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I have made my own 4-stroke motocross machine by putting a Husaberg 500cc engine in a Kawasaki 250-chassis.
The result? VERY GOOD!
The bike weighs only 107kg and offers just the nice ride I was hoping for.
After all, before it was finished I could identify a number of potential problems.
However, almost everything turned out to work just fine:
After racing the bike for a year I have only made a few small modifications.
The bike was finished in october '97 and I raced with it 1 november
in Sweden's biggest enduro race which lasts over 3 hours nonstop. I had no problems with the bike.
In October '98 I had the chance to compare the Kawaberg with a '99 Husaberg FC600, by switching bikes at the track.
I expected the Husaberg to feel a little bit heavier than the Kawaberg. I was surprised.
The direct comparison revealed that the Kawaberg felt much more agile and much lighter.
A new comparison with a '00 Husaberg Tor (FC) 500 in september '99 made clear that
the Husaberg 2000 models are much improved and has a much lighter feel.
Still, the Kawaberg feels a little bit lighter though.
Background
I have been riding two-strokes in enduro and motocross since 1989.
In 1994 I switched to a four-stroke Husaberg. It was good, but it did feel heavier than a two-stroke.
I could not believe that the difference in weight of the engine was the only thing that made it feel heavier.
The idea came up in spring -96:
It should be possible to combine a two-stroke chassis with a four-stroke engine.
This way the only difference would be the weight of the engine.
I wanted to combine the most modern two stroke chassis with the lightest 4-stroke engine.
That limited my choice to a Kawasaki KX250 with a Husaberg engine.
Questions? Send me a letter!: Mats Hugdahl