http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husqvarna_Motorcycles Husqvarna Motorcycles is a company manufacturing motocross, enduro and supermoto motorcycles. The company began producing motorcycles in 1903 at Huskvarna, Sweden as a branch of the Husqvarna armament firm which had supplied the Swedish army with rifles since 1689. It now operates at Varese, Italy. History As with many motorcycle manufacturers, Husqvarna first began producing bicycles in the late 19th century. In 1903, they made the jump to motorcycle manufacturing. ..... Throughout the 1960s and 1970s they were a dominant force in the motocross world, winning 14 Motocross world championships in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc divisions and 24 enduro world championships. ..... The Husqvarna motorcycle division was sold to Italian motorcycle manufacturer Cagiva in 1987 and became part of MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. The motorcycles (widely known as a "Husky") are now produced in Varese. Husqvarna produces a diverse range of motocross, enduro and supermoto machines using their own two-stroke or four-stroke engines, ranging in capacity from 125cc to 576cc. Racing continues to be important to Husqvarna, competing in world enduro and world supermoto championships. Gerald Delepine, riding a Husqvarna SMR660, became supermoto world champion in 2005. In July 2007 Husqvarna was purchased by BMW for a reported 93 million euros. BMW Motorrad plans to continue operating Husqvarna Motorcycles as a separate enterprise. All development, sales and production activities, as well as the current workforce, will remain in place at its present location at Varese .[1] Additional information Starting in 2006 Husqvarna made the TE & SM motorcycles street legal from the factory in the United States. In 2008 the off road TXC line was introduced in the United States (only). The TC line up is a closer ratio transmission motorcycle intended for MX competition. EDIT - A really cool link: http://international.husqvarna.com/node1003.aspx .
Without increasing the number of words of that first post (too much) - any comments? I'm trying to give people a clue about Husqvarna in the briefest of detail... The 40yo dentist that is making good $, and wants to get back into bikes and thinks the TE license plate sounds like a good thing. Trouble is he knows absolutely nothing about Husqvarna. To that end I'm trying to put a few top level points that is very quick to read. EDIT - have there been significant changes to the Husqvarna offerings in other parts of the world in the last 5 years?
You might add the Baja OR stuff. Second only to Honda in motorcycle wins. Then there's the bikes under Steve McQueen and Malcolm in "On Any Sunday" And George. CLASS 20 Chad Erl/George Erl [151x] won Class 20 in what was a revival of the class which has not been used since 1993 in a SCORE Baja 500 race and 1996 in any SCORE race. George is no stranger to the winner's circle at SCORE Baja 500s, having won a total of seven times here. His first win in this competition came in 1978, and he has won two times in each of the last three decades (1981, 1982, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2006). "It was a good race, the team did good and the bike ran great" said the younger Erl, Chad. "This is my first race in Mexico, the experience is good, it was not too tough. I'm glad the bike stayed together."
When I was shopping around for a streetmotard at the beginning of the year the difference in price between the Suzuki 400sm and Husky 610sm was only like $1600 or so… I'm under the impression that the main sales point of the Husky brand (beside the heritage…) is the incredible content for dollar value (that is if anybody would have bother to advertise it…) I was trying just now to look for current prices on the net but could not find any I sincerely hope you don’t need to be in the medical field now in order to afford one Besides, didn’t the Euro dropped? (pretty sure I lost about $2000 for not changing back in time…) Coffee, say it ain’t so -->
Husqvarna did win his first Supermoto World Championship in 2003 with Eddy Seel. World Championship Classification : 1. Eddy Seel (BEL – Husqvarna) 443 points 2. Boris Chambon (FRA – KTM) 420 points 3. Jürgen Künzel (GER – KTM) 403 points 4. Max Manzo (ITA – Vertemati) 301 points 5. Gérald Delepine (BEL – Vertemati) 294 points 6. Ivan Lazzarini (ITA – Rigo Husaberg) 281 points 7. Fabrice Guyot (FRA – Husqvarna) 230 points 8. Frédéric Fiorentino (BEL – KTM Team Bizar) 225 points 9. Massimo Beltrami (ITA – Husqvarna) 222 points 10. William Rubio (FRA – Husqvarna) 166 points Manufacturer’s Classification : 1. Husqvarna 501 points 2. KTM 492 points 3. Vertemati 407 points 4. Husaberg 294 points 5. Yamaha 109 points 6. Honda 109 points 7. TM 90 points 8. Kawasaki 32 points 9. VOR 24 points 10. Gas Gas 13 points 11. MKTM 4 points 12. CCM 3 points
Howzabout a pic of a really rare pupppy? And who can forget the stomping they were handing out on the IOM? Husky has a rich history of setting trends and kicking a**!
