2020 Husqvarna FX450 First Impression (with specs)

Are you a hybrid type of rider that likes to ride off-road as well as some motocross? Maybe you’re not just a one dimensional rider and would love to go race a GP on the same weekend as a local motocross race. Well Husqvarna has a bike that is directed towards that type of rider! The FX450 is very similar to the FC450, but the FX450 comes with different ignition mapping, softer suspension valving, a softer rear shock spring, an 18-inch rear wheel, a kickstand, and a 2.25-gallon tank. It’s not green sticker legal and doesn't come with a spark arrestor so be forewarned that you may want to add a slip on spark arrestor to this steed in order to make “Johnny Law” happy. To test this Husqvarna out, I decided to get the hell out of California, in order to get a different perspective/first impression of the FX450 in the vast terrain of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The area I tested at had a wide variety of tight single track, long sandy uphills, technical rocky terrain, fast whoop sections, as well as the occasional natural terrain motocross/turn track. Perfect for this kind of test! The downside? I didn’t have a professional photographer with me to get the bike in action. This was a true to life off-road trail ride with your buddies, talking trash, bench racing, but without the cool guy photographer. We will eventually get some action shots, but to me, the most important aspect to any test is getting the information across to you all. Hopefully we can do that in this article.

Nothing says variety like a barber shop, a bar, a bath house, and a 2020 Husqvarna FX450 in a photo.

If you’re looking to take this Husqvarna straight from the dealer show room to your local BLM trails, you might want to get a spark arrestor. The FX450 has a closed course designation, so in order to be “legal” make sure to be prepared before you venture out into public lands. After spending almost five engine hours on the 2020 Husqvarna FX450 I came away with this impression as well as the suspension setting below.

Engine: Just like the FC450, the FX450 is deceivingly fast. I received the bike with 0.2 hours on it and it took 1.8 hours for me to actually feel the engine free up. There was a lot of engine braking in the initial hour or so, but after that you can feel less de-cel pitching and more overall torque/pulling power. The FX450 should feel like the FC450 because it’s the same motor, same gearing as a 2019 FC450 (13/48), but the FX450’s ECU settings are smoother throughout the power curve. You may want more excitement on low RPM’s if you're in sandy conditions, but on tight single track the engine is buttery smooth and easy to ride in second gear. This engine isn't a huge third gear torque monster like the YZ450FX, but if you learn to ride in second gear instead of third, the FX450 can chug/lug up anything with ease. Second gear is longer than the YZ450FX, so if you're coming off of another brand just know that a lower gear is more usable than you might think. Another feature that makes me smile is how much top end  pulling power the FX450 has. Got a long sandy hill you need to get up? Not a problem. Click the Husqvarna FX450 into either third or fourth gear and let it do the work for you. It literally feels like it never hits the rev limiter and keeps pulling where other bikes require more finesse shifting. The FX450 comes with a handlebar mounted map switch just like the FC450, but going back and forth between map 1 and map 2 didn't prove to be life changing in either direction. Both maps feel similar and putting the FX450 into “TC” mode helps with slow speed slippery conditions, which didn't happen very much where we were riding. The overall engine character is an easy to ride, yet super powerful pull that fits a wide range of riding abilities. It’s not going to rip your socks off, but it’s one of those engines that you appreciate the more you ride. 

Chassis: On this test, I ended up going back/forth between a 2019 Yamaha YZ450FX and the Husqvarna FX450. While doing this I noticed that the Husqvarna may not feel as planted on high speed trails as the Yamaha, but when in tight single track the Husqvarna feels more playful and easier to manage. The Husqvarna has a good amount of traction on lean angle and although it’s not as stable as the Yamaha at high speed, it can be dialed in with some suspension tuning to make it better when twisting the throttle hard down a rough, long trail (see suspension setting). The FX450 loves flowy type single track where the trail goes back and forth. We had a five mile section of trail that was similar to a long turn track and the Husqvarna absolutely feels at home in these types of conditions. The faster, more rolling whoops there were, the more I felt like the Yamaha was better suited for me in those areas of the trail.

