My new Italian temptress is a redhead.

[farmerger]

Yeah, quite a bit as a matter of fact. After several hundred kms of FSR and 4WD track the rear fender broke off the bike. I was able to get the replacement parts from the dealer but I had to pay for them myself. The dealer says they should be covered under warranty but because Peirer Holdings bought Husky from BMW the means for Husky to honor the warranty claim is not yet in place. The dealer is hopeful they will have it sorted out in the next few weeks and the warranty should be paid.

I was able to re-enforce the new rear fender by wrapping duct tape around it. That's not as bad as it seems. You can barely see the duct tape and it's worked perfectly in strengthening the rear end. I've put about 7,000 km on the bike (just did the 10,000 km servicing today) since the parts were replaced and there's not a sign of anything failing yet. Over half of that distance has been on FSR and C+/B trails so it looks like the fix has worked.

The bike is an extremely good true dual sport bike. On the highway it's incredibly smooth and handles beautifully. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for long distance touring where you're spending 8 to 10 hours/day in the saddle. Off road the power and suspension is significantly better than the other big singles. The big drawback out of the show room is the tires. The Metzler Saharas do not hook up in the dirt very well. I replaced them with Heidenau K60s but they are not much better. The K60 on the front had a horrible tendency to wash out on gravel roads and were not very good at holding your line in the rougher stuff. I put on a Pirelli MT43 on the front yesterday and a short ride on some gravel indicates that it is a significant improvement.

John

Thanks John, much appreciated. May I ask what you were shopping for in a big thumper, which bikes you considered and why you went with the temptress?

Ger

 

[Farp]

Thanks John, much appreciated. May I ask what you were shopping for in a big thumper, which bikes you considered and why you went with the temptress?

Ger

I wasn't shopping for a big thumper because I was fairly familiar with all of them and none of them really interested me. What initially caught my attention was the Husky Baja concept bike. I really liked the looks of the bike and was hoping they'd release it for sale. One day while surfing around trying to find out about the Baja I came across some online forums about the Terra on ADVrider and Cafe Husky. After reading what those who'd already bought the bike had to say about it I developed a severe case of the "wants" for it.


John

 

[farmerger]

I wasn't shopping for a big thumper because I was fairly familiar with all of them and none of them really interested me. What initially caught my attention was the Husky Baja concept bike. I really liked the looks of the bike and was hoping they'd release it for sale. One day while surfing around trying to find out about the Baja I came across some online forums about the Terra on ADVrider and Cafe Husky. After reading what those who'd already bought the bike had to say about it I developed a severe case of the "wants" for it.


John

Ah, the dreaded "wants"...say no more.

 

[Farp]

I've been really impressed with how well the Terra performs off-road for a bike that's so good on the street. But the question remained about how good it would be as a touring bike so last Saturday and Sunday I decided to find out for sure. I went on a 900 mile tour through Washington State on nothing but paved roads. I rode over everything from freeways to narrow unlined mountain twisties. The Terra performed beautifully. It's got more than enough power to easily handle any freeway and is an absolute hoot to ride on mountain roads. After two 10 to 12 hour days of riding I didn't feel beat up at all and could have happily continued touring for as long as I wanted. The bike is so smooth on the freeway that you just don't get tired and it carves the twisties like a supermoto. I did find it's limits though. I was carving through traffic on the freeway and made a rather abrupt lane change at 145 kph. I pinned the throttle as I started the change and when the bike leaned over it gave me a serious head shake. That got my attention and I won't be doing it again. No harm done though, nothing that a little extra soap in the laundry won't fix . Anybody want to go to laguna Seca for the MotoGP next summer?

John