep sand + silt beds + rock garden washes. Excellent pavement handling too.
It is now my go to long distance adventure tire, easily capable of 3000+ miles of hard riding. I will still keep a D606 on for SoCal riding, but when I need to not worry about tire changes this is the one. I liked it better than the 908RR overall, which would be a comparable tire.

The Regina chain with how I have it adjusted hardly stretched at all, I only had to slightly tighten it once near the end of the trip. It never rubbed the tire, even after long 80 mph slab runs. For now I will be sticking with what works for me, a tighter chain.

I did have lots of oil in my air box, enough so that it was leaking down onto the engine, will address that thing later though.

Here's a few photos, I'll be updating my RR with the full story very soon along with some helmet cam video.

Go Husaberg!

[FinnDuro]

Oh man, what eye candy!

[Gargoyle]

Originally Posted by finnduro

oh man, what eye candy!

+1

[frostyuk]

Originally Posted by Lost Rider

love this one

[Rider1]

WOW is an understatement !!!!!!

You are the "king of adventure" .

Give me a call sometime soon and we'll compare 'Berg to Honda.

Dave

[Baja Dad]

Nice tank !!!!!!!