WR 360 Sidetrack Test

All Photos taken on the Sidetrack Test Track

How can a bike
with so few
changes, be such
a different thing?

Pics: The 360 is the kind of bike that is either stopped, or all go...

is a strange bit of gear. At its best it is capable of digesting massive amounts of information and doing complex calculations. On the other hand it can, from time to time - usually around members of the opposite sex - be completely by-passed. And there is the very odd occasion when it can be out-foxed by a clever bit of sleight-of-hand. When the trick comes in the form of some clever engineering on one of dirt-riding's power-houses, the results can be spectacular.

This particular WR360 is a 2002 model, flown in from Europe, mainly we suspect so Husky boss Hans Appelgren has something to ride. As far as Hans is concerned, the 360 is the pick of the range but we've never really agreed with him. Big-bore two-strokes are genuine fire-breathing dragons, but they can be a touch difficult to tame and require a big, solid boot to light them up. While we have ridden them in the past and judged them for what they were, we could never get excited about spending a few days on the dragon's back.
Changes to the 2002 WR360? Not that many. There's a new pipe, lighter hubs and spokes, adjustable fore and aft setting on the bar mounts, a new front brake set-up, smaller pistons in the rear brake caliper,

a stronger subframe, and new head and tail lights. There are also some minorchanges in the damping on both the forks and the shock. Nothing to set the world on fire there, but you have to come back to the fact that this is a completely different bike to ride.
Why? Well it has nothing to do with the factory specs, and everything to do a small piece of Aussie ingenuity lurking on top of the cylinder head. Hans was coy about what the device sitting just forward of the plug was, but its purpose was clear when we discovered that the engine could be easily run through its stroke by gently pushing on the kickstart with your hand. Those not familiar with big-bore two-strokes may not find this surprising, but it's the equivalent of using your little finger to crank a 426 over, without using the decompressor.
The device then, is a vacuum-operated decompressor. What it does is kill the compression level allowing it to be kicked over with about the same resistance as the average 125. Once the engine fires the decomp slams shut and the bike is back to full noise. The operation is completely automatic, requires no rider input, and works just as well on roll-starts. So what we have then, is a dead-set certified killer engine which is a pussy-cat to start.

Which is where the whole sleight-ofhand thing comes in. Because the brain has reached the conclusion that this is a small-bore start routine, it carries the idea over and for the life of us the whole damn bikes feels smaller, lighter, and about 99.9% easier to toss through the scrub.

    Sane people don't buy big-bore twostrokes to go shopping. They buy them for their awesome power, and the associated ability to pull monster wheelies, tackle any hill short of Everest, handle deep sand with ease, and to roost straight past those who aren't in the 50hp-plus club. Already many readers will be thinking that this type of bike is not for them, but the WR360 is not a loose unit and can be easily controlled by judicial use of the throttle.
    Revs don't count here. To get the best from the 360 you must reassess your riding technique and use the torque. It comes in big, fat, excavator bucket loads, and is delivered so sweetly that the WR is as happy playing trials bike on the steep stuff as it is roosting the grass track.
    Going one gear further up than normal is the go just about everywhere. On the steep sections out the back of the Sidetrack test track 3rd became a major player, when 1 st was the norm on most other bikes. The rear wheel clutches the ground, and will either walk or wallop depending on throttle input. Going one up smoothes the power but even so it is best to stay off the pipe in the tight, because the beast will light up the rear in any gear given enough provocation.
    The same story continues on the grass track, with the torquey bottom end grabbing plenty of traction and catapulting the bike through the turns. Throttle on too much, and the front will lift on exit, but you can just about leave the beast locked in 3rd or 4th and simply enjoy that wonderful power spread. If the back is steeping out, go up another cog to regain traction ... and pretty soon you're doing faster lap times than you've ever done before, and doing it easily.