Suspension: The trails that I tested on had more than enough variety in terrain and I felt anything other than very slow/rocky terrain, the Husqvarna needed more hold up, especially in the front end. Below is the setting that I came up with that gave the Husqvarna FX450 the most balance, as well as the most comfort for a rider between 170-195 pounds (without gear). With this setting the FX450 becomes more stable at higher speeds as it just slows the action of the suspension down, which allows you to hit obstacles at speed faster/harder with more confidence.

Fork: 

Fork Height: 3mm (5mm on tighter single track)

Air Pressure: 10.3-10.4 bar (10.1 stock)

Compression: 10

Rebound:  11

Shock:

Sag: 105mm

L/S Compression: 12

H/S Compression: 1-3/4 out

Rebound: 11

Ergonomics/Extras: The rider triangle of the Husqvarna FX450 is comfortable for the long haul. I rode almost a 100 miles on its maiden voyage and felt comfortable on it right away. For motocross I usually like to trim the stock handlebar down, but for west coast off-road conditions, the FX450’s bar length (811mm) was nice because it put me in a better rider attack position when standing up all day. Husqvarna needs to rethink their seat cover material for the FX line up however as I feel as if it’s a much too aggressive seat cover for a rider that is in the cockpit for more than 4-6 hours a day. The fuel range of the Husqvarna FX450 is superb as I managed to squeeze in over 50 miles on a tank of fuel (with a little to spare), with miles that were mixed with plenty of gas guzzling sand.  

Some of the backdrop in New Mexico where we tested the 2020 Husqvarna FX450.

FAQ: “Keefer, should I get a Husqvarna FC450 or FX450”? If it was me and I was doing a 70/30 off-road to moto ratio, I would be on a FX450 simply because of the comfort that I get on longer trail rides. The FC450 is made to carve inside lines and go fast and I feel like the FX450 is more of a friendlier machine for longer distances. Yes, it’s still fast, but it has more comfort with its suspension and ECU settings, where the FC450 has a firmer, slightly snappier throttle response. The occasional moto session with your buddies is fine on the FX, as long as you go to a suspension setting that doesn't bottom up faces of jumps. The stock FX450 suspension setting is much too soft for a motocross track. 

FAQ: “Keefer, will my FX450 parts interchange with my FC450 and vice versa”? Yes, the FX450 parts (wheels, tank, etc.) will bolt right onto the FC450”. 

This is just a first impression… I will be logging more off-road miles on this machine and may even take it to a Grand Prix event just to see how versatile this Husqvarna FX450 really is. If you want to “hear” what I have to say about the Husqvarna FX450 and get some extra tidbits you may have not received in this article, listen to the RMATVMC Keefer Tested Podcast. If you have any questions about this test or the 2020 Husqvarna FX450, please feel free to email me at kris@keeferinctesting.com.

HUSQVARNA FX450 SPECS:

Engine type: SOHC, electric-start, 4-valve

4-stroke

Displacement: 450cc

Bore & stroke: 95.0mm x 63.4m

Fuel delivery: Keihin EFI, 44mm

Fuel tank capacity: 2.3 gal. (8.5 l)

Lighting: No

Spark arrester: No

EPA legal: No

Running weight, no fuel: 224 lb.

Wheelbase: 58.5″ (1485mm)

Ground clearance: 14.6″ (370mm)

Seat height: 37.8″ (960mm)

Tire size & type:

Front: 90/90-21 Dunlop Geomax AT81F

Rear: 120/90-18 Dunlop Geomax AT81

Suspension:

Front: WP AER 48, adj. reb./comp.,

12.2″ (310mm) travel

Rear: WP aluminum piggyback, adj. prld.,

hi & lo comp., reb., 11.8″ (300mm) travel

Country of origin: Austria

Suggested retail price: $10,099

Manufacturer: www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com

2019 Yamaha WR450F First Impression

Written By: Michael Allen

I’m sure there are a lot of people who come to the Keefer Inc. website that don’t really care about off-road bikes, but then there are my people; the ones who not only love off-road, but just motorcycles in general. Like I said, I love off-road bikes, so when Yamaha asked us if we wanted to try the 2019 WR450F, I was all about it. In the past it usually takes manufacturers up to three years to move the changes they’ve made to their motocross bikes over to the off-road line, but for this model, it has taken just under two years. The 2019 WR 450F is all new from the frame to the engine and even down to the headlight, in which Yamaha has made big changes. 

