Actual news on the KTM purchase of Husqvarna

[mnb]

My wife thought every Honda was me at the last race so maybe blue/yellow isn't so bad. I'm thinking purple would be a real stand out lol

Just tell her that Hondas have red fenders and Huskies have white.

 

[2premo]

nice compliment I hve one of each of these 85/86 judging by the pipe 400 or 500 and 93 looks like a 360
these are why I like and own them and have these exact models

The best looking Husky Ever;

..mind you, this wasn't a bad attempt either;

 

[XLEnduroMan]

The white Husky's, the yellow and blue Husky's, the red, black, white Husky's...how could anyone not be a fan? The neon era still looked good. If it's got a gun sight you know it's the best piece of off road machinery on the planet. Brrraaaappppp!

 

[Norman Foley]

I have an '86 250WR and a '93 WXE350... All Huskys are good looking bikes, but I always felt that '92-'93 bikes were so classy and understated compared to other bikes then. KTM's in '92-'93 were especially hideous concoctions of K-Team styling.... mint green to purple.

 

[Mike-AK]

I think the 1982 XC's were the best looking.

 

[MikeB]

What are the chances that the latest Husky frames will survive this transistion? They are steel like the rest of the KTM line - just have a different feel and handle so much better. To me this is the 'heart' of the Husky (although I am fond of the 125 and xlite engines and that Italian styling)

 

[MotoMarc36]

Mike I have been silently considering this, KTM must own the frame dies and all, it would be very easy and cost-effective to continue with the legacy Italian-style frames and use the KTM powerplants, a compromise I could live with and support. I, too, feel this is the heart of the Husky.

 

[LandofMotards]

I want a frame made out of adamantium

 

[hahmule]

It is sad imo that there's very little to fill the gap between the venerable and portly DRZ and pukka enduro machines. I guess that it's just too easy for manufacturers to take a competition bike, cork it up to the point where it barely runs in order to get it through emissions / noise, put a plate on it and stick it in the showroom window - complete with close ratio gearbox, a fuel tank that's half a gallon short, a sump that holds a spoonful of oil, a headlight that is worse than useless, a seat that's too high for many mere mortals and a general air of "money pit". Supermotos suffer a lot of the same problems, so perhaps it's no coincidence that no-one seems to be buying them either. Race bikes are for racing - tooling around on one for "pleasure" takes a lot of dedication. Ever ride a GSXR-SP homologation bike on a public road? it gets old pretty quickly!

Cheap plated secondhand thumpers are ten a penny over here - you can't give one away, because unless you have access to a closed area where you can let one rip they just don't make that much sense. Our local dirt bike workshop is full of grenaded ones too... A lot of the older guys here (and most of us are "older") are still riding DRs, CRMs and other twenty-odd year old tackle because they're maybe not tall, or particularly fit, or because they prefer to "finesse" their way up a tricky climb, rather than go balls-out and risk eating tree! We also share public access with dog walkers, hikers, horse riders and 4x4 drivers, so race pace is out of the question. A bit of tarmac is also unavoidable on a ride out and being relegated to 50mph in order to keep your conrod where it belongs is a drag.

Many of the enduro bike's shortcomings can be fixed with hard parts (or a Beta-style build-your-own scheme), but imo a practical bike really needs a motor and ancilliaries designed from the ground up for that purpose, but the problem is whether anyone is actually willing to pay for one. Purists will probably balk at the idea of extra weight in the form of a bulkier motor, but any extra weight will be low and central and designing a mechanically quiet engine and airbox from the outset will make the bike easier to silence without corking it up completely. Pragmatically speaking any extra weight could be mitigated by losing an inch of suspension travel and lowering the seat - we're not building a race bike, after all. I don't think that existing enduro style chassis are otherwise impractical, but the option of a headlight that doesn't suck shouldn't be too much to ask in the 21st century (it gets dark pretty early here in winter). Perhaps I could live without linkage suspension, but I get the feeling that leaving the linkage off won't make a bike any cheaper. It's a few less Chinese bearings for the factory to forget to fill with grease though, so maybe it's a good idea to get rid of 'em. Get the right spring and PDS isn't too bad and if the tech became commonplace it would only improve.

Did someone mention drum brakes? Egad, no! Too much unsprung mass and rotational inertia, plus there's that millisecond of waiting for the lock up every time they're applied. I don't imagine that they would save any money either, or attract a lot of customers. Widowmakers.

