Big Thumps, Big Bucks
Big Thumps, Big Bucks
CW COMPARISON
Husaberg FE650E vs. Vertemati 501 E: TWice the price, double the fun?
JIMMY LEWIS
AWRIGHI, I'M GOING TO COME CLFAN HERE. This is the best job in the world. Even if, after the exorbitant high pay and short hours. extended vacation time and party-like atmosphere, every SO often you do have to hunker down and work.
Take this month, for instance: Right after chauffeuring around Leeann Tweeden for our power-cruiser comparison, I had to go out and put these two very exotic and pricey off-road Thumpers through their paces. Never mind that recent rains made for traction measurable in g forces, on ground conditions reassembling chocolate cake. Best of all, my mom ghostwrites 90 percent of my stories from notes 1 make on Jack in the Box napkins between riding sessions.
Hard time separating fantasy from reality? That’s almost a prerequisite to owning one of these posh-’n’pricey dirtbikcs. Expensive, exotic, trick and rare, these hulking Thumpers cause grown men to get all dewyeyed and blubbery.
Vertemati, the Italian outfit that previously developed VOR dirtbikes before selling out and moving on, is a newbie here in that this is the company’s first real year of mass-producing motorcycles-though “mass” ain't exactly the right word. Husaberg, on the other hand, could be considered an elder statesman. Around since the late 1980s, it was reinvented by proud Swedes of Husqvama heritage who set out to build the ultimate lightweight four-stroke after Husky pulled up stakes and moved to Italy courtesy of the Cagiva buyout.
Like twins separated at birth, both of these bikes revel in obscure, non-conventional designs that are remarkably similar-though in the end they’re distinctly different motorcycles.
Similarities start with the liquid-cooled, four-valve engines-and, yes, it’s odd not having cylinders bolted on top of centercases. Both bikes integrate the cylinder into the crankcase, creating a “block" with a liner inside. The Vertemati has a nonsplittable case, everything coming out through the side, crank and cassette transmission alike. Kickstarting on the Vert requires only a simple stab on the lever thanks to primary kickstarting, a big improvement over the nonprimary, needs-to-be-in-neutral VORs we've tested before. The forward-swinging kickstarter is awkward at first, but soon becomes secondnature. One-prod fire-ups are the norm.
On the Husaberg, the engine cases split vertically with a pinchcd-in cylinder liner. Unique is the rearward location of the countcrbalanccr, which rides behind the crank, the tiny electric “re-starter" above and behind that. (Sometimes, you need the normal kickstarter for cold starts, but can revert to the button once the engine’s been running.)
Both bikes have air filters that reside under the gas tank-or where the gas tank would be in the case of the Vertemati, which has its fuel cell under the seat. And beneath the seat of the Husaberg is, well, air-nothing lighter, they say. Linkageless rear suspensions with WP PDS shocks, just like KTM’s, grace both bikes.
HUSABERG FE65OE Price . $7595 Dry weight 257 lb. Fuel capacity . . . 2.4 gal. Seat height 37.5 in. Footpeg height. . 16.5 in. Ground clearance . 14 in. Wheelbase 58.6 in. A Full-featured enduro bike ready for all conditions A Packs a punch yet doesn't beat you up A Starts with a button owng v Stingy, 2.4-gallon gas tank v Did the sidepanel fall off or is that where the auxiliary gas tank goes?
Riding these fourstrokes is all about that high-dollar roosting experience. But there’s none of your new-age, whippersnapper, rev-happy motoThumpcr hit here. Instead, they have more traditional fourstroke power. The Vertemati summons up big power strokes, and you feel each one. Every time the sparkplug fires, it sends a shiver down the rod and right through to the back tire. There’s a very gradual and deliberate build of power, and thank God for those three extra strokes before it combusts again, because the Vert means business every time it lights up. It revs to a million (13,000 rpm, to be exact, with no rev-limiter), but takes its time working through the top end so it’s all useable. The 501 is like a finely tuned race motor with an enduro flare and smoothness, no doubt aided by a cam that’s a bit pulled back from the MX model’s. And Thump-fanatics take note: The Vert's exhaust noise alone is almost worth the price of admission. Super stuff.
Husaberg’s FE650 is a refreshing experience compared to the last over-500cc ’Berg we sampled. Off the bottom, it's tame and oh-so-smooth, while still being very responsive and snappy. The previous Brutish Barkmaster mode is saved ’til the midrange, where you’re good and ready for it. And the ’Berg keeps on singing into the top end, revving quite a bit quicker than the Vertemati, but geared for the moon to compensate. This is a sleeper motor if there ever was one. Flick the handlebar-mounted ignition-timing switch to High, and the engine gets even more boost from the midrange on up. Too much for most conditions, we found, so we left it in Low and were happy.
Which bike is faster? It’s nearly a tie. The Husaberg would always burst out quicker, its quicker-revving nature helping it off the line, then the Vertemati would catch up and pull a little through the midrange on, until the 650’s tall sixth gear came into play (we’re talking more than 90 mph here). Overall, the Husaberg has a lower first gear and a taller sixth, a true wide-ratio transmission. The Vertemati has more of a semi-wide-ratio tranny, better suited to grand prix work than true Baja high-speed or trials-like plonking. Shifting on both bikes is a bit notchy compared to Japanese motocrossers, except for full-power upshifts on the Vertemati, which are magically smooth.
