Well, its official. There is one! Changes for '09 include: 50mm zokes, black anodized rims, some tinkering with the EFI and cylinder head. Otherwise it looks very similar to an '08. No word yet on when it will be available, or on price. Good news for us 610 fans. Its being labeled as "Rally Ready"
/ Husky NA has just put out some very slick promotional booklets with all the '09 model info. Pics of the bikes, some 'action shots' of Ty and the guys, etc. I read the page about the '09 610. It had the above info. Didnt see anything about the 'tards. I think thats a seperate booklet? Not sure.
Interesting stuff.. it makes sense as all the other off road bikes got 50mm forks and black rims for 09 but we've heard nothing over here about them yet.
I hear ya. I kinda sorta figured they might not happen at all. Nice to see the bike is alive and well. Curiously the photo of the '09 bike has silver rims and 45mm zokes....but its enough that they are announcing the bike.
Availability is going to be very sparce from what I have gathered, to the point that not every dealer will be able to get one and only a handfull of dealers will get multiples. So if you really want an 09, don't wait.
I heard the same as Bobby just posted. Rumor has it there is less than 100 09 TE610s coming to NA this year.
This bike fills a segment not filled better by any other bike and still it does not sell huge. They need to market this fantastic do it all DS bike a lot better.
It is odd how the bike sells well in some places and not in others. I was able to purchase my 2008 near the end of November last year from a dealer who was discounting heavily to clear out "old" stock. How does the 100 units to NA compare to what they plan to import of other models? Maybe the numbers reflect a lack of confidence in the general market due to the economic situation rather than something specific with the TE610? Howard
As has been said, the 610 is the one of the best, if not the best dualsport bike out there. I think that a lot people just don't know about them and / or have no Dealer near them. For where I live in the Vancouver BC area. It's the perfect bike. It's great in the city. Fine on the hiway to get to the backroads and trails. And than just a blast on the forest roads and trails. It's funny because the two most popular dualsport bikes here are the Kawie KLR 650 and the Suzuki DR-Z 400S. Nothing against those bikes. But to start with the 610 has more HP than both of them put together. A 610 is hard to get here, there is only one Dealer in British Columbia that sells them. And yea, 100 units to NA doesn't sound right.
Thats it. At least thats the booklet page, i dont think thats actually the '09, i kinda think thats a pic of an '08, and most likely they havent made any yet-or they are making them now. At least they dont have any pics with black rims, extended swing arms, or 50mm zokes released at this point.
Good call. Do the '07's have black forks? Black plastic on the sides? I cant remember. But heck yeah that petcock is a dead giveaway....
