In my last post I mentioned I had purchased a 23 Husqvarna FC350. I had put a deposit down on a 23 Beta 300Race Edition but after several of my buddies KTM 350s, I decided I want to add one to the garage. The dealer had several FC350s in stock but no FX350s or FE350s which would have been a closer equivalent to the KTM 350XCFs I had ridden. I decided to switch my deposit over the FC350 then make some mods to the FC350 to make more suited to the woods. I had Beaver Creek Cycle install a AXP skid plate and some bark busters. I also had the stock 19″ wheel swapped out for an 18″ wheel and a nice gummy Mitas tire. Some Bulletproof radiator guards completed updates. One thing left undone which would come back to bite me later is that I did not have a fan installed.
With this being the first model year for this bike, there was a dearth of aftermarket parts available back in February. There was no fan kit that could be easily added with the stock tank. I decided to ride it for a bit with no fan kit. Well “a bit” turned out to much longer than I had hoped. The bike went to Georgia and Florida for the Wild Boar and The General GNCC races. The General was a complete mud fest and the bike overheated and boiled over numerous times. This would be a trend for the next few months as I struggled to find a fan solution. After trying several Trailtech options with no luck, Acerbis finally released an expanded tank. While I don’t really care about the additional fuel capacity, the design of the tank provides just enough room between the tank and the radiator to install a Tusk Universal Fan Kit (with a few minor modifications). With the Northeast 24 hr race coming up in July, I got thank and fan installed just in time. I also added an uprated Trailtech stator, a homemade light bar bracket, and a wiring harness to allow me to plug a light into the bikes electrical system.
The beefier light setup came about as as a result of my experience at the Perry Mountain 24 hr race where my light with batteries didn’t make it through the night. It ended up not being a too important although it did cost me a lap as I had to get a lead back about 2AM when all of my light options failed. I didn’t want this to happen in NY. Unfortunately it did let me down in NY as we had a downpour in the middle of the night and as I picked my way through some pretty technical stuff (something this bike and myself struggle with) and I had to shutoff and start the bike numerous times, the stator wasn’t able to keep up with the light and all of the starts and my bike battery died in a most inconvenient spot (again about 2AM, but this time in a torrential downpour) and I had to get towed back to the puts. Another lap lost.
I’ve enjoyed the bike this year despite some struggles. Its strengths are the low end torque and ridiculous power always at the ready. It loves fast, flowy tracks. Its weakness is that isn’t quite as nimble as the Beta and it can wear you out when riding tight technical stuff. It is for this reason that when my buddy and I decided to try a local hard enduro that I took the Beta (only the second time I had ridden it all year).
As I write this, one of my favorite local races, the Pumpkin Run, takes place tomorrow at Big Valley and sadly the 350 won’t be there. Three weeks ago I participated in the 2 man / 4 hour hare scramble at Western Reserve MC. It is one of my favorite races as it brings out a lot of father son teams. This year I raced with my neighbor John. We were 3 hours into the race when I went out for my last stint. I felt like I was riding pretty good and felt comfortable. As I dropped down into a dip I heard a clunk and a ping. A few more yards down the trail and I realized something was majorly wrong with my bike. I pulled to the side of the trail and realized I couldn’t put the kickstand down but I still wasn’t processing what happened. The rear end was completely collapsed and further examination revealed that the seat that the bottom part of the rear shock spring sits in was completely gone. The shock spring had wedged itself into the lower linkage. My race was over.
After disassembling the rear end, I had to cut one of the linkage bolts in order to remove the linkage. Even though the bike is several months out of warranty now, I took the shock back to the dealer just to get his thoughts and see if Husqvarna might be willing to do anything to get me back on the road. Husqvarna asked the dealer to send it back to Husqvarna NA HQ for further investigation and that is where things stand right now.. I’ve pretty much written off having the bike available for the rest of this season and have started performing end of year maintenance on it to get it ready for next year.