I made my first post here this spring after 5 races into the season on my new adventure racing a Husqvarna for the first time, since then I have raced 11 times. The following is an update on how my year and experience has been going on my 2012 TC250. (Link to my first report http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/new-to-husky-my-first-5-races.25591/ ) Race 6: 6/17 D23/16 (Stone Lake, WI) 2nd Enduro, 10 AA racers, 79 total racers, – 2nd Overall Summit Lake Game farm in Stone Lake, WI is a beautiful, fun, and technical place to ride. However, for whatever reasons, every year it seems to rain before the race making the extremely rocky terrain even more difficult. The first stop of three at Stone Lake for 2012 was no different, it poured before the race. This was wild race for me that I was very lucky to finish. In section 1 of 5 both of my head pipe bolts fell out and my head pipe almost fell off, the bike was very loud and backfire a lot. I was able to fix the problem at reset 2. In test 2 I ran into another problem, I kicked a small hole in the rubber T radiator hose mid section, but luckily the leak was not big and I was able to cut off some hose and slide it up on the "flange" to stop the leak. Although my suspension is set up for fast terrain, it worked well in the rocks because it was so muddy my bike weighed a lot more. My problems continued in section 4, I smashed a rock very hard with my rear sprocket and actually bent it very bad. Somehow my chain stayed on and I just kept going, every more luckily I came across my pit crew about 1/5 mile after I smashed the sprocket. We ended up taking the wheel off and swapping sprockets, I lost about 8 minutes in the stop. I was riding well the rest of the day and still finished 2nd overall behind fellow Husky rider (Wisconsin Champion JD Friebel) who beat me by 5 points on the day. Race 7: 6/24 D16 (Hixton, WI) 5th Harescramble, 9 AA racers, 50 total racers, - 2nd Overall After getting another notorious 2nd kick start, it became apparent to me right away that I was in for a long race. This was more of an “enduroscramble” than a Harescramble, majority single track. I slowly made my way forward, and about 30 minutes into the race I was in 3rd place behind former Professional racer (Checkpoint Off-Road’s Matt Stavish) and Tcx310 rider JD Friebel. I rode behind Matt, but had no idea how far ahead JD was. I struggled with reading the trail, a majority of the trail was pieced together from old trail and riders were getting lost and cutting trail easily. By the time I made it into 2nd, I found out I was 2 minutes behind leader JD. I made a push the last 30 minutes but only closed within a minute of the lead and finished 2nd. Winner JD admitted mountain biking the course the day before was an advantage, but he still rode very well, I wish I would have been able to battle with him. Race 8: 7/1 D23 (Akeley, MN) 3rd Enduro, 8 AA racers, 104 total racers, - 1st Overall I immediately felt comfortable on my bike at this enduro. I was on fire out of the gate and beat the nearest rider by 3 minutes in the first section. I continued my strong ride by finishing the day 13 minutes ahead of 2nd overall. Although some of my closer competition had problems during the race, or didn’t show up, that was my biggest margin of victory for an overall. Race 9: 7/8 D23/16 (Stone Lake, WI) 4th Harescramble, 11 AA racers, 306 total racers, - 2nd Overall The 2nd race of 2012 at Stone Lake (1st of 2 harescrambles) looked to finally break the mud race streak at stone lake. Warm sunny skies and perfect dirt conditions got me excited for the race. I was happy to hear that instead of a dead engine start, a live engine would be used. I ripped the holeshot on my 250 (against many bigger sized bikes) and went into the woods in 1st place. A few minutes into the race I heard another rider behind me, WI rider JD Friebel again. I was not riding very well over the ultra-rocky Stone Lake Terrain. I blame some of my riding issues on my stiff suspension set-up coupled with using tubes instead of bib mousses. I kept JD at bay for 2.5 of 6 laps, but crashed and he went by. I stopped for gas at the end of that lap and lost more time to JD due to him using a quick fill system and me struggling to get my gas cap on after I got gas. I was over a minute behind and began my charge after him. At the beginning of lap 5 the skies started to get very dark, it was nearly impossible to see it was so dark! It soon started to downpour. It was extremely slippery and I crashed which got me soaked and very muddy but I had to keep moving forward. On the last lap my set up started to work better because my bike was getting heavier. I made up a lot of time but ultimately came up 6 seconds short. After Taking a weekend off and attending the Pro motocross at Spring Creek, Millville MN, I decided to racer a couple Fair Motocross races near my house. Race 10 and 11 7/16 and 7/18 Although these aren’t true motocross races (more supercross) I was excited to get my first short sprint races on my Husqvarna. In the 250 open class I got both holeshots on a line of about 10 