Factory Off-Road Racebikes—Craig DeLong’s 2022 Husqvarna FX 350

After winning the NE Pro2 title on a Husqvarna FC 250 in last year’s Kenda AMA National Enduro series, Craig DeLong made the jump to the NE Pro1 division in 2022, riding a Husqvarna FX 350. He also finished fourth overall in the XC2 250 Pro division in the Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series on an FX 350 last year, but we took a look at his ‘22 race machine in enduro trim at this year’s Lead Belt National Enduro with the help of his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing mechanic Jamison Gryder.

Starting at the handlebar, Gryder says DeLong likes his ProTaper Evo SX Race-bend rolled back to about negative one-and-a-half (measured with the marks in the middle of the bar). “Everybody runs their bars different, but we started at negative one and now we’re at negative one-and-a-half,” Gryder said.

The throttle housing is standard with a plastic Motion Pro throttle tube. “He’s not really too picky about his throttle, as long as the action is smooth,” Gryder explained. “He doesn’t like it to be too stiff but he wants a little bit of tension on it.”

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ARC’s skinny levers are DeLong’s preferred choice, and he’s very picky about the placement of them. “Sometimes I mark them with a Sharpie just to make sure I don’t put them in the wrong place,” Gryder said.

Plastic is all OEM except for the Cycra Rebound wrap around handguards. The stiff seat foam is covered by a Guts Racing seat cover. A seat bump is placed 13 inches back. Despite his height, DeLong runs standard IMS Core footpegs. “These are the same height as stock, but they are just about 5mm longer than the stock ones,” Gryder said. “The sharp teeth will cut your skin real fast.”

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The coil-spring version of WP’s Xact Pro fork, also known as the Cone Valve fork, and a WP Xact Pro shock make up the suspension package. The components are serviced and set up in-house. Both the FMF KTM Factory Racing and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing off-road teams have WP techs that travel with them. DeLong prefers his suspension on the plush side.

“I sit down a lot,” DeLong says. “I like it to feel like a couch, but I’ve been trying to get away from that. I do like a progressive feel. I don’t like it to be super stiff and harsh. I’m not that kind of guy to hit something so hard that I have to have it so stiff. I’m kind of on the cautious side, so I can maybe get away with a softer setting. I do run pretty much the same clicker settings at a GNCC. I am a little bit softer at an enduro, but it’s a little bit different story at the GNCCs with how rough it is. You need that holdup and stiffness for when it gets soft and [there’s] soft holes and you’re carrying a lot of speed. For enduros, a softer setup is fine.”

DeLong told us that he rarely adjusts the clickers for different races. “We tested a couple months ago,” he said. “It’s taken me a little bit to fine-tune that setting but in the last couple weeks, I’ve gotten a clicker setting where I’m comfortable and happy. If it’s super, super dry and the ground is really hard, I’ll go a couple clicks softer. But for the most part, I won’t change much.”

The Factory triple clamps are from Husqvarna’s Technical Accessories catalog and retain the standard 22mm offset. Wheels consist of stock hubs with Excel A60 rims. At the Lead Belt Enduro, where we examined the bike, DeLong was running a Dunlop Geomax MX53 front tire for the rocks and dry dirt, and a Geomax AT81 on the rear.

“I’m in the process of trying a couple different tires,” DeLong said. “Last weekend, I ran a [Geomax MX]33 on the rear, which I’ve never raced with but I practice with it a good bit. There’s some stuff I don’t like about this tire, so I’m trying to maybe [find] something that I like better. But overall, the AT81 is really hard to beat.

“Sometimes in the front, if it’s going to be really dry like tomorrow, I’ll go to a [MX]53. I just like that tire when it’s more hard-packed and where I think the other tire might roll a little bit more. It slides, where this one bites but not as much, so I think it kind of floats more where the other tire bites too much and it gives me an uneasy feeling.”

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The rear brake caliper, another Husqvarna Technical Accessories item, features a 24mm piston. There’s also one available with a 28mm piston. Gryder says the 28mm piston provides a more progressive sensation, while DeLong prefers a more aggressive feel.

As far as his rear brake pedal, Gryder told us DeLong runs it at different heights depending on if he’s racing a National Enduro or GNCC, although they come on at the same time no matter which height he uses. “I’m bad about covering the rear brake sometimes when it gets tight and turny,” DeLong says. “I’m bad to where I don’t drag it, but I like to have it there in case there’s an ‘oh [shoot]’ moment and if I need it, I have it. So, at GNCCs I run it a little lower. I don’t really need to; it just keeps me off of it.”

Radiators are 25mm larger than stock and there’s also a radiator fan, both of which are available from Husqvarna Technical Accessories. DeLong also runs a 100-degree Celsius thermostat and a 1.8-bar radiator cap. The FMF MegaBomb Plus header is the V4 configuration, which Gryder noted is just for a little more “flowy” top-end. FMF’s Factory 4.1 RCT muffler completes the exhaust system. The Rekluse clutch is a manual unit.

“I’m not very hard on the clutch,” DeLong said. “I pull the clutch in a lot, but I’m not hard on the actual clutch. I use it but don’t slip it. I slip it if I need to, but I’m not burning up clutch plates halfway through the day. I like to run a higher gear just because you carry more speed. On the 350, you can do that. Sometimes I rev it, but revving it to me is not the same as what some other people call revving. On the 250, I would get lazy and wouldn’t downshift, so I would kind of have to use the clutch more. But for [the 350], I use the transmission more. It pulls better, so I don’t have to be so hard on the clutch half the time. I can just roll.”

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The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing off-road team runs RK chains with ProTaper sprockets front and rear. There’s also a TM Designworks chain slider and chain guide on each bike, with a Zip-Ty Racing shark fin protecting the Galfer solid rear disc. Gryder told us that DeLong runs 14/49 gearing for National Enduro and 14/51 for GNCC; although he sometimes changes to a 50 or 49 on the rear, depending on how he feels that week.

“The gearing I run at GNCC, if I ran it here, it would be too snappy for me, too aggressive,” DeLong said. “It would make me pump up. I’m a small guy, so I need to have more [of a] mellow power [delivery], so I need to drop my [rear] sprocket [size] for [this race] so I can run one gear all day. More importantly, I can run one gear pretty much everywhere.

“For me, it’s smoother. I’m a lighter guy, so I can pull that higher gear where a lot of guys can’t. Some people run a 14/50; I do a 49. It’s not so abrupt and arm-wrenching on myself. In the enduros, if it was like that, I would have arm pump and I would be way in the back. That’s mainly the reason I do it. It’s smoother for myself, and then I also don’t have to shift as much.”

Engine hangers are standard thickness but made from aluminum instead of steel. Also, rather than grip tape, Delong prefers rubber frame guards, yet another item from Husqvarna Technical Accessories, because he says they offer more grip.