Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

http://www.adbmag.com.au JUNE 2017| 143

HUSKY TE300

RRP:

$13,99 5

WARRANTY:

Six months,partsandlabour

DISTRIBUTOR:

Husqvarna Motorcycles

INTERNET:

husqvarna-motorcycles.com.au

SO FAR...

HOURS:

20

MODS THIS MONTH:

Firmer springsfront

andrear

MODSNEXTMONTH:

FMF exhaust,fresh rubber

andoil

MAIN:Backyard photo bash

1.Plentyofabuse

2.Mudguards wornbutstillgood

3 .Squaretaillightabitbulky

BACKINRACEMODE

MARCHUSUALLY MEANS

onething,thestartofthe

racing season. WhileIhung up

my boots from full-time racing

backin2015,Istilllovetodo

someeventstoseewheremy

speed is at and also because

there’s somethingabout the

social atmosphere of enduro

racingthat draws me back.

Whether it’s club,state or

national events,you can be

surethateveryoneissuper

friendly, the racingis a heap

offunand,best of all,there is

noshortageofshittalking

amongyour mates. Ihighly

recommendanyone whois

thinkingaboutgivingenduro a

gotofollowthroughwithit.

Andspeakingofracing,the

long-term HuskyTE300has

been involvedin carrying my

unfitselfaroundsome of

NSW’s mostpremotracks. The

recentdelugehas given us

someofthebestconditionsa

ridercouldaskfor.

Imade alast-minute

decisiontoracetheSundayof

theNSWEnduro

Championshiprounds in

Cessnock. It was sprint format

and the track was quite muddy

butstillaheapoffun.

Ihadbeenplayingaround

with the suspension on the

Huskyover the last few weeks

andfeltlikeitwasreadyfor

the roughness of a race track.

Iwaspleasantly surprised at

howgood the stock

suspension held upat Keith

AllenPark.

Yes,it’s softer than I would

likebutithandledthesprint

trackwith flyingcolours. The

new WP XPlor 48 is super

plushand,astheday wenton,

Icrankedupthepreload–

easytodowith theadjusters

thatcome standard–andalso

the compressiondamping just

totry andkeepthebike from

diving intotheholes.

Ididthesamefortheshock

andthishelpedthebikeskim

across the ruts and bumps.

While I knew I wasn’t as ready

asIshouldhave beenforthe

sprint, the TE and I came away

eighthoverallinastacked

field ofpros, which I was

pretty happywith.Sincethat

race, I haveplayed around

with the suspension a little

moreandordered some

firmer springs for the front

andrear.

The fork has been beefed up

from 4.2N/mm to 4.4s toget

the front sittinguphigher and

thereforeallowmetouseall

ofthestroke.It’s beenanice

changeupandso far, it’s

workingatreat.Theshock

went uptoa48N/mmspring

from a 45 andIamstill trying

tofindmy favouredsetting

with that.Ittakestime.

Iwas also prettyhappythe

otherdaytocomehome from

worktofindthefirst

instalmentof my FMF

Husqvarna exhaustsystem.

Themuffler is a Huskyitem

andit’s a neatpiece of gear. I

can’twaittogetitonthebike

and get it singing.

Bel-ray is doing an awesome

jobkeepingthebikelooking

and runningperfect. I am

really happywiththat.Iwas

planningon competingat the

firstroundoftheAORCat

Buladelah NSW,but it has

beencancelled soI’ll haveto

get my race fix elsewhere!

Enduro Editor Geoff Braico

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REAR GUARD

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