Husky is a long long way from it's Swedish roots. Even if this thrown together bike works as good as the competition it will be mocked by industry members and enthusiasts. It will have to seriously kick ass in order for it to be recognized as a legitimate contender.
Rumor is Scot Harden has ridden the bike and thinks it is VERY good. He might know a thing or two about bikes. Time will tell. I can't see them building a turd just to use that motor. They must think it has very good potential to even go down this path. I have faith.
Swedes make good meatballs and Italians make good meatballs......It will all be fine. (Actually not sure how German cuisine fits in or Taiwanese......but....) Like Kelly said Rumor is Scot Harden has ridden the bike and thinks it is VERY good. He might know a thing or two about bikes Joe
I stick to my mantra as a racing sports fan " BMW builds great motors" (OK Joe, designs great motors referring to the Taiwan connection) side note in some photos you can notice that the factory G450X in the X enduros have a Hyd clutch not the std cable. I 4 1 am starting to come back around to prefer cables!!!
I don't intend to drink the kool-aid until there's proof this thing is good. ''Good'' might not even be enough, outstanding or ''kick-ass'' like silver_fox says will be my standard.
Exactly! I don’t know why nobody is excited about having a champion on a Husky. I do not know anything about racing but I know the only place I hear about Husky race results is on Husky forums. With a guy like Juha there could be a Husky winning big races that get a lot of media attention. The exposure should be very good for the brand. And really what’s the worse that could happen if the new 450 is not good? There must be a dozen companies making a 450 enduro. If people don’t like the Husky with the BMW motor there are plenty of options anyway.
Most where hoping the bmw would be trashed or sold to gentlemen farmers. And not cut up and stuffed in a husky frame. And yes there's plenty of other options out there.
I'm not familiar enough with the BMW to comment on its long term reliability, but in terms of power delivery and suitability to enduro, the motor is awesome. I say this because just last week I tested a 2010 G450X and one of its best attributes was the broad tractable power – really easy to use. I'll be interested to see also if the Husky/BMW hybrid incorporates the BMW coaxial drive into the Husky chassis. I actually like the existing BMW's rear-end traction capabilities – it's a hill climbing king.
The BMW motor is experiencing a lot of clutch issues. It is smaller in diameter and is mounted on the crank. This means it spins about 3 times as fast as a normal clutch. They seem to die at 40/50 hours of regular trail pace cruising. More importantly I read this as a portent of things to come. The next TE motor will be a BMW designed and Taiwanese built. The technologuy transfer is now complete and it is time to consolidate, Huskies may be the next Beta who source motors elsewhere (they did before this year anyway). The 450X is an interesting amalgum of good and stupid ideas. The chain drive sprocket incorporated onto the swing arm is genious. The exposed motor up front is not a great idea. I now feel that we will no longer be a stand alone product and will become even more than the pairing of Husaberg and KTM (now stands for Kurry Tandoori Muncher).