The WR has an all new engine with a more compact electric starter that is mounted behind the cylinder and drives the clutch basket. This starter also has a heat shield on top of it to protect it from the head pipe. The engine shares a lot of parts with the YZ450F, but some parts are specific to the WR like the clutch plates, and magneto rotor. The different clutch plates help provide a lighter clutch feel as well as better clutch modulation. The wide ratio 5-speed transmission spreads the power out over a much wider range than the YZ450F and it was explained to us this way.. The gears on the WR are spread as follows: First gear is like adding fourteen teeth to the rear sprocket of the motocross bike Second gear is like adding eight, third gear is like adding two teeth, fourth gear is the same as the motocross version, and fifth gear is like removing four teeth, which almost acts like an overdrive. The other main change to the 2019 WR450F is the chassis, which has a rigidity increase of 25% vertically 9% horizontally and 15% torsionally. Don’t let those numbers scare you into thinking this bike is going to be too stiff because Yamaha went to work in other places to give it a better overall balance (while retaining comfort) than the 2018 version. Along with the new chassis, the 2019 WR has slimmer bodywork that make the shrouds 16mm narrower, really helping minimize the “bulky” feeling that some people associate with the Yamaha. The new headlight is tucked closer to the head tube as well as being lower, which helps keep the weight closer to the center of the bike. Another cool feature the WR has is a digital trip meter/speedometer which is adjustable so it can be used for enduros or rally events. Finally Yamaha has gone away from their old cable drive for the trip meter and entered the 21st century using a magnetic pickup. The wire for the pickup is cleanly routed behind the left fork guard and is completely protected from off-road elements. The 2019 comes with a fan, which in my opinion is a necessity for hard core off road bikes. The fan does seem to run for a long time once stopped on the trail, but I was never left stranded with a dead battery over the course of our test. The fuel tank is slightly larger on the 2019 at 2.16 gallons which was achieved by using a more compact fuel pump that allows for more fuel volume. The stock skid plate is very cleanly mounted and offers more protection up the water pump than the 2018 model. Although Yamaha put GYTR handguards on the bikes for us on the intro day, the bike does NOT come with them, which in my opinion is a bummer because after all it is an off-road bike.

Now that you know all the changes to the 2019 WR, here is how it works in the real world. To start, the bike comes from the dealership slightly more corked up than the form we rode the bike in. We were told that the way the WR50F comes is a Japanese  standard practice and removing the items that we took off did not change the bikes legality in any state (even California). Unfortunately for this year the WR is not a green sticker bike in California and is stuck being a red sticker for the time being because of some new California regulations (thanks California). Back to the un-corking we did; the stock intake comes with a snorkel under the backfire screen, feel free to remove it and you’re 1/3 of the way to making the WR rideable. Next remove the throttle stop screw to get the full range of throttle opening and finally take out the ridiculously small pee hole cork in the muffler to help the bike breathe. Like I said, this opens the bike up while still keeping it legal to ride on the trails, but at the same time doesn’t un-cork the bike and make it loud and raspy. With the bike ready to ride, it’s still remarkably quiet and to be honest I had my doubts about how good it could be because it was so quiet. 

The 2019 doesn’t come with a kick starter and in fact doesn’t even have the hole in the side case to be able to put one on. This may worry some old school people, but in all my years of testing electric start dirt bikes I have never been stranded by one on the trail. If the bike is in neutral, the clutch doesn’t need to be engaged to start the engine, but if the bike is in gear, the clutch does need to be pulled in to get the starter to turn over the engine. This can be over ridden by cutting the wires that goes to the clutch switch and soldering them together (but you didn’t hear that from us). One thing that we did discover that seems to be an issue with all of the current Yamaha models is that they don’t like to be started while in gear. For some reason the extra drag of the clutch is slightly too much for the engine to turn over and actually fire, so we found ourselves having to put the bike in neutral most of the time to get it started. 