Different-fee ling motors, different-feeling frames. The Husaberg’s cage is made from very traditional chromoly steel tubing, with a large single rectangular backbone. It seems more “enduro-tuned” in that it allows a certain amount of flex, good for feedback. The 2.4-gallon gas tank surrounds a framemounted air filter, and for the first few minutes feels slightly wide. The seat is refreshingly plush for a European dirtbike. The 48mm WP fork is set quite soft standard, but we were able to stiffen it up with the clickers. Ditto for the linkageless rear shock, which now has high-speed-compression adjustability.
VERTEMATI 501 E Price $9800 Dry weight . 270 lb. Fuel capacity . . . 2.2 gal. Seat height 37.8 in. Footpeg height. . 16.8 in. Ground clearance 13.6 in. Wheelbase 59.2 in. A Hand-built works bike A Factory motor, insane per formance, sound to die for A Funky Italian coolness, sim ple styling, looks that last owns v Can I write off the interest on my taxes? v Even one-kick starting is too much at this price
You can turn the 650 into a magic-carpet mush ride worthy of dual-sporting, but then the bike takes on a slightly wallowy nature at speed. With 10-15 clicks of compression, though, it holds itself up well enough to pound whoops without being too stiff and uncompliant. The best part of this suspension is that it resists bottoming much better than you'd think for being so soft initially. And until you are down to crawl speed, the bike feels much lighter than its 257-pound dry weight would have you believe. It feels much more like a motocross bike than an XR650. Turning is very light, and it drops into comers quite easily-just be careful not to let it knife in.
No such worries with the Vertemati. Its twin-spar, perimeter-style steel frame has a very rigid feel, complemented by true works WP suspension, right down to the titanium-nitride coating on the fork sliders. The front end especially has a very firm feel, and lets you know what is under the front tire at all times. The rear is a match, sometimes feeling too stiff unless ridden aggressively. Typical of works suspension is that true “damped” feel without any inconsistencies. We backed off both ends for a more compliant ride, useful for tight trail work, especially if wet roots and rocks were on the day’s menu. Bottoming, as you might imagine, is not a problem.
Turning the Vertemati requires patience. It isn’t a flickand-go bike, but likes to flow. Without a traditional gas tank, the bike actually can feel too narrow-the rider sometimes gets too far forward when loading the front end for turns. Straight up and hauling ass, the 501 is, above all else, very stable, and refuses to shake its head when hitting stuff at speed. The Vert’s attitude is, “Show me another bump, ’cause I’m done with that one!” It doesn’t feel overly heavy, certainly nothing like its shocking 270-pound dry scale reading. In lock-to-lock tight turning, just like the Husaberg, it hits the steering stops sooner than we’re used to.
These aren’t regular bikes in terms of maintenance, either. High performance requires regular wrenching-make that real regular. Checking the oil on these babies is as commonplace as filling the gas tank, especially if hard running at high speed is on the agenda. They both bum a small amount of oil, but blow out even more through valvecover-mounted breathers. The Husaberg eats its own spew through its airbox, while the Vertemati has a catch tank, and throws the excess past that into the right frame rail, which acts as a holding tank. Also, know that long-range riding isn’t an option: Averaging 25 mpg and holding just over 2 gallons each, these bikes require miserly throttle hands on rides over 50 miles.
Down to the bits and pieces, and the subtleties that can make or break bikes with price tags like these. Only the Husaberg comes with handguards and a spark arrestor hidden inside that bazooka of a muffler. Our ’Berg even came with an optional “H-style” graphics kit ($106). Oh, and don't tell anyone down at the DMV, but tumsignals and a horn are usually included in the box these bikes come in; switchgear, too.
What didn't we like? Well, the non-counterbalanced Vertemati vibrates so much at ultra-high rpm that you don’t need a rev-limiter; it will shake you into shutting off! We’re told future bikes will get rubber-mounted bar clamps. And getting to that underseat gas tank mies out quick pit stops. As for the Husaberg, it’s always seeping oil from someplace or another.
Which bucks-up Thumper wins here is hard to say because these bikes are so different and offer unique definitions of what an enduro bike should be. The Vertemati is a focused, hard-edged racebike that will impress you every second you ride it. Perfect for a one-hour GP, also capable of a trail ride or a motocross race, it’s performance without excuses. The Husaberg has a softer edge to it (even in price), and versatility that rivals anything out there: electric re-starting, cushy enough to ride all day (provided you’ve got gas stops planned), packing a horsepower punch ready for any hill, drag race or deep sandwash. We found ourselves fighting over the Vertemati around natural-terrain grass tracks and eyeballing the Husaberg for trail rides.
But do you really want a dirtbike crowding five-figures? Or even $7500? Common sense would write these two off as frivolous purchases without much justification. But while out testing, we laughed aloud after upshifting all the way to the top of sandhills that eat 400cc Thumpers alive and melt 250cc two-strokes. We stopped after endless roosting around a GP track and asked, “Is this twice as much fun, or what?” It was. For some strange reason, these bikes possess qualities that amplify the riding experience to a level that you don’t get with a “regular” bike. Hey, you only live once. Open up the drainplug on your wallet and give ’til it hurts.
