Doug’ latest project!

2017 Husky FC450

Let me set this up a little. I sold my Husky FC 350 so I could buy a 450, I had decided I wanted to go back to a 450, my flawed thinking is since I don’t have a lot of corner speed  with the 350 (Or with any bike for that matter) I need to rev it in order to try and jump some of the jumps. (Emphasis on some) So I figured with a 450 I can gas it at the last minute and fly over the jumps. (I see other people do it all the time, so why not me)

So I started looking for a KTM or Husky. I found a couple right away that were priced fair, but I wasn’t ready to pounce. (I didn’t have all my money lined up) and as a consequence I missed out. Then when I did have my money there weren’t any to be had.

I found out Yamaha had a deal on the 2018 YZ450F a brand new bike for this year with the priority of having a electric start. The deal was $8800 OTD and if you qualified, no down payment and 24 months no interest, that’s almost free. The people at Roseville Yamaha for some reason like me and gave me a brand new 450 to try.

I thanked them for providing me with a 450 to try that was above and beyond. So much so I couldn’t take it out and get it dirty. I know they  would have been ok with me actually riding and getting it dirty, but I thought In the back of my mind I would have felt obligated to buy it.(G the sale manager said “You should have gotten it dirty then”)

Our club had a ride day at Dixon on Saturday and as luck would have it a friend Brian who just purchased a 450 from Roseville was at Dixon and let me ride it. And another friend had just purchased a 2018 Husky FC450 and he let me ride it. So over the course of the day I got to ride these two bikes back to back. Both had a little over two hrs on them when the day was done. Both were totally stock not even the clickers had been touched it was about as fair as it could be. Both suspensions were naturally stiff but by the end of the day both were starting to break in a little. The Husky was a little softer than the YZ but I know when the YZ breaks in it will be great. They both did everything they were supposed to, neither did anything unexpected. I was pleasantly surprised how well the YZ felt in the air.

Both bikes are very good and I would recommend both, obviously the YZ is much less money. But for me it came down to one thing and that was the Husky’s motor was smoother, off idle. The YZ’s motor felt a little violent, even though it wasn’t, under way they both had 450 vibes. The YZ wasn’t any harder to modulate the power than the Husky’s it was just a personal feeling for me. It’s hard to explain the Husky motor just felt smoother, the Husky was more familiar no doubt because I have been riding one for a couple of years.

So on Monday I took the Yamaha back a little cleaner than when I picked it, thanked then again and snuck out the back door.

I found a 2017 Husky FC450 and bought it. It was very clean but has a lot of hours on it. The hours on a450 don’t bother me and the bike looks like it has been taken care of, my 350 had 76 hrs on it and I know it was ok. So I’m in the process of making the 450 set up for me. This will be my first foray into air forks, so we will see how it goes. I kept my Yamaha front end I had been using on my 350, so if doesn’t work I’ll put that front end on I know it works.

I’ll report on how it’s going later.

21J