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Is the 2025.5 Husqvarna Factory Edition Rockstar FC 250 worth the fuss and extra money?
Written By: Gardner Tarlow
I consider myself lucky to be able to help Kris test dirt bikes and give my opinions regarding different bikes. As far as 250s go, I seem to get a lot of Austrian bikes with the occasional Japanese brand here and there. With that being said, I’ve ridden my fair share of Husqvarnas including the Austrian version in 2022/2023 in the past. There have been a lot of small tweaks over the last few years and in general, I would say with the minimal exception of the frame rigidity in 2023-24, the Austrian bikes have improved every year. I recently rode and reviewed the 24 and 25 stock Husqvarna 250 FCs extensively and was able to appreciate the difference in chassis performance. Kris also recently included myself in his Racer X video introduction of the 2025.5 Rockstar FE 250 bike earlier in the month. As Kris said on video, I’m your typical weekday and weekend practice guy who rides 2-3 times a week. If it’s raining in the hills, I’m riding single track and if it’s dry, I’m at a track where the water truck has probably over watered or failed to water all together. I’m 5’10”, 185lb, too old to be riding and too dumb to figure it out.
So, with that being said, is the 2025.5 Husqvarna FE Rockstar 250FC worth the extra money? The MSRP for the 2025 FC 250 list for $10,499 and the 2025.5 FE Rockstar 250 lists for $11,699. So, what do you get for $1200 extra dollars?
The stock 2025 FC 250 is a fair looking bike, maybe a bit plain when compared to other stock bikes, but still good looking when sitting by itself. Unfortunately, when sitting side by side with the Rockstar edition, the stock bike doesn’t come close in the wow factor. Both bikes have white plastics but that’s the only visual similarity. The Factory Edition with the white frame, Rockstar race team graphics, redesigned front number plate, FMF 4.1 muffler, GUTS seat, factory Rekluse clutch cover, carbon look alike skid and brake guard, as well as holeshot device really set this bike apart. I typically wouldn’t lean towards white plastic because the plastic shows wear and tear very quickly. However, once I picked up this bike and had it in my garage for a few days, I would be willing to replace plastic and graphics periodically to have such a sweet looking bike year around. And that says a lot coming from this thrifty rider. The FE Rockstar bike from a performance point of view has the GUTS ribbed seat, holeshot starting device, factory wheel set, FMF Titanium 4.1 slip on exhaust, split WP triple clamps and the CUO Connectivity unit. These items are what really makes the FE Rockstar a step above the stock FC 250.
My initial day riding on the Rockstar bike was with Kris at GH (see video Racer X or Keeferinctesting.com). In my defense that was my first Racer X video and all the footage was shot during the first 20 minutes of the first morning moto. I’ve now put 8 hours on the bike and the bike feels broken in. I now have a better appreciation of the improved performance of this FE Rockstar version FC. The CUO unit allows the rider to control all engine setting including power delivery, engine braking, and the sensitivity of the quick shifter. There is also a rider section on the app that provides feedback to the rider offering full analytics of how the machine is being ridden, as well as recording lap times, which are added to a virtual leaderboard. This CUO unit is very easy to use at the track and modifications made on the app are easily felt on track.
On day one of riding, the Rockstar bike CUO unit settings were in stock format from the factory. The Engine output was set at standard (smooth, standard, aggressive), engine braking at 3/5, throttle response at 3/5 and using the green, more aggressive mapping (green/white). Initially the motor to me felt very similar to the stock bike. Out of the corners the bike hooked up well but just wasn’t all that exciting and lacked bottom end grunt out of the corners. If there was any improvement appreciated right off the bat for me, it was maybe a bit stronger in the mid and top end feel compared to the stock FC 250. In this format the motor remained very linear and easy to ride. The motor had a lot of engine braking, which I didn’t recall from the stock bike, and this engine braking gave the bike an on-off, herky-jerky feeling coming into the corners and rolling through corners. This somewhat disrupted my cornering consistency.
The motor in general felt a bit tight compared to the 20-hour stock FC. Due to the lack of desired performance, I activated the CUO unit and changed engine output to aggressive performance, engine braking was reduced to the lowest level of 1/5 and throttle response bumped up to 4/5. This really freed up the motor, gave the bottom end a bit more bark as well as gave the bike a better mid and top end feel. The bike remained very linear and easy to ride with good over-rev and now had more of a modified 250 feel. Reducing the engine braking cleaned up my corners and gave the bike a freer feeling coming into and through corners. The chassis in general also felt calmer with less engine braking. I played a bit with the CUO unit at different tracks and it absolutely changes the characteristics of the motor to fit your riding style. In general, I like the engine output at aggressive, engine braking 1/5 and throttle response 4/5. Throttle response on 5/5 resulted in myself breaking the rear tire loose a bit more often on our harder base west coast tracks. This CUO unit works very well and allows each rider to customize the bike to their riding style and performance preference based on riding surface conditions. This CUO unit list for $250 and I would absolutely buy this if I owned a stock FC 250.
The FMF titanium factory 4.1 RCT pipe is a great looking slip-on pipe. Combined with the CUO unit, it provides performance benefits on the mid and top end performance. I typically wait to bend or tweak a pipe before replacing the stock pipe but if I was adding a CUO unit to my stock Husqvarna, I would buy the slip on or possibly the complete factory system. The FMF Titanium Factory 4.1 RCT slip on Pipe lists for $850.
The stock triple clamps on the FC 250 are nice clamps but they do very little to help out the front-end performance of the air fork on the FC 250. The WP split triple clamps are one aspect that can improve the front-end performance of your FC 250. With the WP split triple clamps, the front end of the bike is more compliant, the tire contact when on edge is a more positive feel and slap down landings are less impactful compared to stock setup. I would absolutely upgrade to WP split triple clamps. The WP split Triple clamps list for $550.
The other items that come stock on the Rockstar Edition bike are items that most of us would add to any new stock bike without even thinking. The front brake guard, skid guard, hole shot device and factory graphics are basic add-ons to most new bikes and are not inexpensive. The GUTS ribbed seat looks great and works very well and I would take it over stock. I know Kris has had issues with ribbed seats as have I, but so far, I really like this seat. The Rekluse clutch cover is sweet looking but it doesn’t provide any real purpose other than looks. If you’re giving it to me, I would use it but I probably wouldn’t buy it unless I actually upgraded to a Rekluse clutch, which at my level isn’t needed.
So, is the 2025.5 FE Rockstar 250 bike worth the extra $1200? The bike itself, not considering price, is absolutely better than the stock FC 250. If you price out everything additional you are getting with the Rockstar machine, you’re paying less than $0.50 on the dollar for the upgrades. If MSRP is the OTD price plus tax, I would absolutely buy the 2025.5 Husqvarna Factory Edition Rockstar FC 250.
