060 DREAM RIDE BY PAT FOSTER
DEAN WILSON’S
ROCKSTAR ENERGY RACING
HUSQVARNA FC 450
The text from swap came at 4:00 p.m. on a Monday evening: “Sorry, last minute. Dean Wilson’s factory
Husqvarna bike test tomorrow at Pala...asking you first.”
“Yeah! I’m in!” was my response before I could even process what I had going on at work the next day,
or the logistics of the six-hour drive each way. You see, testing new production bikes is an amazing
opportunity, but testing a factory bike is next level. If you ever get that call, you drop everything and
change your plans!
Although it wasn’t a component of the test at hand, I was fascinated about the opportunity to do a
three-way bike comparison. The stock Husqvarna FC 450 has improved exponentially over the last few
years and was actually awarded our Bike Of The Year honors for 2017. It is an amazing overall pack-
age and one of my favorites. Last fall I was invited to go to Belgium to ride the factory MX1 and MX2
Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna race bikes in the legendary sands of Lommel. As good as the stock
bike is, it was incredible to see the level of sophistication and detail put into the MXGP factory bikes.
Max Nagl’s FC 450 was easily the most powerful machine I have ever ridden. On the other hand, the
suspension settings were so soft I could not comprehend how he could possibly ride as fast as he does.
It has had me perplexed to this day and questioning everything I thought I knew about bike setup. I
understand that the European tracks and riding styles are significantly different, which made me eager
to see what the American counterpart of the factory Husqvarna was like.
We showed up to Pala early on what they must
consider “National Day.” The track was cut a few
feet deep, completely saturated with water, and lit-
tered with huge jumps not intended for the faint
of heart. It was a normal workday for the Rockstar
Energy Racing Husqvarna Team, and I was on their
time schedule. Dean went out as soon as the track
opened, whipping his bike upside-down for our
cameras for a well-deserved TransWorld Motocross
cover shot before coming in and preparing for a
couple 30-minute-plus-two-lap motos. I wasn’t
going to throw a leg over the bike until the early
afternoon, which gave me plenty of time to ride
our stock FC 450 for comparison.
The main track was brutal and packed solid with
guys who were absolutely ripping! It was busy to
the point of being difficult to pull onto the track,
and I was one of only about eight guys riding who
didn’t race the Glen Helen National a couple of
days prior. The ruts were engine-case deep and
laced with square-edged acceleration chop, the
braking bumps were gnarly, and the only breaks
in the chaos were offered by the huge jumps that
were all 75-foot booters at a minimum.I was actually pretty impressed with how well the
stock bike did. Sure, I bottomed out the suspen-
sion hard from time to time, had some wander-
ing wallow in the fast, rutted straights, and of
course got kicked and bucked just as I suspected
I would, given the conditions. Based on what I
knew though, the bike worked pretty well. Or so
I thought!
I got to start riding Dean’s bike at about 1:30
p.m. The track was pretty worked, but at least a
lot of the guys training had cleared out by then,
which made it easier to get in some actual test-
ing. Sitting on Wilson’s bike for the first time was
pretty comfortable. His levers are positioned