2014 Husqvarna Te300 Price
2018 Husqvarna TE 300 review
Smooth, refined, top of the tree – but should you wait until the EFI bike comes out?
Lots of braaap, no buzz – that pretty much sums up the 2018 TE300 two-banger, the tantalising pre-cursor to the on-trend TE300i. The TE300 is the non-injected version, a KTM in Husqvarna clothing, with some tasty add-ons to make it a slightly higher-shelf offering. Unlike the TE300i, the carburetted TE300 is in dealers now and really is a bike benefitting from a long development period. It shows the moment you thumb the starter.
Changes for MY18 are small, but worthy: the counter-balanced 300cc two-stroke engine arrived last year and is such a game changer, it hasn't changed save for some refined jetting changes. Until, of course, the fuel injected version arrives early in 2018.
Added to the package are new fork tubes for the WP Xplor 48 fork and mild damping changes, Magura brake calipers and GSK discs, plus a new ProTaper handlebar. The entire 2018 enduro range gets these changes.
Lines not blurred
The sum total of these changes is a two-stroke that still sounds and rides like a two-banger, but without the biggest physical downside of riding a two-stroke – vibration. Husqvarna has managed to retain the lightweight fun of riding a two-banger between the trees, keeping the featherweight turn-in and fierce corner speed without feeling like you've held a jackhammer all day long.
I was splitting trees in the NSW Watagan State Forest, an excellent testing ground thanks to the kilometres of gnarly single track, well-worn due to its proximity to Sydney and containing all kinds of terrain.
One minute you are deep in a rut heading up a hill, before hitting warp factor nine along sandy fire trails, then popping over a rock in first gear to line up corner after tree-root infested corner. Within the first few kilometres, the 300 was proving itself a worthy companion. I'm not sure I would have been any quicker or more comfortable on anything else.
It is surreal winding on a chamber full of two-stroke and getting glide instead of grind through the bars and pegs. It moves the bike closer to feeling like a four-stroke, but luckily – as two-stroke riders don't want a bike that feels like a tractor – it is still very much a two-stroke. Even if you couldn't hear it, you'd know.
Triple treat
Diving into corners, for instance, is a dead giveaway. The reduced inertia of a two-stroke entering a corner, thanks to less weight and much less engine braking, means you can brake late, turn hard and still hold a line. The refined Xplor fork is hard to imagine any better – it handles the braking, turning and bumps all at once, and doesn't do it by behaving stiffer than road kill.
One aspect of the upmarket feel to the Husqvarna are the tool-less adjustment for the fork, such a great thing to have if you like tinkering and know enough about suspension to dial things in as you ride. Compression and rebound damping tweaking can be done with the gloves on, using the bright fork-cap-mounted adjusters and fork preload finessing is just a twist of the trick fork cap adjuster away.
If you don't know much about suspension, this is a great way to learn. Twist in more preload, then ride. Did it feel better or worse? If it felt better, keep twisting in that direction until it doesn't feel better any more, then go back. And vice versa.
The kind of rider who buys a Husqvarna at the price premium above the very similar KTM values this kind of added extra – I certainly did. Spring preload can make a huge difference to how a bike handles and needs changing regularly, to suit conditions or even just after too much Christmas ham. Being able to adjust it in seconds without tools can open up a new world and if you can get a fork to behave exactly as you want it to, then your riding will be more enjoyable, for sure.
The rear shock assists all this, and while rear spring preload still needs tools, the performance of the shock is high-end. A 300cc two-stroke puts a hell of a lot of stress on that shock, whether you are bumbling up a hill with the engine just burbling over, or if you are taps-open over sandy whoops between the trees, it has a real job to do.
The WP unit on this Husqvarna is beautifully balanced with the fork, and the whole sled sits on the trails beautifully.
One the pipe or torque
Our route took us past an old special test track. It's tight, off-camber and full of loose rocks and tree roots – more of a four-stroke track, in other words. I rode it first on a KTM 350EXC-F and dreaded taking the two-stroke in next. A choppy, hyperactive two-banger in tight trees was a not something to be looked forward to!
