I have had my 610 for a few weeks now, but other than a ride to the shop to get it inspected I had only ridden it about 5 minutes. Today i put near 100 miles on it of two lane roads, a bit of gravel and a smidgeon of single track, Compared to my last dual sport, a DR 650 that I had jetted spot on with some common carb and air mods, after market pipe, etc I can offer the following. At first I thought the Husky ran away from the DR in the motor department. It does, and it doesn't. While it has a significantly stronger mid to top end punch and slightly more over rev, the bottom end just isn't near what the old DR air cooled 650 is. I know there is almost 100 CC difference, but the DR is a bike I could easily ride a gear high, lug down to just above idle and chug away.. the TE is not in that category. Get the revs up a little though and things start happening fast. So depending where you spend your time in a certain RPM range you'll see stark differences. Suspension wise, it was worlds different. Running up a moderately steep gravel uphill that was washboarded, the husky put down power without a hiccup, the same section on the Dr had the rear wheel braking loose repeatedly as it bounced and lost traction to the point I would have to let off the throttle and slowdown to maintain traction.. The husky just hooked up and went. On a short section of single track, the dirt bike egos really made it feel like home.. The seat-bar relation felt much like my previous KTN 300 and I could really feel a difference in weight compared tot he DR. I know its only 20 pounds or so but because of the egos it felt significantly lighter. I was able to change direction much faster. Another area of Note, is the shifting.. 45 years on all sorts of motorcycles I have never, ever felt a bike shift as smooth as this one. It is like the shifter is attached to an extravagantly machined bearing and nothing else, it feels like it moves through the air with no linkage whatsoever attached to it. Up or down, doesn't matter. Seat is comfy, but its not stock. All together I am extremely pleased, it just really works.
Ahh, one thing to add on the negative, and it is a strange one.. Steering lock. The bars just don't seem like they have as tight of a radius lock to lock as the DR, getting used to it though but it does bug me slightly!
I ride with a guy on a KLR, he seems to chug away never going above 3500 RPM just riding torque. But this is where the Husky really comes to light is at that RPM, so I run a higher rpm listening the the FMF music and enjoying that butter smooth shifting you mention. As for steering lock, you get used to it and sometimes steer with the throttle.
Ground down the stops on my 630 until triple clamps just cleared the tank. Didn't like the turning radius either.
