Husqvarna FE350 Project and Upgrades [Part-2]

[MotoNews]

Published in: Bikes

As the 2016 Husqvarna FE350 rolled onto the trailer to make the journey home from a very muddy session at the fantastic Brushy Mountain Motorsports in North Carolina, I realized it was really showing its age. The badly scuffed body panels had long since lost their ability to shine, the chain and sprockets were toast, and the tires were well past their sell-by date.

With a warped front rotor, and the likely hood of worn bearings in both wheels, unfortunately, at 210 hours of run time it was in bad need of a makeover. The ride home gave me some time to think through my options and I came up with an idea of what to do.

Stopping by to see my good friends at 10 Cycles, our local Husqvarna/KTM dealer here in Charlotte, NC, I sat down with Terry Slifer, a notepad, and paper. It’s what us old guys do when we sketch out a plan. My trusty FE clearly needed some mechanical help, so why not upgrade the performance and looks while we were at it?

With 10 Cycles on board to help out, I took off to prepare. Plus, what a great platform to show the reliability of the Husqvarna brand as the only mechanical issue I’ve had in over the years was one blown fuse.

First, I took the bike and pressure washed the mud and grime off so the mechanics could get to work on a clean machine then made my way over to the shop to get the project started. The tires, chains, sprockets, and rotors were all quickly dispatched. A quick mechanical check showed valves in the specification and correct compression; so just an oil change, oil, and air filter were all what was needed.

If you had read my previous article ("2016 Husqvarna FE350 Long-Term Test") on ADVMoto, I had written about installing a new factory piston and rings at 150 hours and I am happy to say it is doing fine, not drinking any oil, and as noted no loss of compression. We had used factory Husqvarna parts for that rebuild for those interested.

For cosmetic purposes, the badly scuffed engine cases, radiator guards, and foot pegs went out to our friends at Flo Coating to be powder coated shiny black. Wheel bearings, brake rotors, brake pads, and new tires had the wheels taken care of.

The swing arm and steering head bearings were all fine so thankfully there is no need to change them at this point.

We wanted to improve performance, without breaking the bank or sound barrier so scrolled over to Rocky Mountain ATV and purchased a Grunt Manifold with a free-breathing exhaust end cap. The idea was to improve the bottom-end power some, so I could go back to stock gearing and not lose the feeling I had after lowering the gearing.

This was a lot cheaper than going with a full aftermarket exhaust system, and the FE will remain a lot quieter while we are out on the trails.

The last area now needing serious attention was the cosmetics, and for this we reached out to SKDA graphics in Australia. They will create a custom set of graphics for any dirt bike you want at a very reasonable price, so I sent them all my Neale Bayly Rides logos and sat back to see what they came up with. While we were on their web-site we also ordered a black seat cover, and then sourced some black Acerbis plastics to stay on brand.

All we had to do now was wait for SKDA to work their magic. The day the graphics kit arrived from Australia was such a buzz. I think they nailed the design and the quality of their work is amazing and it certainly feels special to have my own custom look.

Slowly all the parts were coming together and with the bike rolling on its new tires and bearings it was time to add the grunt manifold and end cap. For this we removed the bodywork and gave the naked bike one more de-greasing and cleaning.

While we were cleaning up, we took the back end off and removed the rear shock for a good scrubbing and inspection. It’s been off a couple of times at our local suspension guru Mark Hilton of MVR fame for servicing so it wasn’t not in bad condition, but it was a good opportunity to check everything while it was off the bike just in case.

With everything coming together, a new Husqvarna kit bash plate, the powder coated parts in place and the FE just waiting for bodywork we installed the Acerbis plastics. This was the only slightly disappointing part of the project as the kit was difficult to fit. Part of the problem was from crash damage; part from improper mounting places, but with some pushing and shoving it all went on.

The SKDA graphics were a joy and fit to perfection. and standing back to admire the bike I couldn’t have been more pleased. There were of course a few minor details to attend to. New grips, new hand guards and some minor lubing and adjusting of cables and such.

We re-used the Tubliss system when we installed the new tires and I’ve been nothing but impressed since the first installation ... no flat tires.

Big thanks to 10 Cycles and the team for coming up with the idea, the wrenching and parts. Also, to SKDA for such great service and fast turn around and covering for a mistake we won’t talk about.

Now it’s time to go ride and put everything to test with this Husqvarna that keeps on cranking out the miles of smiles. I want to find a suitable venue for its first outing, and with everything fresh, new and ready to roll I’m thinking about perhaps entering my first ever off-road race. At least the bike will look and work good doing it, even if I don’t.

Parts List with Links:

• Bodywork: Acerbis
• Graphics kit: SKDA
• Exhaust end cap and grunt manifold: Rocky Mountain ATV 
• Seat Cover: SKDA
• Powder coating: Flo Coating
• Brake discs, brake pads and wheel bearings: Stock Husqvarna from 10Cycles
• New inne tube system: Tubliss
• Tires: 10Cycles
• Chain and sprockets: Stock Husqvarna from 10Cycles
• Suspension service and upgrade: MVR Suspension
• Skid plate. Stock Husqvarna from 10Cycles

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Neale Bayly has been a moto-journalist photographer for more than twenty years now. During that  time he’s contributed to more than 100 publications around the world. He’s had two National television shows on Speed TV riding motorcycles around the world, and is currently working on a documentary about his 1978 Laverda 1200 Mirage he’s owned for more than 35 years. He’s ridden in more than fifty countries, and also leads adventure motorcycle tours in South Africa and Peru. Check him out on YouTube: YouTube.com/user/Neale786

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