DINO SORTS HIS HUSKY

by Dino

Dino's WR250 in company

I popped out to Emu Plains on Monday and picked up my shiny new two-banger Husqvarna WR 250 from Stefan at R&D Dirt bike accessories, leaving me a whole week to follow the factory recommended running in process to the letter before embarking on our first ride Sunday 25th.

Clean - but not for long

Dino's attempts to camouflage the WR250 were a miserable failure

Dino's teapot impression is the high point of any trail ride with him

After spending a couple of years on a Husaberg FE 450 I felt it was time to flee the dark side and return to the light.

First positive impressions: sexy looking unit, nice and light, cheap rego, sounds great, everything bar the rear shock is really easy to access,

First bad impressions: vulnerable looking pipe, big tail light, decals peeling from tank shrouds, same old Husqvarna two-stroke kick start which can be a prick to use until you get yourself well acquainted with it and self retracting side stand (an easy two minute fix with a hacksaw, though).

I re-oiled the air filter, checked all fasteners and nuts, set up the handlebar position; adjusted brake levers, clutch, and throttle to my preference; and took it out on the road, checked the suspenders and adjusted them to my liking.

Sunday came around quick enough and it was off at sparrow's fart to meet three other two-bangers at our favourite parking spot on the edge of the Watagan State Forest somewhere between Gosford and Newcastle.

My fellow two-banger riders were Steve and Paul Cutting and a 22 year old young gun, Rohan Watts.

Their weapons of choice were Steve's 1995 Honda CR 250 with NSW rego and about 10 years of development from Steve, Paul's '08 Husqvarna WR 250 (the same as mine) and Rohan's '06 Gas Gas 300.

So we unloaded the bikes, did a quick change into our action man outfits and hit the trails.

I was very gumby at first as my last dirt ride was the Sunny Corner bash in October so it took me a while to get comfortable at speed.

After about 20 minutes I was feeling in the groove and pushing my new machine along at a relaxed but brisk pace and enjoying its light agile handling.

Brakes: They stopped the bike when I wanted them to and worked well as one would expect of a modern bike. Whether they are better or worse than other brakes on other dirt bikes I feel only the elite in the sport could really tell, as most brakes can be bled, adjusted and re-padded to suit individual riders. As far as I am concerned brakes are only as good as the way they are set up and I set these up for me and loved them.
Suspenders: I loved them. I spent a bit of time setting them up and I have a fair amount of experience. I am very happy with the way they are set up now and will only change the settings for different disciplines i.e. Dirt Track, Motocross etc. They were a little harsh for the first hour or so but that was just because they were new and had to bed in
Ergos: That's "ergonomics" for the uninitiated, or "handle bars and levers" for the really dumb. I put the bars at the most forward position, tweaked the levers to suit and now they fit like a glove standing or sitting. Husqvarna use Domino switch gear which is very high quality and found on only the better quality European brands
Powerplant: That's engine in Mercan. I had read all the hype and listened to all the goss about how fantastic this motor is (and it is a fantastic motor), but I think I expected more. It is very torquey down low and will climb a house with perfect control -- no light switch acceleration to flick you over the back when you're just gingerly twisting the throttle asking politely for a few more gentle revs to get you up over that nasty rock half way up a snotty hill. Yes, this is a real darling of a two stroke motor and and is very rideable and manageable but don't be fooled into thinking it's is a softcock 'cos it ain't. Twist that throttle hard and the rewards are there for the even the most skilful and experienced riders. It goes really hard when you want it to and I loved it. On the down side this is a two stroke and until they fuel inject them they are still subject to the usual jetting wows they always have. I destroyed two $17.00 plugs on this ride which I put down to it running rich down low fouling the plug on long descents. I believe I have fixed the problem now as on Steve's recommendation I lowered the float level when I got home but can't really be sure it's cured until the next ride. But it did look like it was set way high when I dropped the float bowl
Transmission: I am very disappointed with the gearbox on this bike. It's the one thing that I am really thinking of changing. I owned a 99 model WR250 for a year or so and loved the 'box on that. It was nice and wide ratio giving great low first gear control in the tightest situations yet the spread up to top gear meant that it had a comfortable cruising speed of 100km/h and would reach 130km/h when really tapped out. My new bike has a close ratio motocross gearbox which is great in the really tight stuff, but it won't cruise over 65-70 km/h without going on the pipe, and it is totally maxed out at 100km/h. I geared mine up one tooth on the front sprocket to give me a bit more top speed but this really affected the first gear and made it very clutchy in the tight stuff so I will have to drop it back to standard. I got used to the Husaburg which would pull 140km/h willingly and often, so the Husky WR really fails to float my boat in this area to the point that if I had prior knowledge of this I most likely would not have bought it.
Exhaust: The pipe did worry me at first but ingeniously Husqvarna seem to have twisted it well out of the way as I dropped the bike three times on nasty rocky hills always on the pipe side and never even marked it. I also slammed it over some nasty logs which would definitely have dented my old 99 model WRS pipe. So hats off to the boffins who designed the pipe , and on that subject, when you buy one of these you get a street pipe with a cat and breather in it and a race pipe and jet kit which Stephan at R&D had already set up for me when I picked it up. Bless him! So for the measly sum of $100.00 the street pipe is sent away to a mystery pipe welding Mexican person way south of the border where it is turned into a spare competition pipe. Good, eh?

Well that's about it for this little yarn, I am sure you will see this bike turn up in a few future tales as I am planning to flat track it and maybe do an enduro or two and whatever else the BIKE ME! boys may dream up.

If anyone is interested in grabbing one of these little beauties you had better hurry as I have it on good authority that there are 11 left in the country of this years consignment and that's it .

I would like to thank Stefan Applegrin from R&D Dirt Bike Accessories Emu Plains NSW (http://www.husky.com.au) and Steve Cutting and the boys at Motorcycle Weaponry for all their past and ongoing help on both dirt bikes and my race bikes. He's just put my Triumph 675 motor back together for my race bike so I will be continuing the tale of the BIKE ME! Race Bike soon!

The pipe somehow escaped unscathed, and the rest of the bike collected a protective coating of dirt