riders and easily won both motos. In the “Dash for Cash class” there was much stiffer competition than the 250 class. Notable riders were X games snowmobile medalist and snocross champion Robbie Malinoski, another Pro snocross racer Darrin Mees (Who has actually qualified for Pro moto races) and Pro supercross/Motocross racer Jesse Kangas. In moto 1 I got a 3rd place start in the field of 10, but tried to be a hero and cut inside on corner 3 and slid out (it was very over watered). I made it up to 5th in the 10 lap race. In moto 2 I got 2nd place start behind Malinosk, it was my final moto of the night I was feeling really good! I began pressuring Malinoski but could not make a move on the tight supercross track. I ate his crf450 roost all 10 minutes and got a wheel up on him a few times, but ultimately finished second right on his rear wheel. My fair race experience was nice and I was happy with how my Husky performed. Race 11 7/22 Round 6 OMA National Spring Creek MX park, (Millville MN) The Day after my second fair race I was practicing and high sided very hard. I injured my hand and ribs and really didn’t feel like racing a “one off” race. I was talked into racing by friends and family and ended up signing up pro against Paul Whibley, Russell Bobbitt, Nick Fahringer, and a few other pro riders. I got off to a good start and began battling Fahringer and the other pros for the first 10 minutes, but I was in a lot of pain. I started to make mistakes and my race was downhill from there. I could not ride up to my potential due to little strength in my arm (couldn’t hold my form), I was not able to save mistakes as easily as normal. As the race went on, I only felt worse. I didn’t out for my last lap, which actually only dropped me one spot. Not riding up to my abilities, I did still finish a respectable 8th overall, I was not happy knowing I didn’t ride to my potential. Immediately after the race my Dad noticed there was gas leaking from my fuel pump. We took the pump off and noticed the tank mount warped, probably due to heat. After getting in somewhat contact with Fred Andrews, I learned the ims Te250 tank fits my bike and the fuel pump will bolt right on. This is the first big tank I have ever used, something I was not excited about, however I was happy to be getting a quick fill, something that potentially cost me a couple race wins earlier in the year. Race 12 7/29 D23 (Mora, MN) 4th Enduro, 8 AA racers, 104 total racers, - 1st Overall Nothing much to report here, I was feeling much better from my crash leading up to the OMA than the weekend before. Although I did not ride my best race ever, I did cruise to a 5 point victory. Before the next race I changed my clutch plates for the first time. The stock clutch was not slipping yet, we did it out of precaution. We found the stock plates were still very good! The basket and hub were starting to show some wear. Race 13 8/5 Round 6 D23/AMA East National Harescramble (Hill City, MN) 9 Pro racers, 274 total racers, - 1st Overall I felt much more recovered coming into this race and excited to race a national Harescramble. After another 2 kick start I quickly began moving forward. After about 10 minutes I was in the lead, but hot on my tail was ISDE gold medalist Matt Stavish. After battling with Matt for the first hour, I was able to go an extra lap than Matt on Gas and also pit quicker than him due to my new IMS quick fill. My gas stop went flawlessly and very fast. After I gassed I began to gap Matt and after 2.5 hours I had a 2 minutes lead. I rode a near mistake free race on my way to my first National win. After the race we noticed some oil leaking from the base of the cylinder. After taking off the head and checking the valves (still in spec) we re-torqued the cylinder bolts, which seemed to somewhat come loose, the leak stopped. Race 14 8/12 D23 (Akeley, MN) 5th Enduro, 98 total racers, - 1st Overall The 2nd D23 enduro in Akeley, MN went pretty well for me. Not much to report, I did not have good luck with making flips, and I also had a couple crashes. I did win the overall by 2 points over 9 times D23 enduro champion Craig Holasek. Race 15 8/19 D23/16 (Stone Lake, WI) Round 6, 12 AA racers, 232 total racers, - 2nd Overall I looked for redemption at the 3rd stop at Stone Lake (from the first two races), and looked to battle with WI champ JD Friebel again. A different course than the first Harescramble, it had a much more enduro feel to it, with a few very sketchy fast sections thrown in. After getting my worst start of the year, I quickly worked my way forward. I got into 2nd behind JD and was ready to battle for the next 2 hours. JD made a mistake on lap 1 of 4 and I went into the lead. I held a 10-20 second gap over JD until the start of Lap 4 when I crashed and he caught me. I tried to gap him, but every time I built a gap, a lapper slowed my roll. With two miles to go, we were pinning it and in a fast section I hit a large rock hidden under grass and endo’d very hard. After flying through the air, I smashed to the ground on more rocks. I got the wind knocked out of me and my hip hurt very bad, JD