The engine on the 2019 WR450F is greatly improved over the 2018 with a much more free revving feeling, which no longer makes the engine feel heavy slow revving. Yamaha told us they still wanted the WR to have a trail bike feel without having it feel like and old Honda XR. In my opinion Yamaha did a great job blurring the line between total trail bike and off-road race bike. With the new slightly more powerful engine, the 2019 WR has a more playful power characteristic, which makes the whole bike feel lighter and nimble. The corked-up sounding muffler didn’t hamper power nearly as badly as I had imagined. In fact after talking with Keefer we both agreed that the lack of “sound” never hampered the bike’s power delivery all day. Not once were we unable to ride over an obstacle or complete a hill climb due to a hiccup or lack of power. In fact we rode some very long sandy hill climbs and were able to clean them every time all while hardly making any noise. I think the new engine will give the WR the ability to be raced (even in stock form) without feeling like the bike is at a disadvantage. We were told that this is the closest that the WR has ever been in relation to the YZ 450F model and when on the trail it’s pretty clear that the WR has the ability to be pushed whenever you want to pick up the pace.

The increased rigidity on the 2019 was immediately felt on the trail, but not necessarily in a bad way. Although the stiffer chassis does result in a slightly less comfortable ride at slow speeds over small chop/rocks it gains in agility on tighter trails. The chassis no longer feels lethargic and lazy when trying to make quick direction changes, instead it reacts quickly with minimal input from the rider. Just the slightest weight transfer to the footpegs and the WR reacts with confidence without feeling too twitchy. I think that the change to the engine really works in unison with the new chassis, to make the bike feel more exciting and more like a competition bike. With that being said the WR still acts like a trail bike, but it just seems to me like Yamaha has moved the WR slightly closer to the FX model than it has ever been. One place where I felt the 2018 was slightly better than the 2019 was straight line stability on very fast/loose rock jeep trails. With weight comes stability and the lighter feeling 2019 WR450F does feel slightly looser feeling at speeds than the previous model. For my personal taste I would take a better handling bike over one that just goes in a straight line well. 

Yamaha never tried to chase the dragon when all the other manufacturers were on the air fork train. Not going down the air fork road only helped Yamaha because they never stopped developing their KYB SSS fork, which in my opinion is the best OEM fork on the market.  Recently other manufacturers have been bragging about how their suspension is basically an “A-Kit”, but the SSS suspension is outperforming their so called “A-Kit” set ups. Yamaha seems to rely on the performance of their fork and knowing that giving it a cool title doesn’t make it perform any better. We like that! The fork on the WR comes with a 4.6 N/mm spring while the shock come with a 56 N/mm, which are both slightly stiffer than the 2018 WR, but lighter than the 2019 YZ 450F. The fork and shock on the 2019 WR450F work perfectly in unison unlike the 2018 model which has a front heavy pitching sensation when getting off the throttle as well as using the front brake. The balance front to back is much better (on the 2019) and the suspension settings have a much better balance. The range of terrain the 2019 WR450F can handle is much wider than the 2018 and that gives the consumer the option to open up a wide variety of trail options, without having to compensate for the 2018 shortcomings. The new WR can be pushed with more confidence at a faster pace without blowing through the stroke and gives the rider more comfort.  

I think that overall it’s safe to say that Yamaha has made a much better WR that has done a great job of blending a trail bike and race bike. I feel like if you wanted to buy a Yamaha to race closed course events then go trail ride with your buddies you were pigeon held to buy the FX in 2018, but now for 2019 I feel like the WR has taken that place. If you ride trails the majority of the time and occasionally race, the WR is truly a viable choice now. As European manufacturers step up their game, I thinks it’s really cool to see Yamaha answer with improved off-road bikes. Yamaha is waking up and realizing that they can make a bike that can be a trail bike without being too soft and lazy feeling. Instead Yamaha has made a comfortable trail bike that can be ridden at a race pace if you feel like stepping up your riding game. It has been apparent over the past few years that most trails and starting lines have turned orange-ish in color, but after riding Yamaha’s latest offering, a sea of blue may dim the orange fires. If you have any questions about the 2019 Yamaha WR450F feel free to reach out to me at Michael@keeferinctesting.com. 

