TE 630 Review - Husqvarna TE 630 review

Test riding the Husqvarna TE 630

The dealer was reluctant to let me test ride their Husqvarna TE 630. The first dealer I checked in with a few months back flat refused any test rides. "If you want to test ride it, you can do so right after I hand you a receipt," he said. He explained that Husqvarna didn't send demo bikes, so if he let folks test ride his bikes, he'd have bikes essentially used before the final buyer came in. The various miles, scuffs and scratches would lead to a lower selling price, thus no test rides. Fair enough, but I refuse to buy a bike before riding it under its own power.

The second dealer opted to work with me, though with the promise of no offroading and limited mileage. Both were fine by me as I wanted to learn more about riding position, suspension settings, seat comfort (don't laugh, it wasn't bad), throttle response, wind management (again, don't laugh, it wasn't bad), overall controllability, power and vibration management.

Power felt fine for this bike, with plenty for puttering around slowing in lower gears. Seemed to build power pretty quick too. The bargraph tach to the right of the speedo does nothing to tell me anything useful, but whatever, I see that as a detail on a rig like this. The speedo is a big LCD, with extra bits of info scattered either around the display itself, along the outer edges, or shown via a few indicator lights - turn signals, neutral, high beams, etc. Oddly, the gauge cluster felt to be out of place on the otherwise well designed and well styled TE 630. The bike feels very current, while that cluster feels decidedly last decade. One nice touch is the ability to toggle between MPH and KPH. Great for grabbing snaps to show your friends how you got your Husqvarna TE 630 up to "140", and maybe for the few who ride longer distances to foreign lands.

The suspension seemed to soak up everything. Off the curb, up on the curb, pot holes, poor pavement - it just rolled over it all and I felt only a small amount of feedback. Plush is definitely the way to describe this. The bike felt very settled, as well, in all situations. So when the front wheel left the curb, the fork didn't suddenly spring down and unsettle the chassis. It just flowed. With the adjustability built into the suspension, I'm sure most folks will find a solid setting with a bit of work. It will pay to keep in mind, though; the Husqvarna TE 630 is no lightweight dirt raider. It's carrying a claimed dry empty weight of around 331 pounds. In the right hands, the TE 630 is capable of amazing off highway travel. For the well-heeled KLR/DR650/XR650L crowd likely attracted to this bike, it'll be like entering a whole new world.

Steering response was...ah...how can I say this...um... s l o w. That's expected, though, so felt about right. Credit the 21 inch dirt/knobby tires for the slow responses on road. I'm sure in the dirt they'd exhibit a whole different character. Want to lean and carve a corner? Better take a FIRM hand and make it happen. If my Yamaha FJR trends towards telepathic in its ability to manage curves, the Husky trends towards "married for 20 years ignorance" on road. ;) Well, it's not that bad, but definitely worlds apart. Did not have the chance, or terrain, to explore things in the dirt, where I'm sure the TE 630 would have shown me a different side.

Vibes were very well controlled, all the way up to 60 mph with no major issues through the rev range to that point. The stock rubberized foot pegs did a great job, though the engine itself seems very well behaved, as through the seat there were no problematic vibes. Same again at the hand grips. Heck, the mirrors would even be useful enough at 50 mph that you'd be able to pick out the cherries following you. Slightly blurry, but useful...if your arm wasn't blocking half the view...

Fueling felt good, with the fuel injection helping manage things across the rev range. Your notice that you were a gear too high for the speed was a vibrating front fender. You sensed the vibes coming from the engine if it lugged a bit, rather than feeling them. The transmission was smooth shifting, though I sure missed the gear indicator on the FJR... that front fender reminding me to grab a lower gear and keep the revs up a bit more. Regardless, the bike just kept going, pulling like a tractor. First seems low enough for moderate offroad use, though dropping a cog on either sprocket would surely improve that behavior. The transmission's 6 speeds will also ensure a comfortable cruise on the highway, though the amount of power on hand might see you shifting down a couple gears to pass.

The hand grips were a smidge small for my hands, as I filled their width easily with zero space left over. Not sure if this is a dirt-bike kinda thing, but I'm sure a set of hand guards would make me feel a bit better about it. Nothing uncomfortable, just a personal comfort note.

Wind blast was actually managed to a degree. That small "fairing" around the headlight actually does manage to move air in a decided direction. For me (6 feet tall, 30" inseam) that placed the wind blast squarely in the center of my chest. The aftermarket has plenty of options available to help improve on this situation if desire, with one of the coolest being from Britannia Composites. Their Lynx Fairing is a bolt on affair offering a lot more frontal wind protection.

While the TE 630 has a tall seat (36.6 inches), and it must have been comical watching me hoist my limbs over this beats, once on top, I could manage the bike easily with my toes touching solid round. That solid ground part is important to note, because this tiny foot print of control will evaporate the instant the ground changes to dirt. Loose gravel, ruts and general offroad terrain would have me falling over I'm sure.

