My Husqvarna 701 Left Me Stranded In The Middle Of The Dinaric Rally!

The Dinaric Rally is one tough race. Long, hot and messy. I thought My Husqvarna 701 Enduro would be up for the job... And it was... At least up to a point. Yet sometimes, setbacks can result in something beautiful... Long story short, I loved this rally... And everyone involved in it!

Thanks for the thumbnail image go to Irina Petrichei!

Thanks to everyone for watching! If you liked it, please leave a like, subscribe to this channel for more and drop us a comment! Also, give us a follow on:

[Dukenevr]

That is a rough go! Sorry all that happened.

I'm in Colorado and own a '23 701 Enduro. As delivered the new 690/701 need prep work to undo issues forced on them by emissions concerns, which causes them run really hot. A few things I believe will help these bikes live a lot longer, and increase performance at the same time:

1) Replace the stock radiator thermo switch for a much lower temp 80/85C (176/185F) unit. The stock switch is set to 102C / 215F which is ridiculously hot. The lower temp switch will cause the fan to run all the time when going slow off road, but that's fine, the electrical system can handle it and the fan doesn't seem to mind the extra run time. I replaced my bike's headlight with a Cyclops LED unit, so the overall draw on the electrical system is probably lower anyway - I've had no charging issues with the fan running a lot more while off road.

2) Toss the hot and restrictive stock exhaust in favor of the can of your choice (I have a Yosh RS-4 and love it) but don't stop there. The bikes are fueled extremely lean, especially in the low RPM and part throttle zone where they spend all their time while riding off road. At the very least, get an inexpensive O2 sensor eliminator to richen up the part throttle fueling. Better yet, add a Power Commander 6 with Rottweiler's map. Massive power gains and it runs much cooler set up this way.

3) The stock air filter needs attention as it is prone to leaking dust where the filter meets the airbox. I replaced mine with a Twin Air foam filter, that is working great with no dust leaks. While in there, I removed the underside of the snorkel so it spreads dirty air evenly over the filter instead of concentrating it all at the front. I did not shorten the snorkel, just removed it's "bottom" when looking at it from the underside of the airbox lid. I noticed no change in intake sound.

4) The stock .59 fork springs are way too soft and unbalanced with the .72 rear spring. I put .65 springs in my bike, it is much better in rocks as the forks stay up in the stroke like they should instead of riding in the harsh mid stroke and beating the rider senseless. In contrast, the shock and it's .72 spring are pretty good. I set the laden sag and clickers to the "sport" settings and have no complaints with the shock for the bike's intended use. I weigh 205 in full gear and ride at a good clip off road.

For reference sake, my "real" dirt bike is a 300 XC which I race desert on now and then. The 701 is not a "real" dirt bike, but is really fun to ride off road if the rider is respectful of what the bike really is - a heavy single cylinder dual sport with an unusual amount of power. An interesting trait these bikes have - for their weight they steer really accurately on road and off, much better than the DR-Z 400 dual sport I had years ago.

5) People think I'm nuts, but the stock gearing on these bikes is way too short, especially after getting the engine running right. Running 16/45 sprockets on mine, this makes 1st gear useful from 8 to 25 MPH, which actually covers most trail situations. The taller 1st is barely noticeable when going really slow as the clutch is great and there is so much low end power with the fueling richened up.

Best of all, it has "legs" on the road and cruises easily at 70-75 MPH. I expected better street manners but was surprised I like the taller gearing better while off road too. 1st always felt like it ran out quickly and then I was lugging it in 2nd, so there was a lot of shifting between 1st and 2nd.

Years ago I had an '83 XL600 which cruised nicely on the freeway. I went on the "Gearing Commander" website and looked up the gearing on the XL and compared it to my '23 701, the stock gearing on the 701 was much shorter. With 16/45 sprockets, my 701's 1st and 6th gears closely match my old 5 speed XL's 1st and 5th. Of course my 701 rips in a way that the old XL could only dream of. Another unexpected benefit, the quck shifter works better with the taller gearing.

These aren't race bikes, but they are high performance dual sports. If ya want a stone simple dual sport I would consider the Honda XR650L. They are much lower performance, but easy to tune to get them running properly, their fuel capacity is easy to increase and their suspension can be made better pretty easily. A set up 650L can be a very nice bike and they are pretty much bombroof reliable. The 690/701 is so much more modern and literally has half again more power, which doesn't matter off road, but it does on the street.

