Australasian Dirt Bike – September 2019

http://www.adbmag.com.au SEPTEMBER 2019| 159

OFFICIALODDBALL

HUSABERGREWROTETHEenginedesignmanualwith

its70-degreedonk.Initiallyitwasonlyavailablein

450ccand570cccapacitiesbuta 390 joinedthe

line-upforMY10.Husabergclaimedthatfour-

stroke250sweretoohardtorideandthatthe

FE390wasaimedatthe“enthusiast”,whichwas

Eurospeakforaveragetrailrider.Strangely

enough,the 390 and 450 wereclaimedtoweigh

thesameat114kg(withoutfuel)andthe 570 only

halfakilomore.Themellowerengineofthe 390

gaveitalighterfeelanditwouldtractoruphills

withoutaworry.Thesuspensionwasplushbutit

wasnotedthatfasterridersmightwanttofirmit

upaswellasgoingupalittleinthegearing.

Thetriple-clampshadhad3mmaddedtothe

offsetonallmodelstogiveamorebalancedfeelas

manyhadfoundthefrontnotaspredictableasthe

rear.Itwentonsaleat$7900.

OLDRELIABLE

ADBSENTANTLyontorideandreportonthe

24-HourReliabilityTrial,andhewasthefirstADB

entrysincefounderGeoffEldridgerodetheevent

waybackin1984.Antrodethepreviousyear’s

winningbike,aKawasakiKLX450Rfittedwitha

massiveHIDfloodlight,thatstillhad10-times

winnerShaneDiener’snameonit.Lyonsurvived

thefourloopsof209kmtofinishthe24-Hour

intact,buthedidsleepfor 16 hoursstraight

afterwards.SeanThroupwasthewinnerfollowed

byChrisPowerandTomOye,allonYamahas.

Dienerfailedtomakeit 11 winsinarowduetoa

disintegratingsparkplug.

CHADCALLSSHOTS

DUETOTHEstarsaligningperfectly,ADBwasthe

firstmagazineintheworldtotestthe 2010

RM-Z450.Atthetimeofprintingthepricewasn’t

knownforthe449cc,fuel-injected,five-speed

motocrosser,whichtippedthescalesat113kgwith

its6.2-litrealuminiumtankfull.The’09modelhad

slippedbackagainstthecompetitionfromclass

leaderto“alsoran”somanychangesweremade

for2010.Thelistincludedanewcylinderhead,

piston,crankshaft,camshaft,valvespringsanda

throttlebodywithreversedinternals.Accordingto

JayForeman’sdynotestthenewmotorpumped

out52hp,threeuponthe’09model.Anewframe

withdesigninputfromRickyCarmichaelandChad

Reedincreasedrigidityandhelpedwith

nimbleness.Thetestsummedupbysayingthe

2010 RM-450Zwastheclosestthingyettoa

factoryracebikeoutofthecrate.

Ads

back

then

HOMESURGERY

Ryobiadvertisedits

cordlessdrillsasbeing

essentialequipmentfor

dirtbikeriders,implying

thatanyonewhohad

screwsinbrokenbones

coulduseone.

FACTORY RIDE / READERS RIDE / HERITAGE / ACTION / OAS / BUYERS GUIDE

TITANIUM NISSAN

You don’t often see a

car ad in ADB but this ad

heralded the features

of the Nissan Navara

Titanium Edition. It wasn’t

made from that metal but

just had a few components

in that colour.

UNBOUND TALENT

It’s not immediately

clear from this ad if the

graphics company is

Unbound Energy or Facelift

Unlimited but either way,

the graphics looked good.

UP IN SMOKE

THE TRAGIC BLACK Saturday bushfi res were

centred in the Kinglake-Marysville-Mt

Disappointment area of Victoria but the damage

was so widespread that the Blue Light Rally was

cancelled for the fi rst time in 34 years.

ADB went along six months later to get a

better understanding of the impact on the area.

Large areas were still closed to trailriders due to

the danger of falling trees and to allow for

regrowth.

Many people lost everything in the fi res and

173 lost their lives but the local determination to

rebuild was strong.

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