Words & Pics:  Andy Wigan
Web conversion: Glenn Alderton

Husqvarna has been listening to its critics and made all the changes exactly where they were most needed for its 2001 four-strokes. Husky didn't want people saying they were dragging the chain when it came to their 2001 TE four-stroke range. Complete with new capacity designations, a radically different frame, a few engine refinements, and the best seat and tank arrangement that Husky has ever thrown on its enduro machines, the TE is certainly here to do business on enduro tracks in 2001. The engines remain super smooth and easy to use, the bikes steer twice as fast than they have ever before, and the radically improved ergos allow the rider to throw himself all around the show and make use of the all new chassis. In short, both the 400 and 570 are much easier to feel right at home on for guys who have always claimed they "feel" so different from Japanese bikes.

ERGOS
Last year, the TEs felt wide through the seat, the girth and the shrouds. They had a 'tip-weight', feel as a result. For 2001, however, things have changed big time, Not only has the steering head been steepened radically, but the geometry changes also see the-steering head, lifted substantially. This finally removes the age old nose-down feel to the Husky four-strokes and it means that super high bend bars don't need to automatically be put an the bike to ride it comfortably while standing. It also creates a lot more space under the bars for big guys or for when you're cranked over in a rut. With the footpegs moved back this year, the seat/bar/peg relationship is comfortable and roomy. The other major improvement is to the seat and tank design. The seat is much flatter and narrower with a more rounded profile; the result it a cockpit that makes moving your weight forward to help the front end get traction way easier. According to the catalogue stats, the seat is supposed to remain at the relatively low 885mm, but we reckon it's a good 5-8cm taller than last year's bikes. The more motocross oriented seat design is matched by a much thinner tank, which also conspires in getting the rider well forward on the bike.

No lard here. In 2000, all attention
was paid to slimming the rear-end of
the TE's. This year, the thinning of the
ergos has been much more functional.
The new slimmer seat, tank and
shrouds make the bike feel a lot
more nimble and the tip weight
feels to have come down, too.

The clutch has an improved feet and lighter pull, with the two-stroke bikes perch fitted this year, but the left side kick-starter is something that can still annoy the most tolerant of riders. It's awkward - simple as that. While we're on the petty gripe thing, we also can't understand why Husky don't use Dzus clips to fasten the airbox cover. If they're good enough to hold a seat in place, surely they'd do the job on the airbox and make air filter access a whole lot quicker and easier. After all, these are enduro bikes.

ENGINES
The 2001 engines are noticeably quicker revving animals than last year's bikes. While they do have more life and snap to them, they still fall well short of the new generation four-stroke-type throttle response and free-revving nature of the Yamaha, Suzuki, KTM and to a lesser extent, the VOR's and Husaberg. The Husk's remain 'old school' four-strokes, for want of a better term, - they are torquey, tractable, strong off the bottom, like to be short-shifted ... and are deceptively fast. They just don't fell as fast as they actually are. (Stefan Merriman, despite being an incredibly talented rider, made use of the TE400's awesome tractability on the very slick and greasy trails of the 2000 ISDE and won by miles. He had only a few weeks on the bike to get accustomed to it and credited much of his speed to the useable power delivery).

The TE's higher headstock has allowed the bars to be
raised substantially, and all enduro riders who ride
satnding a lot will like this.

So while the host of riders are getting used to the two-stroke fell of the quick revving competition in the four-stroke class, the Husky's remian a very user friendly bike to ride for the average rider, and yet can still produce the goods for Expert enduro pilots, especially with a pipe to get a little more top-end out of them.

The 400 definitely feels to offer a couple of thousand more revs this year, thanks to the new high comp piston and mods made to lighten the conrod and crankshaft. But trying ot ride the bike like a Yamaha will slow you down. If you use the torque and have faith that the traction is delivering the forward motion instead of the revs, then you'll get the most out of these engines. The 400 is an excellent bike for the bush, expecially when the gearing is tweaked a little. Husky has purpose-built this bike for the bush and that is where it excels. The 570 engine has very similar power delivery charactersitics to the 400, but substantially more power all round. As you'd expect from a big bore, it's got a mucj torquier bottom and mid range and the bike can be short-shifted easily and requires less gear changes than the 400 to keep it hooking. The 570 will pull without complaint and chugg effortlessly up the snottiest of hills with more traction than you thought possible from your tytres. while htere's plenty of power on tap, the super-smooth delivery keeps the bike within the grasp of average riders.  In the tight stuff, the mass of the bigger engine does affect the bikes handling - although not by much - but on open firetrail, the 570 smokes the 400. Its throttle response off the bottom is much better and it's much easier for a good rider to steer the 570 with the rear-end. On fast, sweeping turns on the firetrail or a big old grasstrack, there are few bikes which are as confidence inspiring as the TE570.

On the downside, the TE's still have more vibration than the other bikes in their class and, strange as it may seem, this can tire a rider over long hauls. While the user friendly motor and impressive turning ability of both bikes will be good for GNCC style enduro racing, that vibration won't. The gerabox is a little notchy if compared with the Yamaha, Suzuki or even KTM, but gearshifts remain positive without any false neutrals. It simply needs a little more foot pressure to effect the gear change.