It was a bit of an expensive journey to get it where I want it, but I love my 701, it really is more fun than I should probably be allowed to have. Oh ya, there are wheelies, lots of those 😆

[rosucristi]

1. Thanks for the radiator
2. Always buy new 😂
3. Thanks for the gearshift lever
4. Let’s do it again my friend!

[jace]

Honestly man, every time I watch your videos I'm just amazed that you don't have more subs. You're content plan, video quality, editing quality is at the level where I keep expecting a 250k sub minimum on your channel. No idea how for you to get there, but you got the ground work done easily. Best off luck with the bike and channel.

Video Idea: I've seen people discuss the Kove 450 Rally here and there and I think it's trying to fill that role of the "unicorn" bike. This far there are not a lot of videos on it, and honestly not even sure you can get it in EU. But that one might be one of those videos, that if you are early, it could gain some nice traction for the channel. Or not, could also be totally wrong on that one.

[ianross]

Great effort and a sad ending. I have a 690 Enduro that I bought and rode in the US last week for the first time covering c. 500 miles of mixed roads/trails flawlessly. I think “dual sport”sells it short but it’s certainly heavy compared to dedicated enduro bikes. I think it’s a superb machine that is very capable on and off road but isn’t a competition machine. My need is to be able to be dual purpose with good off-road capabilities but keep up with a Tiger 900 on the road sections of a big ride on the TAT next year. It’s exactly what I’d hoped for and potentially a replacement for my 890 Adventure, itself a superb road bike, but not, for me a bike I’d take off-road. I look forward to the rebuild video……

[JimmyStewpot]

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ❤

[EstebanDVO]

One more point for the Japanese brands! Love rally videos though.

[seanwarren]

Well done. It is always the people you meet on these events that make it memorable. As you said, there is always next year. I enjoy your vids, keep them coming. The heat can be a real killer, I know this well from living in Australia

[phuLphiL]

Wow. Well done Video. Just stumbled across it via a friend. subscribed!

[ivanburazin]

My radiator had a crack on the same place like your friend. I have a 701, 2021.... My friend had a crack on the same place on his 690 2020....

[lukinoway]

had the exact same issue on my 2017 model.

in 2018 it just died on a trip to nepal. now after doing some maintenance, i had similar issues back home...
personally i belive that either the fuel mapping is too lean or the cooling system is not tuned that well.

[peternaur]

Damn... I own a 701. Had the head gasket replaced after 8000 kms. Also had an empty radiator.
Previous owner changed piston rings to combat oil consumption. Allegedly, he didn't tighten the bolts correctly. At least that is what the workshop told me. Hasn't exactly increased my confidence in the bike. But damn it is fun!

Husqvarna: Easy to love, hard to trust.

[manu]

Wow, that's a hell of a video edit and really nice way to tell the story.
Sad you did not have the joy to finish the dinaric, but you will next time around!
If you'd like to enjoy some POV of the other riding days, feel free to head to my channel ;)

[BadAssEngineering]

I wanted to buy a KTM 790 adv, so I joined a kTM FB group, and after seeing all the nightmares the owners go through, like yourself, made me change my mind and instead got an Indian FTR.

Sadly, KTM/GasGas/Husqvarna makes great performing bikes that won't last longer than a Chinese one...

[franckbrunie]

Interesting! Trying to learn about my 701 to make a long range Marocco rally. So is it simply your bike did run too hot? I notice doing a bit of clutch work makes it easily run the fan, but otherwise not hot with stock air box and wings exhaust. What went wrong? Which year Model? Did you tune the suspension to make it less tiring but still capable? Which tripmaster with remote did you use? Is the radiator basically fragile, or your friend was unlucky? I personally moved from 501 to 701 because doing long distances on a 501 eats up a lot of engine potential, and I am also fed up building/unbuilding between rally/enduro setups.

[fluffycat]

Any bike you race is a race bike. Just race prep it. Lock wire and locktite nuts and bolts. I have old RFS motor 450exc as well as 701 they are made the same, just prep it. Radiators on I think all models 690, 701 have many complaints of cracking. It’s possible this is remedied after 2022 model years, not sure.

[wheels.are.better.than]

Did the Honda CRF300L finish? Just curious.

[yeltesoete]

You just got unlucky man! don't think a dedicated "race bike" or dual sport is the reason. I ride my adv r pretty hard and no probs. Modern single cilinders are just more delicte + have more vibrations to rattle bolts loose... . Same could've happened with an enduro or rally bike!

[krazed]

Is the 701 back on the road and running again? Any further issues?

[jace]

I clicked on this video because I'm interested in a 701, but my attention soon derailed to figure out what the Babushka behind you was up to....

[luisquiroga]

this is why honda needs to bring back the XR650R. make it fuel injected and add a 6th gear (this is not even necessary honestly)