Mark Blackwell (now head of Victory Motorcycles) was the first AMA MX Champion in the early 70's and he won it aboard a Husky. JN Roberts ruled So Cal District 37 Desert races in the 70's on a Husky. There are a number of other American riders who earned championship titles on a Husky on the East and West Coast during the 70's and 80's*. Mentioning these accomplishments will inform those new to dirt biking that Husky is more than just chainsaws, weedwhackers, and lawn mowers. ------------------------------------- *United States GNCC 1984 - 1989 The American GNCC championship is a one class only competition. These are the past champions. 1984: Ed Lojak (Husqvarna), 1985: Jim Maltba (KTM), 1986: Ed Lojak (Husqvarna), 1987: Ed Lojak (Husqvarna) and in 1989 as well, Ed Lojak, this year riding a Yamaha. *United States FMF National Enduro Series 1980 - 1989 1980: Dick Burleson (Husqvarna), 1981: Dick Burleson (Husqvarna), 1982 Terry Cunningham (Husqvarna), 1983: Mike Melton (Husqvarna), 1984: Terry Cunningham (Husqvarna), 1985: Terry Cunningham (Husqvarna), 1986: Terry Cunningham (Husqvarna), 1987: Kevin Hines (KTM), 1988: Randy Hawkins (Suzuki), 1988: Randy Hawkins (Suzuki).
The first Husky 4-stroke dirt bike motors were cobbled-up from Honda top-ends and Husky cases. Management at the time was opposed to developing 4-strokes, being heavily commited to 2-strokes in all their product lines. Think chain saws among others.. A couple of employee/racers [Arne Nilsson being one] built the 4-strokes off-the-books and well hidden from senior management. The company soon had to face the market reality as 4-strokes became real players with the ascendance of Japanese marques in world-class off-road competition. That led to the first true Husky 500 cc. thumpers in the late 70's. You can see some of the bits 'n pieces of those first HonHuskys at the factory museum in Husqvarna [Jonkoping].
Good stuff This is good stuff, and it will be used and archived. For my purposes I'll probably have a post like post number 1 in this thread then a link at the bottom "continued" I'm after the "coffee table book" version of the history of Husqvarna i.e. extremely easy to read, understand, and remember. But like I said it will all be used, as such please keep posting up information. So far what has been posted could fit into 1 long carefully crafted post. Possibly followed with more detailed posts after that post. It may end up looking like the Important Information sticky. .
Great thread. I think a little information on the making of firearms would be in order. They wouldn't be the Husky I know without the famous gunsight logo. Ken
That would be good too, at least the highlights, don't want hundreds of pages just a 'brief history'.
I've got a bunch-0-pics from the museum when I last visited. Most of the HVA products going back to the founding of the company are included. Unfortunately, so's my ugly puss. Hafta see if my She Who Must Be Obeyed can photoshop them to remove me. As for the firearms, Husky built really beautiful high-end rifles and shotguns right up to the takeover by Electrolux. Like the bikes, the business was sold off to a small Italian gun-maker who still makes them in very limited numbers. Regarding the history behind the guns, that was the beginning of Husqvarna in 1689. Sweden was at war with Russia; the Swedes had colonized a chunk of what is now Russia along the Gulf of Finland and Russia wanted them out. The King of Sweden comissioned a foundery to be built to produce cannons and muskets to supply the Swedish army and navy. It was built on the Husqvarna River, at a waterfall, as that was the power source for the foundery. To this day, that same waterfall installation provides electicity to the small city of Husqvarna. The original waterwheel power building, with the sluice passing beneath, has been maintained and is now used for company meetings and social functions. Employees can book it for private events such as reunions and weddings as well.
Oh come on, what do you look like? LOL Maybe She Who Must Be Obeyed can do Cafe Husky graphics? One thing I'd like to keep strait is "Huskvarna" vs Husqvarna...
I'm curious about where/when "Husqvarna" vs "Huskvarna", at some point it would be good to understand that.
Olde Swedish spelling was with a "K"....'bout 200 years ago the language was modernized and standardized and the K became a Q. The company, being new and progressive [for its time], always spelled its name with the Q. Similar changes have taken place in English and Russian; two other languages I have a passing acquaintance with. rofessor:
Soooo..... Company started in 1689 and the language was already in flux/changing/modernizing from K to Q, so it was called Husqvarna from the beginning although the town was still officially known as Huskvarna? Circa 1808 the language was officially modernized from K to Q and town officially known as Husqvarna? Seems to not match this info I just found in wiki although wiki has been wrong many times before http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huskvarna Hope someone can straighten this bit of history out.
No, you have it right.....brain fart here on the right near-coast. I transposed the Q and V when I pecked that post. Sorry.