Anyway, that's enough ranting and wishful thinking for one night.

At 316 lbs, my 610 isn't exactly light, but it gets it all done-eventually, mine is lowered 2 inches to accommodate my 29 inch inseam, that I can't go at race pace is fine by me. I like the fact that I can ride it to the dirt portion of the ride and leave the truck at home. I can run three different front sprockets without changing the chain so I can tailor the gearing slightly to the ride I'm doing. I wholeheartedly agree with your assertion that if one can't make it light, lower the COG. Part of me would like something a little lighter, but just lowering the COG might to the trick.

 

[7point62]

... Part of me would like something a little lighter, but just lowering the COG might to the trick.

It sounds like you're pretty attached to that 610! Great bikes with pretty much my ideal balance of functionality. They seem to be as rare as hen's teeth on this side of the pond though.

I guess my liking for something a little lower comes from learning to ride on a succession of ropey twinshockers that weren't very capable, but weren't very tall either. I was always more interested in scrabbling over difficult terrain than just going fast (because I didn't have a dirtbike that would go fast!), so being able to occasionally dab a foot while wrestling over obstacles was important. When I traded up to an XR600 it was quite a culture shock, but the plush suspension and grunty motor meant that it just sort of floated over everything and I just didn't seem to need to dangle a foot, even when hanging the tail out. It was also beautifully balanced under engine braking. My TE is a bit different - faster steering, snappier off the throttle and it demands talent that I just don't have sometimes...
... So on gnarly, twisty climbs 1" lower would feel equivalent to 10 - 20lbs lighter imo. I'm not short either (although I am pretty weedy), neither am I lacking in confidence, so I know how hard it must be for other folks to get to grips with proper enduro machines "just for fun." Out here in the boonies people tend to be short and squat too - a mate who's a far better rider than me can't even swing his leg over my TE without finding a rock to stand on, but he can ride his CRM250 up the side of a cliff. He's an expert on local trails and leads a lot of ride-outs, where he spends most of his time tending to people who have wiped out on enduro bikes that are just too much of a handful for their riders. I'm sure those riders would buy something a bit more appropriate if there was something available (and affordable and sporty looking) in the yawning gap between competition missile, CRF230 and lardy adventure bike. Here's hoping.

Apologies for the thread derailment.

 

[ray_ray]

Mike I have been silently considering this, KTM must own the frame dies and all, it would be very easy and cost-effective to continue with the legacy Italian-style frames and use the KTM powerplants, a compromise I could live with and support. I, too, feel this is the heart of the Husky.

Its all out of our hands and a business decision will drive what is produced ... That frame in question with today's Huskies engines is top of the line. Period. Nothing but a business decision will stop it from winning races everywhere it is raced ... Business decisions follow $$ and maybe somehow SP will think it is best to cool his jets on the line of Huskies he has just purchased and let them live another yr or 2.

--

Almost no frame showing ... That's a long way from the bikes today that have that big wide aluminum brace running 1/2 the length of the bike and creates a bike that is very hard to get a wrench on ...

 

[Rough Rider]

It is sad imo that there's very little to fill the gap between the venerable and portly DRZ and pukka enduro machines. I guess that it's just too easy for manufacturers to take a competition bike, cork it up to the point where it barely runs in order to get it through emissions / noise, put a plate on it and stick it in the showroom window - complete with close ratio gearbox, a fuel tank that's half a gallon short, a sump that holds a spoonful of oil, a headlight that is worse than useless, a seat that's too high for many mere mortals and a general air of "money pit". Supermotos suffer a lot of the same problems, so perhaps it's no coincidence that no-one seems to be buying them either. Race bikes are for racing - tooling around on one for "pleasure" takes a lot of dedication. Ever ride a GSXR-SP homologation bike on a public road? it gets old pretty quickly!

Cheap plated secondhand thumpers are ten a penny over here - you can't give one away, because unless you have access to a closed area where you can let one rip they just don't make that much sense. Our local dirt bike workshop is full of grenaded ones too... A lot of the older guys here (and most of us are "older") are still riding DRs, CRMs and other twenty-odd year old tackle because they're maybe not tall, or particularly fit, or because they prefer to "finesse" their way up a tricky climb, rather than go balls-out and risk eating tree! We also share public access with dog walkers, hikers, horse riders and 4x4 drivers, so race pace is out of the question. A bit of tarmac is also unavoidable on a ride out and being relegated to 50mph in order to keep your conrod where it belongs is a drag.