2018 Husqvarna TE250i First impression

Story Written By Michael Allen

We didn't just get a stock 2018 Husqvarna TE250i, we got a fully decked out FMF/Husqvarna looking race machine.  

For years we have been hearing rumors about the elusive fuel injected two-stroke. Everything from reading about Honda’s patent on a fuel injected two-stroke to seeing spy photos of KTM test rider Lars Enockl riding one at an extreme enduro. We have to admit that when we heard from a reliable source it would be imported to the US we were excited and nervous at the same time. It’s not that we didn’t think it would work, but we were concerned about reliability. Why? Husqvarna/KTM was taking arguably the most simple engine design (not to mention an engine that has a powerful, easy to ride delivery) and possibly complicating the process of how it breathes. However, we knew that if Husqvarna felt it was ready to be introduced to the media, it must of passed and performed to their standards.  

You couldn't wipe the smile off of our test rider Michael Allen's face after riding the TE250i.

Now we all know that Husqvarna is similar to the KTM, so it’s not a coincidence that they just so happened to introduce a fuel injected two-stroke in the same year as the orange giant. Nevertheless, Husky is importing a handful of TE250i bikes although they’re not importing any of 300cc models. When Kris called me to ask if I’d like to test the new 250i, my inner two-stroke off-road lover about jumped through the phone at the opportunity. I even started packing my gear bag before I was even off the phone and headed to the high desert. 

The 2018 Husqvarna TE250i that we got our hands on had some extra Husqvarna branded accessories added onto it. The beautiful looking TE250i had blue crash proof levers, a pipe guard (where the exhaust meets the cylinder), a rotor guard, FMF pipe and Powercore 2 silencer, brake pedal tip, swing arm guard, anodized blue Husqvarna triple clamps, Guts Racing non-slip seat cover, bib mousse tubes and even a Colton Haaker pre-printed backgrounds. While shooting some glamour shots of the bike itself I noticed the 250i looks very similar to last year’s model, but upon closer inspection the engine is obviously much different, not to mention the carburetor seems to be missing and there is an expensive piece of aluminum in its place (a 39mm Dell'Orto throttle body). The Kill switch is now a toggle on/off and there is also a map switch on the right side of the handlebar with two map settings, standard and soft. 

An FMF pipe and Powercore 2 silencer was bolted on to add some more "braaaaaaap" to our evaluation. 

Admittedly it was a bit odd to pour straight gas into a two-stroke bike’s gas tank, but with the pre-mix oil tank being in the frame, the days of mixing your own gas are long gone. We rode the bike several hours without having to add any oil, but we did here from Husqvarna R&D stating: When the oil indicator light does goes on, you still have a couple tanks of fuel to ride with before there is zero oil circulating through the oil pump system. When starting the 250i, there is a “choke” on the 39mm  throttle body that gets pulled out and turned 90 degrees to stay on, but once the bike is slightly warmed up it can be turned 90 more degrees and will disengage. Our bike seemed to have a very low idle, so I adjusted the idle screw which is right above the choke to where it sounded about right. When I took off I noticed the clutch, like all hydraulic clutches, was buttery smooth as surprisingly so was the power delivery. Right away I noticed it didn’t seem to have the typical cold blubbery two-stroke feeling, it was smooth and crisp the whole time it was getting warmed up. 

Premix fuel is not required as the oil is stored in a separate tank (shown above) and the electronic oil pump provides the correct amount of oil according to the RPM of the engine. 

