Fantastic four - Husqvarna Factory bike test
By Team TMX on 5th Feb 17
Bike Reviews Enduro Husqvarna TE300
ITS a hard life, being TMX chief enduro test pilot. All those flights, hire-cars, hotels and then having to ride all those shiny, fully prepped, brand new, state of the art bikes it makes you tired just thinking about it.
And then, as our man Martin Cravendiscovered, as if that wasnt enough the Husky factory then expected him to fly out to southern Italy to try out a quartet of full-on factory bikes as ridden by their top factory riders.
Top of the list was the all-conquering 300 two-stroke of extreme king Graham Jarvis, followed by a pair of ripping 250Fs, courtesy of Manx ace Danny McCanney and Austrian all-rounder Pascal Rauchenecker, before signing-off with a blast on French star Mathius Bellinos monster 450F.
Really, does it get any better than this?
Graham Jarvis TE300
JUMPING on to Grahams all conquering TE300 two-stroke was an absolute delight.
You have absolutely zero excuse on this bike as it has, with Graham at the controls, pretty much won every extreme event on the planet.
The power delivery on Grahams 300 is a little softer (friendlier) and appears to lack a little over-rev compared to a stocker which is a good thing as you an find yourself in bit more control on certain sections.
The extra low-end torque and smooth bottom end of the bike make it much easier to find traction when conditions got a tad greasy in Southern Italy.
Fortunately for me there had been an Italian championship round the weekend before at the venue so all the river beds had been polished somewhat.
For me, finding traction is imperative for extreme events and in Grahams 300 you have it in bucket loads. The power just seems to smoothly get to the ground and be easy to control.
On the tighter sections the shorter third gear means it can still pull you along nicely without touching the clutch. This is something I just love on Grahams bike as it means less fatigue on the body and maximum traction for moving forward.
What a lot of guys do on a stock bike, if they find they are struggling to hold on in third, is alter the overall gearing on the rear which in turn lets the gear pull longer, eliminating the need to shift to fourth.
Handling-wise, like all the factory bike on test, the 300 comes with Cone valve forks and a Trax rear shocker.
Grahams works perfectly of course with a slightly softer set-up than most.
Even when speeds picked up the fork still stayed up nicely in the stroke and with a 10 mm lowering on the rear Trax shock, this gave it a nice squatting feel.
The overall performance from the factory WP suspension was spot-on. The conditions in Italy were pretty awesome with long, hard river beds and steep climbs around the wooded area and Grahams 300 two-smoke completely bossed it all.
Along with the subtle suspension set-up and immense torque from the engine made it an absolute joy to ride.
Given Grahams unmatched record of winning the toughest events it should come as no surprise when I say this is most definitely the best Extreme Enduro bike I've ever ridden.
Danny McCanney 250F
DANNY'S bike set-up actually isnt too far away from Grahams to be honest (handlebars, suspension etc..).
Yes, its a 250F as opposed to a 300 stroker but as a ride it was actually very similar.
To start with, Dannys 250F has a very soft bottom end power delivery, this was most apparent way down low.
In the tricky stream sections it was still okay to huck second gear without fear of stalling and then having a boot full of water.
With Dannys 250F having such a smooth, torquey engine it was surprisingly easy to ride though the rocky stream beds and putting power to the ground on the slippery slabs wasnt a problem at all.
But it was out on the special test loop where the factory 250F came into its own.
The loop was a ten-minute motocross-style lap high in the mountains.
Wow, this bike handles, although the tacky clay conditions helped.
It also felt pretty light, for a four-stroke, and changing direction at high speed proved this point.
The centred balance and lightweight feel made this bike a joy to ride while the soft suspension set-up actually made the bike feel low to the ground and very settled, which definitely helped in cornering ability.
Having ridden some tough events I know what a difficult thing it is, setting a bike up for both extreme and special test loops.
But Danny and his crew have done a great job of getting the engine to deliver a smooth and torquey power delivery, yet it is also so responsive to the throttle that any motocrosser would thrive on it.
In all honesty, this factory Husqvarna 250F is a real top performer for every occasion from path-picking up nadgery river beds to keeping on line and it has the high power range for every occasion.
Pascal Rauchenecker 250F
AS with Dannys 250F, I was equally impressed with Pascal Raucheneckers all-conquering 250F which bought him great results the previous year.
It is not dissimilar to Dannys bike, but it does have longer gearing on it, which effectively adds an extra gear for faster more sweeping tests, which isnt an advantage or disadvantage... it just requires a different riding technique.
Comparing the electronic maps on each bike showed them to be very much of a muchness.
Both riders have opted for a very revvy yet smooth delivery in the standard map, but the alternative aggressive map has more bottom-end snap.
The WP factory Cone valve and Trax shock on Pascal's 250F proved one thing and that is that rider comfort is not an issue.
In fact I felt that Pascals specific valving specs were great for small chop and had no harshness.
They didnt offer as much hold-up as I would ideally like but after all, we were not on a motocross track.
On the trail and and in the streams the suspension shone and barring pro-level racing speeds, the forks and shock were more than capable of handling anything I could throw at it.
Like Dannys 250F, Pascals bike has the same light, slim, sit-on-top feel to it.
Not only is it great for the special test sections but it is also an agile, quick responding river-bed eater.
The ability to easily move around its cockpit and its low overall weight make Pascals factory 250F a pretty easy bike to ride.
Mathius Bellino 450F
ON to the big boys toy now!
2015 World Champion Mathius Bellino is renowned for hitting things hard and fast (hence World Champion) so after five minutes on the big 450-F I realised this bike is going to be a bit of an animal.
Compared to standard there is a huge difference in Bellinos 450-F.
The power delivery right of the bottom is much more snappy and theres a real crack to he exhaust that gives you that full-on 450 motocross feel.
Also the traction control is much more evident on the 450, which comes in useful on a bike that makes close to 70hp.
As with Pascal and Dannys machines, Mathius had factory Cone valve and Trax suspenders front and rear which naturally displayed the same characteristics as the other bikes, with just a harder setting.
Slightly too hard for this tester but I was still impressed with the amount of comfort and smooth action of them while understanding how hard Bellino must ride. What did amaze me about the fire-breathing 450-F missile is how light and slim it still manages to feel.
It was so easy to turn by just using my lower body, hitting the wooded section.
Just a good pinch with my ankles and knees and it steered perfect, rather than using all my upper body strength.
This is high praise considering its Mathius Bellinos factory
450-F World championship winning machine.
It was just as willing to carve a corner and blast a berm as it was to snake through tough single-track woods.
For a big bike it was amazing how slim and nimble the bike felt between my legs.
The simple verdict is that in muddy, slippery extreme conditions the bike will be an absolute beast to handle but out on the track and trails it is a world-beater!
