Rear Wheel Steering

Spring has been really aggravating my I-don’t-have-a-motorcycle allergy luckily I found a very effective prescription:  2008 Husqvarna te610.  I developed the allergy at a young age, you can read all about it about it here, but this is a discussion of how I landed myself on the Husky rather than some other bike.

 

 

Since I sold my 88 Honda Hawk I’ve had the itch to replace it.  In fact I made sure my fiancé knew when I sold it that I’d be getting another bike with the money at some point.  I sold the Hawk because I was short on cash and the way I was riding it was scaring the beejesus out of me.  Every where I went I had the need to peg the throttle and I found myself thinking about buying a bigger more powerful bike.  I decided it was time to get away from street bikes. 

 

My house is literally 4 minutes from the closest logging road which, if you navigate right, meanders for a few hundred miles without touching pavement again.  Lower speed, less traffic, great scenery... I’m thinking Dualsport is the right machine for where I live.  So I started looking at bikes. 

 

My first plan is a used Honda XR650L.  It’s a Honda, it must be good, right?  My neighbor has one and he is a total gearhead so I assume that is the best choice and start shopping.  Local dealer wants $5700 for a new one, I use that as my benchmark and hit every Craigslist in the 14 western states.  Pretty quickly I discover that I can buy a new 08 in Portland for $5000, adjust benchmark.  I’m hoping to find a nice used 07 with less than 5000 miles on it for $3500, it doesn’t happen.  Everyone seems to want about $4200 and at that price I’d just assume buy a new one.   I start thinking I need to be shopping for an 05 or 06, hmm, what are the differences between an 05 and an 08? None.  No changes.  In fact there have been no really significant changes since the 1990’s when the bike was introduced.  This is a revelation to me.  I begin to doubt my no-research methodology, maybe my neighbor’s choice was best when he bought the bike but that might not be true today. 

 

I start to actually do my own research.  I decide that weight, power, suspension, and fuel injection are the factors I should be looking for.  The Honda makes about 36 HP, weights 350 lbs, is carbureted and costs $5000, it is the benchmark.  I consider a ton of bikes but  $5900 the demo te610 at my local Husqvarna dealer destroys the price/performance matrix I’ve constructed in my head.  Its fuel injected, weighs ~320 lbs, and makes 50hp at the crank.   Everybody I can find that owns one flat out loves it.

 

I stew over it for week then raid my tax savings account.  I put $xxxx sized wad of cash into my fiancés wedding account and snap a photo of the deposit slip with my phone.  I send her the picture then head down to the dealer.  She calls me when I’m about 3 blocks away.

 

ME: Hi hon, did you get the photo of the money I put in our wedding account sweetie?

 

HER: Yes I did, that’s great!

 

ME: Good.. hey by the way I’m going to buy that red and white motorcycle I showed you the other day.

 

HER: Uh.. Ok.  When?

 

ME: Now.  I’m 3 blocks from the shop, it’s a good value and my itch for a bike isn’t going to go away.

 

What could she say?

 

I rode the bike home.

 

The next morning I took the bike up Tolman Creek road, a winding narrow bit fun on the mountain.  The last time I rode any kind of dirt bike was about 25 years ago, I was stunned.  This bike has an assload of power and that power apparently can and be mixed with rubber and gravel to manufacture traction.  The experience reminded me riding a wave runner. If you idle along, it kind of drifts and wanders but as soon has you hit the throttle you have perfect steering authority, the craft moves with precision.  The bike felt similar in some ways, nailing the throttle when exiting corners produces a rear-steering sort of effect and traction seems to increase as if the bike is being propelled and steered by a jet of gravel shooting out the back.  Dirt bikes have rear wheel steering, who knew?