FULL TEST: HUSQVARNA FC350

There’s nothing more to prove. The 350cc motor has done everything it can do; it has won motocross championships, earned off-road titles and become a massive sales success. Yet, there are still detractors. If it’s legit, why aren’t there other 350s, and why don’t Jason Anderson and Ryan Dungey ride them?
Let them say what they will. As of 2015 Husqvarna officially gave buyers a second choice in the 350 MX bike class, and while Japan hasn’t yet joined in, the truth is undeniable. The 350 just works.

HUSKY LEGACY
The 2017 Husky FC350 has just been announced with few changes, but the 2016 tested here is still available everywhere. The model was available for the first time in 2015, and the 2016 model was completely new. Virtually no parts are interchangeable with the 2015 engine. It does retain the same bore, stroke, layout and configuration. It has a five-speed gearbox, a double-overhead-cam head with a very sophisticated valve train and a very high redline of 14,000 rpm. The Husky is electric-start only; there’s no provision for a kickstarter. Compared to 2015 the new motor is 20mm shorter from front to back and almost 3 pounds lighter. The cams, piston, generator and cylinder are all redesigned to be lighter. The 44mm throttle body is new, too, and much simpler without throttle linkage.
There’s more of the same attention to weight reduction in the chassis, bringing the total weight loss to around 7 pounds—although much of that is the switch to a lithium battery. For those obsessed with the differences between Husqvarna and KTM models, there are several. The most obvious is the styling. The Husky has completely different bodywork. The Husky’s airbox is integrated with the subframe as one big polyamid unit. The muffler is different. The Husqvarna has a Magura clutch master cylinder, Dunlop MX52 tires and the suspension settings are different. The people at KTM’s corporate headquarters are a little cagey about the parts that are shared between KTM and Husky. They know that you know the two companies are under one roof, but they have worked very hard to maintain separate identities. For the record the KTM and the Husky do have different identities, but not that different.

350 POWER MANAGEMENT
We’re not going to bore you with redundant descriptions of how the 350 bridges the gap between a 250 and a 450. You already know that. In truth, it’s not relevant to compare an FC350 to 250s because it doesn’t have to race against them; it was made for the 450 class. When you compare it to a 450, nothing is quite what you expect. First of all, there’s very little peak-horsepower difference. The peak power of the 350 is in the low 50-horsepower range, which is about the same as a Honda, Kawasaki or Suzuki. The 350 gets most of its power through revs. Remember, the formula for horsepower is torque in foot-pounds times rpm, divided by 5252. The power peak on the 350 is around 12,000 rpm and a 450 peaks at 9000 rpm, so the fact that they arrive at the same final number is just an accident of math. They feel completely different. A 450 is a rumbling beast that commands respect. The 350 is friendlier and wants to be revved and revved.
That’s where unexpected fact number two comes in. You would think the 350 would have to be shifted more often. Not so. The 350 has a very long, working powerband. It’s just very high on the tach. The Husky 350 is making a ton of power any time it’s above 9000 rpm, which gives you 5000 rpm to work with before any shifting comes into play. Then consider that you don’t always want a ton of power. You have another 4000 rpm in the lower part of the powerband where the motor is making forward motion but not accelerating hard. Going from the forward-motion zone to the ton-of-power zone is a matter of clutch use. A 450 has a mild zone, too, but it’s right on the brink of stalling. In truth it takes more skill to keep a 450 in the right rpm zone. As for those struggling with the Husky-versus-KTM 350 question, there isn’t much in the motor department to separate them. The Husky’s silencer has a baffle that makes it quieter and perhaps makes the power hit a little more smoothly, but there’s not much difference in sheer acceleration.

HANDLING, WEIGHT & SUSPENSION
Next on our list of things that aren’t what you would expect is the FC350’s weight. Yes, at 229 pounds without fuel it’s light, and yes, it lost about 7 pounds for 2016. But it’s not lighter than all the 450s. To be more specific, it’s not lighter than the KTM 450SX-F Factory Edition. That bike was 224 pounds with its air fork and titanium silencer. The bottom line is that both bikes are light. To the rider, the Husky 350 feels much lighter than any 450 because most of a bike’s handling traits come from its motor. With less rotating mass the 350 has less gyro effect and is much easier to manhandle. Then there’s also the matter of engine braking, which can create a sensation of mass. The 350 has less engine braking than a bigger bike, but it should be pointed out that the higher the rpm, the greater the engine braking.
Just like KTM, Husqvarna lets WP handle the suspension for both ends of the bike. As it turns out the WP 4CS fork is on about half the bikes we’ve tested this year, so we talk about it a lot. It has a number of things going for it. It’s predictable. It handles big hits well, and it holds the front wheel on. What we don’t like is the comfort level. The 4CS fork makes you feel like you’re riding on the hardest ground in the world. When you have a number of small, rapid impacts on the Husky 350, your eyeballs shake so much it can be hard to focus. Reducing the compression damping (the clicker on top of the left fork leg) doesn’t help much, because it only affects big hits. The good news is that it doesn’t get any worse as you go faster. If a KYB or Showa felt this rough at three-quarter speed, you would expect total chaos at full tilt.
The shock never does anything wicked or even uncomfortable. Most riders like it best with 105 to 110mm of sag. The faster you go on the Husky, the better it handles. Now that the 2017 FC350 has been announced with an air fork, the 4SC is the only real drawback to the 2016.

MIDDLEWEIGHT MAGIC
When it’s all sorted out, the front suspension on the Husky is about all we have to complain about, and it can be fixed by a savvy suspension tuner. So back to our original question: Why doesn’t it win AMA Pro races? It’s not so mysterious. Anderson and Dungey need every scrap of power, torque and sheer acceleration they can get to beat each other. They don’t care about comfort. They don’t care about any perceptions of weight, and they never get tired. There aren’t that many people in the world who can say that. The Husky 350 is for everyone else.
HAPPY HUSKY
• Excellent middleweight platform
• Still very powerful
• Makes the 350 class a class
• Excellent Brembo brakes
• Electric start

GRUMPS & GRIPES
• Harsh fork
• Hard clutch pull
• Cold-blooded
2016 HUSQVARNA FC350
Engine type: Electric-start, four-valve
DOHC four-stroke
Displacement: 349cc
Bore & stroke: 88.0mm x 57.5mm
Fuel delivery: 44mm Keihin EFI
Fuel tank capacity: 1.9 gal.
Transmission: 5-speed
Lighting coil: No
Spark arrestor: No
EPA legal: No
Weight, no fuel: 229 lb.
Wheelbase: 58.5″
Ground clearance: 14.6″
Seat height: 37.8″
Tire size & type
Front: Dunlop MX52F 100/80-21
Rear: Dunlop MX52 100/90-19
Suspension
Front: WP 4CS, adj air, rebound, comp, 11.8″ travel
Rear: WP piggyback, adj. preload, comp, rebound, 11.8” travel
Country of origin: Austria
Price: $9199
Importer: www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com