Many of the enduro bike's shortcomings can be fixed with hard parts (or a Beta-style build-your-own scheme), but imo a practical bike really needs a motor and ancilliaries designed from the ground up for that purpose, but the problem is whether anyone is actually willing to pay for one. Purists will probably balk at the idea of extra weight in the form of a bulkier motor, but any extra weight will be low and central and designing a mechanically quiet engine and airbox from the outset will make the bike easier to silence without corking it up completely. Pragmatically speaking any extra weight could be mitigated by losing an inch of suspension travel and lowering the seat - we're not building a race bike, after all. I don't think that existing enduro style chassis are otherwise impractical, but the option of a headlight that doesn't suck shouldn't be too much to ask in the 21st century (it gets dark pretty early here in winter). Perhaps I could live without linkage suspension, but I get the feeling that leaving the linkage off won't make a bike any cheaper. It's a few less Chinese bearings for the factory to forget to fill with grease though, so maybe it's a good idea to get rid of 'em. Get the right spring and PDS isn't too bad and if the tech became commonplace it would only improve.

Did someone mention drum brakes? Egad, no! Too much unsprung mass and rotational inertia, plus there's that millisecond of waiting for the lock up every time they're applied. I don't imagine that they would save any money either, or attract a lot of customers. Widowmakers.

Anyway, that's enough ranting and wishful thinking for one night.

KTM made the bike you are looking for; it is called a 950 Super Enduro. It is quite heavy but once you are onboard the weight just disappears. It can be tootled around all month long and there is not much it will not climb. Only thing is, if are irresponsible and twist its ear a bit hard it has been known to bite

 

[ARH]

I was having a similar thought...polished tank sides, now that is an original Husky color...and no doubt there was something before that back in the early days before Husqvarna became an international powerhouse.

I'd like to see a clean classic look, white fenders, chrome panel on tank, and your choice of color for tank shrouds. I went to look at new trucks the other day they had half a dozen color choices, why not on bikes?

 

[2premo]

View attachment 27203
I'd like to see a clean classic look, white fenders, chrome panel on tank, and your choice of color for tank shrouds. I went to look at new trucks the other day they had half a dozen color choices, why not on bikes?

bikes are a little different, at this level most are looking to be on a winner regardless of their riding ability
team sports play in here, your team (your brand) wins and everyone knows this by looking at the color

 

[ajaxauto]

You guys are funning talking more about how a bike looks then how to make it a better bike If it is a winner it can be any color that is what is important how does it work not how does it look

I quest that is why people buy sticker kits Husky/ Husaberg/ KTM or what ever you want to now call your self just built a good race bike Worrie about the color later

 

[ARH]

We all want a great bike, I think that's a given. I guess the color is more subjective and open for speculation... As for having a brand/team "color" most of them are taken already (the good ones anyway, I don't want a purple or mint green bike) so a shiny chrome patch would be something unique that no others have, and ties in to the time when Husky was the number one brand.

 

[sabortooth]

My wife thought every Honda was me at the last race so maybe blue/yellow isn't so bad. I'm thinking purple would be a real stand out lol

Yamaha ran purple on their 80s mx250

 

[huskyfrk]

husky was outsourcing the frame fabrication...

 

[ScottyR]

husky was outsourcing the frame fabrication...

Correct. And that is the reason that the WR250/300 was in such short supply this year. The frame builder went out of business.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

At 316 lbs, my 610 isn't exactly light, but it gets it all done-eventually, mine is lowered 2 inches to accommodate my 29 inch inseam, that I can't go at race pace is fine by me. I like the fact that I can ride it to the dirt portion of the ride and leave the truck at home. I can run three different front sprockets without changing the chain so I can tailor the gearing slightly to the ride I'm doing. I wholeheartedly agree with your assertion that if one can't make it light, lower the COG. Part of me would like something a little lighter, but just lowering the COG might to the trick.

The 610/630 were near perfect for their targeted tasks. Very competent off road in open terrain with decent long range highway abilities. I don't know if you've ever ridden a KTM 690 or not but the engine is really good. If the new Husky will take that engine, widen the gear ratios a bit (like the 610), and give it a proper gas tank and subframe I would be first in line.