Once warm I was able to start ripping the bike around a bit and see where it shined, being that we were testing in the desert it was soon made clear that the TE wasn’t designed for being screamed across valleys. That’s because the TE isn’t a desert race bike, the T to us stands for "two- stroke" and the E stands for "enduro", so I left the whooped out open areas in search of tight single track and rock gardens. For the 250i, the tighter the terrain the better engine feels, the engine runs so crisp at such low rpm, it’s nearly impossible to stall. If you’re the kind of rider that likes to use the lower rpm (lugging) meat of the power and ride a gear or two high, you’ll be in love with the 250i. The throttle feels incredibly connected to the rear wheel and with how smooth the power is, it almost has a traction control like feel (in a good way) as the rear wheel seems to stick to the trail like Velcro. In tight, sandy, uphill switchbacks, the 250i could be kept in second gear and kept the bike moving forward, instead of just spinning and digging itself into the ground. On the more open and flowy type of trails where the bike could be opened up, the power was almost too smooth and lacked some excitement that usually comes with riding carbureted two-strokes. I’m not saying that it will fall on its face, but the excitement just got shifted a little higher up in the rpm range. The majority of the exciting power is in the mid-top end range, if you’re looking for that familiar peppy two-stroke feel. However, it can take some clutch work to get into that exciting part of the power if you’re in a higher gear in some corners or tighter areas. If you’re looking for that lugable, traction-esque power then the TE250i is the machine to give you what you need. There are two maps on the TE250i, Map One is the standard map and Map Two is a smoother map. I used map one most of the day as it had the most pull with a great amount of traction. Map two was a little too mellow for my liking, as it kind of took that excitement from the mid range away a little too much for the type of terrain I was riding in. If we had some slick conditions here in California I could see where this map would be beneficial. Hey, as a rider it’s good to have options and now we have two options when hopping on the TE250i. The Husqvarna always sounds crisp, like it has a perfectly jetted carburetor which is music to any two-stroke fans ears as well as throttle hands. 

The TE250i is light and flickable just like its TC brother. 

The WP XPLOR 48mm fork on the TE is great for tight terrain. Initially the fork was a bit soft for big drop offs or g-outs, so we added a few clicks of compression (stiffer), as well as slowed the rebound down to try and slow the action of the fork some. This helped the bike from springing back up too quickly once low in the stroke. From middle to the bottom of the stroke the fork still has somewhat of an empty feeling and can blow through on larger obstacles. Although the fork and shock are a bit soft for fast pace riding, both work well together in tight, rocky single track. The balance of the TE250i is good and I could tell what Husqvarna/WP was after when going to this soft type of a feel. They were after plushness and they achieved that in the tighter spots I tested in. When going over multiple rocks the front and rear of the bike stayed straight and tracked right over any small to medium sized obstacle. The traction I felt was superb (with the softer feel) and this feeling instilled a lot of confidence in my riding, since I was able to focus on the next obstacle instead of fighting the bike. When standing on the pegs and riding, the 250i feels light and changes direction easy with minimal input when weighting the pegs or handlebar movement. Doing leg plant pivots around tighter areas took minimal effort and when entering corners the TE250i felt light on tip in. 

The WP XPLOR 48mm fork is soft on bigger hits, but works very well on the small to medium sized imperfections on the trail. 

After spending some time on the 250i with not one hiccup, it’s clear that Husqvarna has really done their homework and made a great off-road machine. It also shows that there is a real future for clean and crisp two-strokes in the off-road market place. Husqvarna set out to make the ultimate bike for tight trails and extreme terrain and I’d say they did a pretty damn good job on the TE250i. If you’re an east coast style guy (or gal) who loves riding woods, tight single track, and extreme conditions this is definitely the bike for you. If you’re a west coast more open terrain style rider it can still be a formidable weapon, but you might want to get a slightly stiffer suspension set up. I’d be willing to bet that with the success of the TE250i, Husqvarna will be tuning a fuel injected two stroke engine for the TC250 in the near future. Keefer and I will be spending a little more time on the Husqvarna TE250i before it goes back to the manufacturer, and we will be playing with different power valve springs, adjustments, and gearing to see if we can get a little more bark out of the HusqvarnaStay tuned to KeeferIncTesting.com for more updates and an in depth podcast on this sexy looking Austrian/Swedish ride.