UPDATED Checking the Fuel Range of the Husaberg FE390

Andy was sick.  What to do?  Well I figured today would be a good day, given the excellent weather, to check the fuel range of Ingrid.  And what better way to do it, than to do my traditional April ride up to Hydro Lake.  Round trip is about 100km if I include the blacktop to and from my house via the lake and take a different route back.  

Filling up earlier, I had 80km on the clock and the tank took 5L to top up to its huge capacity of, wait for it, 8.5L which includes the reserve of 2.5L or 1.5L if you modify it (an easy thing to do).  Conservatively, or pessimistically, that means that I was getting 15km per litre.  Hmm.  That means, in theory, I should be able to make at least 120km on a tank.  And that reserve should pop on, at about 90km.  

While at the lake, I could perhaps, if I was so moved, drop a line in the lake to see if anything was happening: it was a week ago last year that I hauled a bunch o trout from this very lake.  Surely today would yield something similar...and if I run out of fuel, raw trout will keep me alive until I've push, pulled and cussed my way back to what we subjectively call "civilization" (although from the finger hoisted my way enroute for having the audacity to merge in front of a cager, you have to wonder if the gap between civilization and red-neck is nothing more than a veneer on the island. Anyway, I digress.  Cool, though, my horn works! - And so does my finger...)

I stopped at the usual bridge and remembered that up ahead, last year, the logging co had shut the gate...Good news.  It was open today.  Given my theoretical limited range, going back and around using  route142 might have proven a journey too far...

Having done my research on the Internet, I had discovered that most 450 and 570 owners seem to get between 65km to 120km before reserve.  Not much help there then, except that 390 should be better?  As mentioned, the total tank capacity of all 3 models is 8.5L.  Reserve on the FE series of bikes is 2.5L, although you can change this to 1.5L fairly easily.  Most owners do, as they lament the "ridiculously large" reserve on these bikes.  What a joke! KTM/Husa owners, you need to know that 2.5L/1.5L is nowt if you've wound your merry way to the back and beyond and the little yellow light comes on. You'd be better to siphon out the gas, start a fire and decide which part of the bike you're going to eat first.  Perhaps the tires, drizzled in a oil reduction? No, then I give you the rubber hand grips, melted in cowling and seat saute? Coming from a bike with a 300km plus range, it was a new experience today to be at all concerned about fuel range on a "routine" jaunt like this.  

The new parking and trail-head for "Hydro" Lake is 500m further on than the old place.  Not entirely satisfactory, as the bike is out in the open rather than hidden from the logging road as was possible with the old access parking area. But, quads and dirt bikes have bought this upon themselves...Too many of them refused to park at the adequate parking space, and instead decided to drive their arses right to the lake.  What a mess.  No wonder steps were taken...You can see the signs...

Getting to the lake from the gas stop was 30km.  On arriving I found that Timberlands has completely changed the access.  They have comprehensively blocked the southwestern access to the lake with a series of boulders and logs laid perpendicular to the trail.  No one is getting through (no, quadders, that isn't a challenge, it's a fact...).  If you want to try it, make sure you bring a second quad with a winch.

Some things never change.  Absolute silence and beautifully scenic.  Unfortunately, there were no bites either...

After several hours of munching and fishing, and adequately skunked as I was, I decided to get back to the plan.  The range. So it was off back to the tank traps via 142 and 15summint....And then I had the plan to try another lake, but it was skunkworthy too.

Anyway the long and short is I got back home with 102km on the clock and no orange reserve light.  Which means one of two things.  The orange reserve light isn't working or, hopefully, it is, and I have more than 2.5L left. 

I'll update this post when I've ridden until the reserve light pops on, filled 'er up, and calculated what my range is on mainly dirt.  On the positive side, the bike is sooo torquey, that loping along in 5th or 6th is easy...I have deliberately kept the revs down today...most of the time.  It is very tempting though, to open Ingrid up and ride the wave... wow! 

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UPDATE.  I finally had enough time to ride the Husa until the reserve light came on.  Mostly dirt, it came on at 140km.  When I filled up though, it took 6.6L, not 6L which gave me a reserve of 1.9L not the vaunted 2.5 L reserve...

So, conservatively, I'm looking at 20km per L.  With 8.5L in the tank plus two 1.5 L fuel containers, I'm looking at a 11L and change.  This gives me a range of 200km+.  That's more comforting than the 80-100km that had been rumoured...
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