YOGAVNTURE
Husqvarna
A Class
nice post. bottom line is that husky usa is blowing out stock (for some unknown reason). they are advertising the te511 as a dual sport.....(my layman thought Is that dual sport basically means dirt/and road......but maybe it means/dirt/trail.........? ) I got into this situation because I own an older te610 with a few years on it.....I assumed. and assumed wrongly i guess that the newer te was an update of the older te.......I AM STARING AT MY BROCHURE FROM MY TE610 FROM 2006......IT STATES IN BIG LETTERS...........DUAL SPORT.......ON BROCHURE.....At an AMA Dualsport event there are 3 levels A, B, C the Husqvarnas and the KTM street legal bikes are A level bikes...which is a mostly dirt course intended for racers/near racers/experience off road riders. Those bikes can also run the B level course which I would say is aimed at more casual riders/bikes such as KLRs, XRs, etc. The C level is pretty much light Adventure bike territory, pavement and gravel roads for the most part the Terra fits well here and could do B in a good riders hands.
The 610 is a solid B course bike than can also run the A course in an experience off road riders hands and is reasonably comfortable on the C course, too.
Even the AMA gets that there is more than one level of Dualsporting.
Anyone wandering into Cafe Husky and asking where the 449/511 fit in the dualsporting world would have been told it is a competition dirt bike with lights, and many have done so. This is highly desirable to some, and not so much to others. Unless you want to go with the old tech XR/DR then the B level dualsport bike has pretty much been abandoned by manufacturers. The 630 was the last Husky that really fit there. The 511 has a chance to made into such a bike, but it certainly wasnt designed to be a light adventure bike/commuter/long distance ride.
For what its worth I think that BMW/Ducati et al are misadvertising the off-road worthiness of the GS bikes...but some people actually do ride them in gnarly terrain and race them at Dakar.
Back to the BMW/Huskys. Gear it up, change the tires, put a Seat Concepts seat on, add a Nomad tail tank and apply some of Tinkens oil management tips and the 449/511 becomes a serviceable modest distance road bike. Convert to a wide ratio transmission and it becomes both a modest distance road bike and still works off road if the terrain isnt too gnarly. The close ratio transmission pretty much forces you to go one way or the other with the sprockets to fit road speeds or offroad speeds.
I actually rode a TE250 on a 120 mile road trip once with nothing but a tire change and sprocket swap. My butt was not impressed...
now u now why im upset.....I wanted to be a loyal husky customer........I was basically happy with the te610 .....it was a dual sport............and now a few years later they have the same model number te 511........and they are using the same words..........dual sport................yet it is not an update at all......my older bike does decent on the road even with the knobby stock.........this newer bike is literally a danger on the highway......(I think at about 60 mph the front end was shaking)......this is a hazard..........but they still persist...........in saying its a dual sport..........I under stand that if I spend cash on tranny upgrades it might perform as you say.......(and i want to note here tinken has been great and gone out of his way to help). but why do I need to spend money on tranny upgrades to get the dual sport that it was advertised as....? don't you see.? their are alot of te449 and te511 bikes still to be sold at this sale.........and some might find out after purchase the same as me..........and then this same discussion goes on and on.........please tell corporate to tell their dealers to tell the potential buyers of these bikes that they had no intent of making this a dual sport......that the intent was (and this is obvious) was to make a great dirt bike (which it is), which is usable on the road at low speeds.........
I haven't looked up huskys model line right now.......but I know years ago they had sm models which were the same bike as the te just with super moto tires for road use......(i don't think they have these bikes now??????????????? im not sure..............but that is a further clue the bike now,,,the te.....is not road friendly..........the older te610 when sold new in 2006 even had the option for a second set of tires for road use....further solidifying my argument the old te was made to be a dual sport as advertised but the current one not.........oh well its just money. but please here be very clear to anyone thinking the te bike is a dual sport.......it is not.......except for town usage per say , under 55 mph.......I would market the te as a dirt/town bike and stipulate it is not intended for interstate traffic or speeds above 55 mph........its a road hazard. I do appreciate that enuf money spend on the te It could be altered.......but that's not what the bike was made for......and in the end I don't feel comfortable spending money altering a bike for who knows how much money for my desired purpose.........great dirt bike though! dear corporate tell your dealers to tell buyers the above to prevent further discontent.