And that kickstand? I don't often use the word "hate", but it's applicable here. Very strongly sprung, it retracts when weight is removed. So, if you grab the handlebars and move the bike, the kickstand flips up. Getting off the bike? You're better of dismounting, then putting the kickstand down and placing the bike's weight on it. Here's hoping the aftermarket swings into action on this little nugget of engineering. Its almost like when BMW took over, they felt the bike, overall, was great. But being German, they needed to "engineer" something to death. They settled on the kickstand.

You should note that while the aftermarket is delivering all kind of accessories for the TE 630, the rear subframe is a plastic/composite affair. Those metal grab handles you'll become familiar with offroad? Yep, they bolt into the composite subframe, so take care. Typical overlanders bolt on racks, panniers and more. Start adding these, and maybe some extra fuel and you'll need to be careful to not overload that rear end. I'm sure the aftermarket is aware of this and have designed their products to touch down on sturdy frame points to distribute the load, but it's still worth keeping in mind if you like the sling soft luggage over the rear and ride. Husqvarna claims the TE 630 is their entry into the larger displacement dual sport market, where riders spend more time on road than off. Regardless, they don't stray far from dirt bike/enduro roots, meaning adding luggage is a secondary thought.

Then there are those lovely aluminum exhaust cans. Beautiful to look at, but you'll want to create some space around them for soft bags, and since the exhaust cans essentially fill the space under the rear of the seat, anything hung back there will rest on them if not spaced properly.

I loved the overall simplicity of the bike, and the dual exhaust sounded great. Really nice sound at idle, and not too loud when riding. Sure everyone will tell you to "uncork" the bike and "twiddle" this for more power from the factory. In my opinion, none of that's even needed with a box stock TE 630. If you're an ex-motocross racer, sure, it'll feel lacking. But for those of us trying to decide with dual sport to bring home, the Husqvarna TE 630 is a solid choice. Much more dirt than road, I sense with this larger model from Husky a serious attempt to lure the KLR/DR/XR crowd. While vastly more expensive than any of those bikes, it's also vastly more bike than any of them.

If I bought one…

I'd want to get an aftermarket gas tank to get a more useful range, but I have to say, overall, I'm impressed with TE 630. The stock 3.17 gallon tank might see you tripping through about 150 miles or so before gasping for more than fumes. Not much when you're in the back country. Back-up fuel should be carried, or, as noted, step up to an aftermarket tank to solve part of the issue. While you will gain range, be warned that it's tough to use all of the fuel in those bigger tanks due to the fuel pickup point often being higher than the lowest part of the tank. Check on this before dropping your money on a product. And keep in mind that any factory fuel gauges will be rendered mostly useless as their markings were calibrated to the factory tank capacity.

Now I was really expecting a "you shall suffer for this choice" experience when I hopped onto the TE 630, but that never struck me. A dual sport is essentially a trade off no matter how you look at it. Bikes like these tends also to extract a heavy toll in maintenance due to their race heritage and slant in that direction. Time will tell an owner what the maintenance needs are like, but basic servicing is relatively easy as all essential elements of the bike are easily accessible. As for the ride, I was really expecting the bike to be uncomfortable. That simply wasn't the case. The controls all fell easily to hand, the seat was comfortable for my short ride and it was easy to move about and find more space, better balance, etc. Clearly a new era in dual sporting has arrived.

The real point though, is that on my entire ride home from the dealer (on my own bike) I was struck with a clear understanding. When people ask "What dual sport should I buy?", the standard answer is "You need to decide what type of riding you'll be doing." I now fully understand this, not in the theoretical sense, but in the actual sense. My ride home left me mentally comparing between the F800GS I rode last spring and the Huskvarna TE 630. Both will get dirty, but to different degrees. Both will ride the scenic highways, but to different degrees.

Really makes you think. Choosing an ideal dual sport is not easy. Make sure you're honest with yourself about your intent uses.

Bottom line on the Husky is, I'm pretty sure I could put 60 - 70 miles on it on the highway without being too put out, then enjoy some light to moderate trails. As with almost every bike on the market, the TE 630 is best viewed as a starting point. If you want a single cylinder, lightish-weight dual sport, the Husky makes a fine basis. You'll need time to adapt to the small things you notice, but this is a solid mount to start with (the composite subframe still needs to prove itself, though). You have to ask yourself...what do I want...? A hero in the dirt? Or a friend to ride to Alaska with? …maybe, with an aftermarket seat, a bigger gas tank, and a fairing, the TE 630 could do the run to Alaska…

Two final thoughts:

1 - at $8999 the Husqvarna TE 630 is not cheap. It feels up to the price, though, as its quality all the way around. Still, adding the usual farkles/accessories to the bike is quickly going to double the cost of a KLR. Worth noting for many folks.

2 - Insurance will vary based on your own circumstances, but the quote I got (clean record, all discounts for multiple vehicles, etc.) came in at about $625/year from State Farm. Interestingly, a Suzuki DR 650 was $50 more per year and a Honda XR650L rang in at the same $675 as the Suzuki.

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