being a sportsman stopped and made sure I was ok before he went on to win the race. I was helped onto my bike by another rider. I rode out the last 2 miles to salvage 2nd place. Race 16 8/26 D23/16 (Duquette, MN) Round 6 (Final), 8 AA racers, 135 total racers – 1st overall I already wrapped up the Overall Enduro championship heading into this race, but still wanted to get another race win. I rode strong all race, had a few mistakes, but still came out with the overall win over Checkpoint Off-Road’s Matt Stavish. I had to move back to Madison Wisconsin right after the enduro to start my 3rd year studying Mechanical Engineering at UW- Madison. I’ve been enjoying my time on the husky and look forward to the rest of the year on my bike. I have run into a couple problems (documented above) but they are mostly minor and solvable. Husky bucks have been great, and I think I have gained Husky a lot of exposure and recognition in the Upper Midwest. Overall I have been pretty happy with my results; JD got the best of me 4/5 times this year (swept me 3/3 at the Stone Lake.. Which btw will most likely hold a national enduro in 2013), something that I can’t be mad about, only learn from my mistakes and keep moving forward. I will post a Fall update of my races as I finish the D23 harescramble series and also compete at a few national events. THANK YOU to any and everyone who read my thread, I hope I provided you some entertainment and knowledge about my ongoing experience with Husqvarna.
wowo and that's some detailed reporting ... I'll be reading it over the next day ... Just judging by the sheer size of that check, I'm guessing the bike and rider has been doing well ...
GREAT job man. Very good results. Thanks for carrying the husky flag. Post those pix to Husky NA Facebook pages as they are VERY good.
Very Cool I lived up near Hixton for a few years and would have loved to race up there. Great job racing ... and studying. Kudos to your competition for stopping to check on you .. speaks well of both of you.
Dude you rail!! super good! Nice shots, hope those contingency checks continue offset a few costs, they make it a little less painful anyway!! Great news post! Thanks for sharing.
add big kudos to JD Friebel for stopping in the heat of the OA race win battle to check your post wreck status. That was a really good show.
Awesome race reports; enjoyed reading them. BIG CONGRATS on your finishes ! I sure hope Husky is providing a bike for you.
Thank you for all the kind words everyone! I was not provided a bike from Husqvarna, but I am getting dealer support through Heinen Motorsports in Osseo, MN. They have absolutely great prices on Huskys, the right price combined with Husky's tremendous contingency support program are what brought me aboard the bike. I've been happy with my decision to race this bike.
Nate, write into in your book of to do notes, you have an open invite to ride the SoCal/N Baja zone, if you ever make it down here on tour. Ride or race its all good. RN (Nationally recognized LAMC Tecate HS(Enduro) is an A list must try to do item)
Seems the factory guys or whatever you wanna call them, Husqvarna in this case, aren't so willing to support riders directly nowadays ... At least there are the Husky bucks from the factory (?) to help out some on the cost of this sport ... Your race results written above were interesting and sounds like you have a good attitude on your racing ... You gonna stay with the 012 bike or go with a 013 model in the future?
Hey Nate, nice job on your season so far. It was always entertaining to watch you pass me. How many hours have you acquired on the bike so far?
Great report! Nice to see Husky riders out there doing well. I know I absolutely love my TXC 250 and choose it every time as my race platform. Congrats on your finishes and keep up the good work for us Husky fans!
Great read... Congrats on your consistancy, even when dinged up. It's just so much more fun to accomplish it with a Husky. It's also great to be racing close quarters with others that have some respect for man and machine other than themselves; very commendable. You must also have a good memory; unless you jot down some notes after each race, mine all run together after a while. Anyway, continued success towards the great results! We just had the '12 TXC250 in for a valve checkup...nothing has moved since day 1...60+ hours.
Most likely '13. I would guess I have about 70-80 hours on the bike. Although I do have a good memory, I can tell you in detail about any race I've ever done, I do write a report after each race for this race team my friends and I created this year. We call it Northstar Off-Road (find us on facebook, or "website") and it consists of myself and 3 of my close friends. We banned together this year, to try to raise money for breast cancer research by selling t-shirts and hosting a ride day. We were inspired to do this from my aunt (and mother of a team rider) when she was diagnosed with breast cancer this spring. She is officially cancer free now!! Although I am planning on racing nationally next year, I want to keep the Northstar thing alive.