Instead, I arrived in corners much more settled than I expected, thanks to that suspension, and the super smooth mid-range drive meant my mind was free of dealing with vibes and bucking and I was able to concentrate on keeping the bike on track and on the gas.
Like all 300s, the TE 300 can be ridden on the pipe, or on the torque – grass track, motocross, fire trails, etc. and on the pipe, tight bush, the bike performs brilliantly just rolling the engine over. The TE 300 is brilliant at the latter, aided by the solid suspension package and the new braking package.
Brakes are obviously important on a two-stroke, as they do all the slow down work – there ain't no meaningful engine braking. The new kit has great feel and equally impressive power, letting you slow to the right corner speed consistently and providing enough finesse to guide you over technical stuff.
Crowning glory
This bike's crowning glory is its ability to drop you into a corner fuss-free, then roll you out of it with high-end corner speed and a determined, happy look on your dial, revelling in the two-stroke noise and the fun factor, which two-strokes just do better than four-bangers.
Probably the biggest downside to this bike is, despite it being the best 300cc two-stroke Husqvarna has made to date, the fact that it has 300i version coming, which promises to do away with the two-stroke downsides – emissions and keeping pre-mix up to it. A feature of long rides with mates is waiting for the two-stroke fellas to dig out their 2T oil at every fuel stop and dick around measuring it all out. It's a great time to pour crap on them, but it I definitely a downside that has helped steer people onto a four-stroke in recent years.
Electric starters are now common place, the engine no longer vibrates, the bikes now run in the hot Aussie bush – fuel injection is the last step towards moving two-bangers out of the technology deficit and into offerings that compete with four-strokes in practicality terms for weekend warriors, yet provide the fun factor no four-stroke can match.
Summing up
With the 300i imminent, who will buy the "old-school" carby version? Well, it's likely to be cheaper (we won't know price on the 300i until it lands, but it's reasonable to expect it to be more exxy), and as it stands, it's an incredible bike. Also, will people buy the first model of what its new technology? Being Aussies, probably yes, we adopt early, so there's a chance these 2018 TE300s will be sitting around once in warehouses when the 300i arrives. Shame, because they are a quality machine, one that stands out, even with that old carby set up.
At $14,495, it's not cheap for something you will drag over logs and crash in mud, however it is a high-end machine that can trail snooze all day, or you can whack a number on and hit the pointy end of a club enduro, depending on your riding, of course.
There are cheaper 300s around, including KTM's 300EXC ($13,495) and Gas Gas EC300E ($12,395), but neither have the specs of the Husky. If you want the peak of carby 300s, this is the bike to look at. If you need the latest and greatest, wait for the 300i and then ride them back to back. It won't be an obvious choice, in my opinion, because the four-stroke brigade took a while to really get EFI working well, let alone with the complexities of a two-stroke engine in this way. The 300is may not hit the ground running.
Until they arrive, we can only guess. Just don't write off this machine – a well-jetted carby bike running a sweet engine with superb chassis is hard to beat, and may remain that way.
SPECS: 2018 HUSQVARNA TE 300
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled two-stroke
Capacity: 293.2cc
Bore x stroke: 72mm x 72mm
Fuel supply: 38mm Mikuni carburettor
PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: not given
Claimed maximum torque: not given
TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet, multiplate
CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: CrMo4 steel central-tube frame
Front suspension: 48mm WP upside-down Xplor 48 fork with preload adjustment, 300mm travel
Rear suspension: WP shock, 300mm travel
Front brake: 260mm disc with Magura twin-piston caliper
Rear brake: 220mm disc with Magura single-piston caliper
Tyres: Front 21-inch, rear 18-inch
DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed dry weight: 102.4kg
Seat height: 960mm
Ground clearance: 370mm
Fuel capacity: 10 litres
OTHER STUFF
Price: $14,495
Colour: Blue/white/yellow
Test bike supplied by: Husqvarna Australia
Warranty: Six months parts
Source: https://www.bikesales.com.au/editorial/details/2018-husqvarna-te-300-review-110257/
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