But this sort of power is what you expect from this style of bike. Not all are so smooth as the Husky in delivery, but if you can't pull a decent roost on a big bore two-stroke its time to call the morgue. The surprising stuff came right over the back of the track, where a sharp drop is followed by a tight left-hander back up a steep bank. The Husky climbed it okay, but a slight rider error over track direction caused it to stall. How many times before had we left a WR360 in second and simply pulled in the clutch and kicked it? Never. Too bloody hard mate. We did it this time and it started, steep hill, sliding slowly backwards and all. And the bike roll-starts on anything that doesn't have a `Bowling Green' sign posted nearby.

Plenty of power, and still well-muffled

Few changes since last year, yet the decomp makes it a completely different bike

The new headlight has a vastly improved mounting system, and is much better to look at

Incredibly, the wheels are even lighter

Dragging ourselves away from the engine for a few paragraphs ...
The suspension has that characteristic Husky ability to be firm, yet still handle the smaller hits with good grace. Hitting sharp rocks on steep climbs - where the front is already light - causes little or no deflection, allowing the bike to be punted in confidence through sections in which other bikes are horribly nervous. Take it over the drop test though and you can feel the damping quickly stiffen early in the stroke, softening highspeed impacts in a way that will please the seriously fast riders used to getting plenty of air. You'd have to slam the 360 pretty hard to get it to bottom, but judging from the dust marks on the fork sliders it is making good, full use of its travel most of the time, pointing to a well-balanced high speed-low speed set-up.
A couple of years back the 360 was guilty of a little nervous headshake at speed but that too appears to have been tamed for 2002. This is probably due to the superior initial fork response, and is definitely a bonus when it comes to riding fast on rougher trails. In fact we couldn't find anywhere where the Husky did not feel in complete control the whole time. Except maybe on the turn exits on the grass track, which wasn't really the bike's fault ...

    It's back to the mind-over-matter stuff when it comes to the riding position, controls and handling. The 360 feels small - okay, so this is pretty much the same bike as last year but it is still true. Because the thing is easy to start, you get a whole different mind-set about it and it does feel a whole lot smaller and more nimble.
    The riding position is spot-on; nice reach to the bars, easy to get up on the pegs and just enough bulk between the knees to provide a solid grip, sitting or standing. Even the clutch feels lighter and easier to use. The new rear brake has a more graduated action, giving better control in slippery conditions, and the front is as strong as ever.
    The 360 was a joy to ride everywhere on the test track, even in the really tight sections where you don't expect a big-bore to rate highly. The steering is very good, especially when you factor in the power being delivered to the rear wheel. The Husky will hug a berm, follow a diagonal line across a bank, or roost quickly around a tree on an offcamber slope. One track on the property was put in by a 4WD quad and had never had a bike on it - too steep, too many turns. By the end of the test we had to give it a try and the Husky ate it without even pausing to chew. This really is a point and go motorcycle and its only limiting factor when it comes to tackling the snot will be the courage of the rider.

Husqvarna is still sticking to those bloody silly black plastic fuel tanks.
Improved jetting means a marked reduction in run-on clattering and banging on transport sections. It's a whole lot smoother than in the past.
The new digital speedo wasn't installed but it should be a much better thing than the old analogue units.
The headlight mounting system is much improved and less likely to come adrift.
Muffler noise is incredibly low, in fact at times you can see the bike being ridden not 100 metres away, and not actually hear it. Noise increases with throttle, but it is definitely on the quiet side.

We have been somewhat reluctant participants in past WR360 tests. They just weren't our sort of bike. But when Hans turned up to reclaim his new toy we tried every trick in the book. "Your work just called mate. They need you back in Sydney right now!" "What about the bike?" - Don't worry, we'll drop it off next time we're through." "What, like in 12 months? Get out of it!" Can't blame a bloke for trying. Especially when the bike in question is so versatile, easy to ride, and yet still faster than just about everything else on the market. With the decomp installed - and Husky Imports intends to run the mod on all the 2002 360s that it sells - the WR360 is well worth a long hard look.