250-500cc English mag comparison Husky, KTM, GasGas.

I just bought the English magazine Enduro Extreme. There they have a comparison of the Husky WR 300, KTM 300 EXC, KTM 450 fourstroke EXC and the Gasgas EC 300. The KTM 450 was included because it´s known of being the most complete bike of all Endurobikes with it´s smooth character and to be known to fit all kinds of riders. They split the test in three different categories:-When the going gets tuff, Slowing the pace, and The racing line. The first test put the KTM 450 in fourth place because of it´s higher weight which took a lot more effort from the rider. The other three bikes was all very close, but the GasGas took third place. Second place went to KTM EXC 300, and T´the WR 300 won the first round because of it´s gutsy engine. They also said it maybe needed a little more experienced rider to manage it!

Second part of the test:-Slowing the pace. In trail conditions the GasGas took last place because of it´s lower stability. Third went to Husky here, because the KTM`s "easiness" was better, but the Husky was a bit more damanding to ride. EXC 300 on second place and the 450 first.

Third and last part:-The Racing line. They had quite short test track, but it was both sand, grass and slippery sections so it represented of what could be found on a championship round they thought. Two different rider did this test. One rider who´s used to ride fourstrokes, and an experienced rider whocould manage whatever he got his hands on. They recorded the best time on each bike, and they thought that the fourstroke would benefit because of the slippery sections of the track, but that wasn´t the case! The fourstroke was effective, but had to give away to the power of the Husky! It was very comfortable in these conditions. The fourstroke specialist was surprised when he found out that he set the fastest time on the Husky! Behind the Husky it was a bit of a free for all, but they agreed that the fourstroke came second and the EXC and EC 300 was to close to separate. So what they recommended was:

When the going gets tough: 1:Husqvarna WR 300,2: KTM 300 EXC,3: GasGas 300 EC and4: KTM 450 EXC

Slowing the pace:1 KTM 300,2 KTM 450,3 Husqvarna 300, and 4 GasGas 300

The Racing line: 1 Husqvarna WR 300, 2 KTM 450, 3 GasGas 300, and last the KTM 300!

Who´s the daddy!

By the way: The Husky was 1,4 second faster on the Racing line with the fourstroke rider and 5,6 seconds faster with the experienced rider than the EXC 300!

Your welcome!

Awesome! Any chance you could scan and post this?

Were they all 2010 Bikes?
I too would like to see a scan. Love the two-strokes!

Hey now show that report to your KTM ice racing friends. Very cool to hear and thanks for posting up their findings.

I´ll see if my friend can help me to scan it. I am a Neanderthal with computers!

Don't feel bad I am one step below that LOL.

It kinda surprizes me to see the Gas Gas rated so low. The '07 GG 300 I rode was superb. Better in the tight stuff than my '09 Husky WR 300 IMO. The Husky had the better engine overall however.

Maybe the new fork and pipe on the 2010 model did something to it?
Just speculating

You could have a couple of good points there Johnny.

The 300 didn't get new forks. Just new jetting and plastic.

Right!?!?

I have the Kayaba fork, new plastic, new expansion chamber, lighter hubs, Excel rims. All on the 2010!

Both Husky and Gas Gas took steps backwards on the fork. The Sachs fork on the Gasser is a bizaare fork, which is weird, 'cause the shock is as good as anything out there. The valving doesn't seem to be very good for mixed woods, roots, rocks type of riding. The problem with the fork isn't the quality of build, but the valving specs. THat's not surprising, what is surprising is the valving shims that Sachs chose to use. They are non standard, and the shims you can use in everything else on the planet won't work. It's not something you can just fix with a drill either, you have to buy their shims, so suspension shops don't have a pile of them laying around, and therefore the cost of a revalve is likely going to be higher. The KYB on the Husky is, likewise a step backwards from the 'Zoke Shiver. The KYB is familiar, butit's typical white bread Japanese stuff. It works fine on a Yamaha, but I wonder if Husqvarna actually tested valving specs before ordering the fork for their bikes. The Shiver is a very high quality piece, it just has stupid valving from the factory (sort of reminds me of the Showa suspension we used to get on our Husky's back in the mid '90s. That stuff was way off on valving, though I don't recall anybody saying that Showa was garbage.) I don't think it was a good move for either Husky or Gas Gas to go away from that fork. The good thing is, everybody and their dog knows how to make a KYB fork work, so getting it tuned should be a breeze.

Thanks Johnny!
What KYB's are they? The AOSS forks or the previous generation to those?

I have the KYB AOSS forks on an 06' Kawi and they're pretty rough for trail use. I also have the KYB SSS forks on an 06' Yami and they're pretty good and tunable. They're incredible after a proper revalve and springs!

I really have no gripes with the 50mm zokes and think they're a great fork. I find it odd that Husky outfits new bikes with 1 or 2 generation old KYB technology and calls it an upgrade

I´m not sure, but i think it is the same fork that was on the Yamaha -07 model. Think i read it somewhere. As i´m not a professional rider in any way i think it´s good enough for me. I only have my previous Honda CRF 250X, CR 250-05 and-07 to compare with, and beetween these bikes i like the Husky best. The CR 250-07 Showa was good for what it was mad for, but i ride all sorts of surface. Enduro, iceracing, gravelroads, sandpits, Motard with my bike, and for me this Kayaba fork feels like a good compromise. The whole bike feels good!

I gotta say, I really like my Zoke Shivers now. I used to hate them, they were like two solid steel rods. Then the ever gracious Drew Smith told me to back off the torque on the bottom triple clamp pinch bolts.
Turns out I actually had my inner sliders "clamp bound" at the bottom clamp point! I did that and backed the compression clickers off to just 4 clicks in from fully out,...and I swear they're like butter now as compared to before. I can't even comprehend what the right valving would feel like!

Better butter.

What torque value did you set them at?

I run the bottom clamps at 12 but that is on 45s. With what the manual says, 17, the forks bind bad. I have a feeling this is the source of a lot of Husky fork complaints.

You should be able to determine how tight you can go in the garage. Start out loose then increase the torque a couple pounds and push down on the fork. It is real obvious when the forks start to bind.