The 400 has a purpose built enduro motor to maximise traction everywhere it goes. But with a new high comp piston and pumper added to the Dell'Orto carb this year, she'll sit up and boogie when you throw a handfull of throttle at it. The TE400's all new chassis also produces a major improvement on the bikes turning prowess. Combining the two makes for a bike which is very easy to ride with a minimum of rider input. While it doesn't feel exciting, the brilliant tractability of the engine makes it deceptively quick. And the raised steering stock leaves plenty of room under the bars when she's cranked over.

     
HANDLING
At the heart of the TE's handling changes for 2001 is the radcially altered steering head, which is at an incredible four degrees steeper. Believe it! Usually, half a degree is big news, but, thanks largely to the respect the Italians had for four time world champ, Stefan Everts' input into the bikes geometry, the radical change was made. And it has paid big dividends, expecially for the enduro bikes that had begun to lag behind the competition in the high speed tree dodging stakes. It gets into, and stays in, ruts much more readily and changes lines far easier through any other type of turn you throw at it. In the really tight sutff, the 2001 bikes make the 2000 models feel like slow steering pigs, and there's no headshake to speak of, despite the much more aggressive steering head angle.

Like any bike that has undergone major geometry changes, the 400 and 570 will need a little more suspension refinement to get the front-to-rear balance right. All the same, the suspender package that comes on both bikes is very capable and every bit a match for last year's bikes - a surprise, given the radically new chassis they are supporting. We reckon the new 50mm shaft on the Sachs shck produces an improved performance over the long haul. With a greater oil volume, it's less inclined to fade when it gets really hot under the heat of battle. It tracks well under acceleration but we found it to pack down a little in the arse-end on braking bumps and unleash its energy by kicking the rider in the bum. It's better than last year's bike in this department, but the shock still runs too much rebound damping, even with the clickers backed right off.

The Marzzochi fork has a good progressive action throughout the stroke, but it goes through the stroke far too easily despite the extra travel with the TC-spec fork on the bikes this year. Husky has gone up from a 0.42kg/mm spring last year to a 0.45kg/mm unit this year with plusher valving, but even for the average 75kg rider, it will bottom out much too easily. Fast guys will look for a 0.48 spring real quick to get this thing sitting up in its stroke and offering better resistance to bottoming. We also thought that the Marzzochi's notoriously average mid-valve compression damping still needs some work. With the steeper fork this year, more emphasis is put on the compression damping to take the hits effectively, and a little fine-tuning is still required to help top the bike feeling stiff in the mid-stroke and then falling throught it on the larger hits.

Like any registerable machine answerable to stringent ADR requirements, the TEs come out with a pretty performance sapping baffle in the mufflers. To remove it, the muffler is removed from the pipe and the baffle's lip welds are busted and the baffle removed. For about $40, a Husky Imports Powercre unit is used in its place. The minor mod makes the bikes breathe much better and it broadens the low and mid-range appreciably. Note that some riders will like the standard baffle left in the 570. It's a big bore with lots of torquey grunt off the bottom and average riders should reserve judgement about the Powercore mod until they've ridden the bike and know they can handle the increased off the bottom punch it delivers. Once the baffle has been removed and the airbox cover drilled out to help the bike breathe better, jetting mods must also be done to make the TE rev cleaner through the entire range. Out of the box, the bikes are jetted very rich. Even by throwing more air at them with the airbox and muffler mods, you still need to go leaner. Here's what we found to work best:

The compact 400cc TE powerplant gets a new high comp piston and pumper this year. The result is some more revs up top and improved throttle response. With the restrictive baffle taken out of the standard muffler on both bikes for the test, we rejetted the bikes a little leaner (see jetting table) and performed a few airbox mods to let them breathe the way they want to. The holes (already stamped into the airbox cover by the factory) are fully drilled out and the gauze is added. The footpegs are repostioned further back, giving big blokes more space and improving the riding position.

Smart Husky riders have been welding a washer behind their gear lever in recent years to help spread the load on the clutch case in the event of a crash. With the Husky's reversed engine configuration, the design is not optimal. The end of the gear level is very close to the centre of the clutch case on the left hand side and sure enough, we holed the clutch cover in a relatively minor crash. The crsuhed end of the gear lever also shows signs that it could be strengthened.

So how will the TEs sell in the ultra-competitive four-stroke market of 2001? Well they are priced to sell. At $10,495 (+ORC) for the 400 and $10,895 for the 570, they are cheaper than the VORs, KTMs and Bergs, and only a few hundred bucks pricier thatn the Suzuki DR-Z and the Yamaha W-F. While the rest of the boys have been creeping north with their prices, the Husqvarnas have remained conspicuously steady and are in a position of price competitveness that they've never been in before. Throw the all new nimble handling into the equation, the user friendly engines, and the vastly improved ergos ans riding position, and there are some pretty compelling reasons to cast a second thought toward a Husky TE in 2001. If the other manufacturers continue to be dogged by supply troubles, Husky might just be there to clean up in a big way.

This article appears in
Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine
Issue # 258, March 2001