Date 10/10/10 Location Luceren Calif At the AMA National Hare and Hound Race .Ty had brought out a new 449 for display and was ridding it around .Ty said i could ride after the race ,i was racing my Wr 250 and finished 2 nd 250 Mag A and 4 th in the combined 250 and open national class .So after the race i went over to the Zip Ty Racing Pits . No need to go over all what has been printed about the bike already . Here is what i noticed as a regular racer first thing you notice is how slim the bike is because the gas tank is under the seat which goes all the was up to the handle bars .As i lifted the bike off the stand it felt real balanced and about 240 pounds .As i pushed the button to start it i notice even with the race pipe on it it seemed well with in the legal limit for noise. There are 2 different setting for the timming per a button on the bars i set it to race and took off .First test was a high speed set of woops where the bike tracked true even when i shut the gas off to see if i could up set the balance.Gone was the heavy front feel you get with other Huskies that have the bigger gas tank on them with the fuel out in the wings .Back on the gas the bike pulled stright up to high speed again .Next i went and climbed a few hills where the lack of wheel spin made me feel like the bike could climb just about anything. Then i went over to a rocky tight canyon with small water fall ledges ,there i set the timming to less of a hit and rode the bike like a trails bike .There again with the lack of real wheel spin and the weight in the center made the front easy to lift up and over the big rocks.i wanted to keep riding but i knew i needed to return the bike .On the way back i found a high speed smooth road and the bike went as fast as i wanted to go ,plus with the lack of any real vibration i felt this bike in dual sport trim will be a real great bike .Back at the pits it was hard to get my helmet of because of the big smile on my face .i do have a TE 510 and race both a CR 125 and a WR 250 but i could race this bike just as it was .I sat and talked Husky with Ty for a while and heard of many changes on the way both in new bikes and people .As a Husky fan i am glad to see Husky on the way back to the top
I thought that seat was goofy until I took Shane Watts Dirtwise course. Now I understand the reason behind the design & am quite impressed. Will make moving around & weight transfers that much easier
Great report -- can't wait to ride one. Said before, but worth repeating... Thanks to Ty and his crew for the continued work on Huskys.
The first test from "one of us" a rider and racer with non-pro but solid moto knowledge. Thanks to Ajax and to TY for the ride.
Its good to see TY racing the bike ... Hope he has good luck on his racing ... This advertising of the bike will do wonders for sales ...
Simplicity is the answer. What a clean looking bike. Everything seems to fit together nicely. Almost Jet fighter light. If you know what I mean. Good write up ajaxauto. Thx for the post. And congrats on 2nd. at the Hare and Hound Race.
It really is a wild looking bike. From the two-tone (piece) front fender to the design of the frame. But it all fits together really well. I really want to get one of these and set it up for flattrack racing. Hopefully some more reports will come out about the motor before I commit. JS
I'm very curious about the motor as well. I've a been a true supporter of Husky for the past few years but this year a buddy of mine got one of the '10 YZF450's for supermoto and it flat spanked my ’09 SMR450. Yeah, it’s derestricted etc, but if the only way I can compete is to spend lots of $$$ on more power, I might be better off looking at other brands for next year. So, if anyone has some feedback on the new motor, I would be very curious to know if it is substantially stronger than previous generation engines. Smooth and tractable is great but to complete in SM it needs to have some serious ponies too! If Ajax, (or anyone else who has thrown a leg over the new 450) has ridden one of those new Yam’s, his opinion would be VERY appreciated right about now!
Husky dominates in the EU supermoto stuff since about 05 ... not sure what they are doing over there though .... maybe the motors are tricker over there ....
Lots of trickery at that level but yeah, they do dominate. They start with the RR model which has a whole bunch of work done to it from the factory then the trickery begins.... The RR bikes I believe have most of the hard parts goodies fitted OEM and have a sticker price of about $15k. I could put on the RR head, cams, HC piston, a nice dual exhaust, a new ECU and a PCV with autotune but geesh that's a lota money to invest. If the new bike has a good bit stronger motor I'll just sell the old one and buy a new for far less than pimping the old one. And also very curious about the weight of the new bike compared to old. OK, thread jack finished, back to the regular program...
