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CRF or Berg?

By farmerj,
in Husaberg Motorcycles

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husabuzzard

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The pros of the Berg: It's one of the best woods bikes ever, not everyone has one, (have you considered the FE450?). Honda pros: It's a great bike, parts and accessories galore. It really comes down to your own personal tastes. It would be a good idea to get a test ride on a Berg.

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Grand Master

Piney Woods

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Of about 15 guys I know who bought the 70degree Bergs, only one still have one. He has two but now has a KTM 350 also. That's what he rides 90% of the time. He only rides one of the Bergs for DS. Many different opinions concerning the 70 degree thing. Because they are no longer produced and kinda quirky, resale in the future will be very suspect unless you stumble across that "quirky" buyer. How much $$$ do you want to risk on finding that guy?

Edited by YHGEORGE
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Duken4evr

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The FE450 Berg pros over the CRF:

1) Spot on fuel injection regardless of elevation and temperature. The powerband is pure perfect enduro.

2) The 'Berg has uniquely light steering for a 450cc enduro.

3) The trans in the FE450 is perfection. Low 1st, overdrive 6th, perfect everywhere in between.

The FX is more of a closed course hare scrambles bike.

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Crus

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Hi Jeff,

I own 4 bikes. A 2010 450 berg, 2007/2008 crf 450x and 2013 fe 350.

The berg outshines the Hondas in every way except parts and accessories are cheaper and easier to get for the Hondas.

The Honda is much heavier like 125+kg compared to 108-110kg. The berg has lower centre of gravity and hydrolic clutch and efi etc. you can't compare them! The 450 berg feels like a toy it's so nimble whereas the Honda feels like a sled (doesn't turn in tight stuff). The list goes on...

If you can afford it however I would get one of te newer bergs as I've had some technical problems with my 2010 berg, namely the fuel pump overheats.

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Hans Schmid

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Hi Jeff,

I own 4 bikes. A 2010 450 berg, 2007/2008 crf 450x and 2013 fe 350.

The berg outshines the Hondas in every way except parts and accessories are cheaper and easier to get for the Hondas.

The Honda is much heavier like 125+kg compared to 108-110kg. The berg has lower centre of gravity and hydrolic clutch and efi etc. you can't compare them! The 450 berg feels like a toy it's so nimble whereas the Honda feels like a sled (doesn't turn in tight stuff). The list goes on...

If you can afford it however I would get one of te newer bergs as I've had some technical problems with my 2010 berg, namely the fuel pump overheats.

Of course a 450x would be heavier. A 450r is lighter then a Berg though.....

The lightest my FX450 ever got was 264lbs full. That was with a lighter battery, aluminum sprockets etc etc. How were you able to lose another 20lbs on top of that?

Edited by originalmonk
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Experienced

MaddogYZ

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The Berg has much better power delivery for the woods and is better in every way than the CRF EXCEPT for the weight of picking it up off the ground and resale. If you just hack around and play ride get the CRF. If you want a bike setup specifically for the woods without spending a grand converting a Jap mx bike get a ktm.

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Duken4evr

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Did not even occur to me you were considering a CR450R. That is a whole different animal, with the opertive word being animal.

Would not want to attempt technical enduro riding on an "R" though. 1st gear too tall, power too explosive. It is possible to have too much. I would still go with the "X" for off road though. 450 MX bikes are fun off road for about 10 minutes of shits and giggles but if you are really riding in true hard core off road terrain, they quickly kick your ass. Wrong tool for the job. An enduro bike sucks on an MX track, and an MX bike sucks equally bad off road, unless you are a pro, the bike is dialed in right, and you are riding more open terrain.

Edited by Duken4evr
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Polishhammer

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After having both of these bikes I can tell you the crf450 r efi bike is not a good woods bike.

Great MX bike , but flames out, stalls, overheats and then turns into a bear to start, gear ratios in trans are bad for offroad, oil circulation issues around clutch overheat everything even rekluses.

I tried all the bolt on fixes to make this a good hares ramble bike, but on you courses it always showed its ugly side. Heck even Thad Duvall gave up on it and races a 250f in gnccs now.

The berg is a great all around bike that requires a suspension set up and then handles good. Not as good as a crf on MX tracks but offroad it's the berg that's hands down better IMO from experience.

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farmerj

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Good replies. I ride a GasGas 300, and have always read about the 450s being bad in the woods, flame out, stiff suspension, etc. - then I got on my buddy's '04 CRF 450R and had a blast, even on tight singletrack. Yes, if I was racing enduros it would be the wrong tool; but for play-riding I was surprised at how light and nimble it was, it turned well - and yes, the gearing was wrong, but it seemed like a Rekluse would fix that (good input on that subject, Polishhammer.) So I started thinking that all of the "bad press" on heavy Hondas had to do with the "X."

I'll probably give the Berg a try. So one more question, notwithstanding knowing that I need to just go ride one.

I've heard they have a loud "intake honk," with the air filter right in front of the seat. I'm thinking that will annoy me.

Did that bother any of you?

Thanks,

Jeff

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Grand Master

OZ DRZ

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i haven't had a CRF so can't comment on them except i know guys who ride them and there seems to be the usual amount of maintenance and rebuilds after certain number of hours...

one area the 70 degree bergs shine is how long they go for with nothing more than oil changes. the valves pretty much never move. a few race teams have rebuilt them at 10000km to 15000km and said everything was like new and they didn't need any attention. with easy riding some are getting to 45000km without rebuilds.

in terms of being "quirky" most of the parts are ktm and all will be available for years to come. as someone said above, just get a test ride. the vast majority of 70 degree berg owners are seriously in lurv and

!
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