Husky Build Phase 4 – Last Steps before Departure

A special thanks goes at this point to the team of KTM-Mueller everything was last minute. Delivered on 26.03.2019 and not even all parts were there. Ready to pick up 5 working days later and directly on to the shipping company on 6.4. Thanks a lot for making this possible!

On my old KTM 640 Enduro I changed the front 4,4N/mm and the rear from 66N/mm to 85N/mm, adjusted the shim setting and I was happy even with the smaller 43mm fork. The chassis was comfortable, had plenty of traction on any surface and tended to only swing in a sequence of 2-3 whoops. Maybe this could be fixed by adjusting the low speed damping. With this setting I rode the BAM Road in Siberia and crossed Mongolia. My expectations of the Husqvarna chassis were accordingly very high.

I could never fully load Mathilda before the transport date. The chassis of the empty bike felt so hard on the bike that I left the spring despite the bad feeling. The spring preload was also not increased, because this would not have made much sense without a sag measurement when loaded. I was astonished when the situation was so bad that I barely was able to park it on the side stand in Texas. Therefore I went directly to a suspension specialist. Roger advised me not to only increase the spring preload and advised a spring with a spring rate of 90N/mm which he also had in stock. For time reasons only the spring was changed although the compression stage could be reduced and the rebound stage increased. Unfortunately there is not enough time to perfect the dynamic sag, this is very complicated with the adjusting nut.

After Mexico, it was clear I’m not happy. The rear end is hard as a rock and I have to ride far above my comfort speed for the chassis to be reasonably comfortable. So I make an appointment with Racetech. I am concerned that they want to exchange the WP pistons with the so-called gold valve, because Racetech is a certified WP Service Center. I decline and drive on to ESP. The insight that George allows me is unique. I had never seen a shock absorber from the inside before and everything is explained to me in detail. The too low preload is identified as a possible cause besides the high speed compression stage in shimsetting. Consequently the shimsetting for the high speed compression damping is reduced only slightly and an XTrig preload adjuster is mounted. With correctly adjusted sag, things continue.

When I arrive in Colorado, two things are clear to me.

• The spring preload and the only slightly reduced high speed compression stage do not solve my problem
• The fork is much too soft for me and besides the annoying dive while braking it also bottoms out.

As part of the after-sales service, I have the high-speed compression stage of the shock absorber further reduced. Roger had advised me by phone to change the fork springs in a range of 6-6,4N/mm and to reduce the high speed compression further. At Slavens Racing I buy new fork springs with a spring rate of 6,2N/mm, the dimensions of the spring of 44mm x 470mm is 5mm longer than the original springs, which means 5mm more preload. I install the springs together with Greg and leave the 10mm preload bushing for now. A fatal mistake with 15mm preload and 6,2N/mm (compensation for about 20kg more weight) the front wheel becomes extremely light and hardly builds up any grip. I correct the mistake quick and dirty by pushing the fork through and remove the bushings at a later time.