Interesting thread to say the least ... and reality is going to set in here very shortly I'd say. We all remember reality? It is what you see in your garage and showroom and not what is written in threads. The next TE motor will be a BMW designed and Taiwanese built -- Not sure what to make of this ... 450X -- I guess someone has to continue testing this beast till it is worth selling to the general public but once a motor has a bad rep ... it is sometimes hard to shake so what we need here is some outstanding race results Where is FI for the 2strokes in all this mix? I wonder if bmw is going to join forces with the <'what-ever-you want-to-call-them> 4(four) and try to kill the 2-stroke ? Where is the small compact 250cc F motor? “BMW Husqvarna Motorsport” -- yep .... this is standing pretty close to daddy --- PS -- As far racing goes, for the usa, SX and MX racing drives sales. These enduro events and what ever don't carry alot of clout except with the hard core guys like us .... I'm not sure bmw or Cagiva can break Huskies into this arena ...maybe they don't want to or maybe they are blocked... But I don't see a reason for bmw not to get privateers (PROs) onto these bikes even if they don't want to field a factory supported team of some sort ... Did bmw (Husky) finely do the paper work for ANY homologation ? Or are we still self-blocking our PROs from racing? Forget any factory support ... The privateers I think will do well on the current bikes ... bmw at least owns us lip service on the plan here
Where are all these clutch issues you speak of? Only complaint by higher caliber riders is the modulation of the clutch. Look at any of the Speedbrain works bikes and they all have a hydraulic clutch set-up (get very familiar with Speedbrain folks, they will be the premier HSQ aftersales vendor real soon "if" this all pans out) I personally know of 12-15 G450X's all with over 100 hours on stock clutches. Mine is at 90 hours with 20ish of that race hours and clutch is just fine, I don't get that out of my KTM 525SX, but it also has a rekluse auto clutch. I've yet to hear of a bashed in case on a G450X, I can gaurantee though if it happened you'd see pics of it on every single dirt related forum because even BMW folks seem to expect the bike to fail unfortunately, so if/when a case does get done in I am sure we'll never hear the end of it. The bike has gobs more ground clearance then any other thumper I have EVER owned or ridden, this helps me alot more in the real world then worrying about what I won't hit because of the extra clearance. A good plastic skid with rubber damper and it's golden!! KTM seemed to have sold A LOT of bikes the past few years in the enduro segment, when's the last time they podiumed at an SX/MX/Arenacross venue??? Husky is actually finding that the unique swingarm pivot of the original G450X platform is very beneficial in SX/MX. Where it suffers is in such a dynamic environment as WEC and enduro riding where you have to deal with severe root/rut/rocky chop and then go land a triple at speed, too broad of a range for the original suspension set-up. So consequently my guess is we'll see a G450X engine with shared pivot/counter shaft and a shock utilizing top linkage to manipulate the progression of the rear suspension through leverage rather then dampening (just a vision I'm having, )
When I first saw the G450X it was a love/hate thing right away. No other 4t comes close to ground clearance. Man this bike has TRIALS bike clearance. But then you see how naked and vulnerable the engine is and without a frame to help absorb some impact. I'm sure a good skid plate would cure any issues there.
The local dealer has sold 19 BMW G450x's so far, they are being used for everything from dual sport to racing. Not one clutch failure reported, the ONLY parts they have sold to date are as a result of crash damage, they have had no problems with any of the bikes they have sold. These bikes have a reputation of being BULLETPROOF with the people around here that actually own them. For some reason a lot of people feel threatened by this bike and they love to say bad things about the bike in spite of the fact they most have never even ridden one. I have never understood how some of these self proclaimed "experts" can pass judgement on a bike they have never even ridden, let alone owned and lived with for awhile, very Wierd. Besides, If something does break, there is a 3 year warranty on this bike and even roadside assistance, does any other dirt bike offer this???? How many dirt bikes have stacked up as many podium finishes in the very first year of production as the G450x?? For BMW's very first attempt at a dual sport bike that you can also actually race, I think they are to be commended. It takes more time and money to make a KTM dual sport bike offroad competent and raceable than this BMW. Most magazines love the new Husky chassis on the 250, but complain of a lack of power ( I have not seen or ridden one, so I can't personally comment) Once BMW/Husky stuff the G450x motor in that chassis, look out!! The result should be awesome! No power shortage there. The future looks very bright, I think we need to give them a chance to put this all together, I am excited to see the new line up with a combination of the best features that each company has to offer. I say "Go Husky/Bmw" lets show them all how it's done!!!
Does this count as Roadside Assistance Perfect . I'm also exciting to see the out come. BMW has always had "High Standards" in anything they do. It just might set the table for all to follow.
That is a great video! back in 1980 my Honda CR125 had a helicopter ride as a result of a swampy race that cooked my clutch 30 miles back in the woods! I can't wait for that new Husky/BMW hybrid to get here. I am really hoping they use the new TC250 chassis and somehow shoehorn the BMW 450 motor in there!! Look out Husaberg, cause we are coming to get you!!
LOL ... We all like sunshine so keep it pumping ... I like reading about this outdated bike from time to time ... http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/135/1854/Motorcycle-Article/2008-Husqvarna-TC-450-Bike-Test.aspx
