Well Curley, KTM would have had to have bought Husky, 5 years ago to have given you that. Personally, BMW, to me, didn't do too bad a job. They just decided to get back to Road Bikes, and 'Super Scooters', and enter into collaboration with TVS in India, to make, what could be in the future, many millions more motorcycles, to be sold into genuinely growing markets, around the world. KTM should thank their lucky stars that BMW didn't retain Husky, and keep going for their Dirt Bike market, with bikes produced in India. KTM know their future (As do BMW, with their TVS venture) - for real sales, above the piddly 108 / 109,000 bikes made / sold last year, is through Indian production. Think about the sort of price the Freerides could be sold at, if / when they are made in India. The Mini Dukes, are extremely well made bikes, that sell for, for once, a reasonable price here in OZ - unlike the rest of the KTM line. We get royally reamed, here, as do so many other markets, by KTM. Through BMWs aquisition of Husqvarna, Husky continued, the XLights saw the light of day, the GS450 got refined, and the Husky side of things, with several models, gave us far better bikes than the BMWs they 'started life' as. I for one, rue the day when Nudas went bye , bye. I had a Nuda R whilst I was in Europe for last years MXDN and ISDE. With an Ackro, my mates ( a Swiss American) ECU he makes, a TTX rear shock, TTX inserts in the forks, and a thumb brake fitted for me, I swear it was the Best Road Bike I'd ridden in years. An Absolutely incredible bike. I got to 'punt' it around the Nurburgring as well, and it was bloody fantastic. I / we, also gave that bloody 'Winged Keel' attrocity of a front fender the 'hoick'. Hell, the std Nuda, and Nuda Rs were / are weapons - I wish I'd had enough 'lazy money' lying around recently to have snaffled the last ones available.
the new husavarna special parts catalogue has some neat stuff in it like the 2stroke race head with removable insert, thats a thinking outside the square idea, will be interesting to see how it works in the real world. as opposed the the engineers who thought a 511 with only 473cc was a good idea,well, they should have been demoted to floor sweepers for suggesting it. should have kept the 510 engine for the 511`s and added EFI. to keep the brand alive, borrowing the berg models for a year or 2 while they invest big amounts of money developing new bikes is a pretty good idea overall, i`m not a KTM or berg fan, but we could`ve had no 2014 bikes at all or left over old stock being run out in showrooms decimating the resale values of the bikes we own. and we could`ve done at lot worse than husaberg products with some make up on. i`d even be happy if the 2015`s came with the berg TE300 engine in a non-ktm frame with some top shelf non-ktm/WP suspension like ohlins, showa or KYB, just to make the bikes individual and different from KTM`s. if in the long term we end up with white EXC`s then the grave is dug for husqvarna.
The 510 engine was awesome. With a high compr piston and FBF ignition and Surflex slipper clutch, that was by far THE most crazy/fun single cylinder 4 stroke Ive ever owned or ridden. Ive had the 510, 449, and 610 Huskys as well as a BMW F650, Yamaha WR250 and 400, and a Suzuki DRZ400. None of them could touch that!
bearorso i didn`t mean "exactly" a berg, i meant an equal to the fast selling 300exc/TE300 with a powerhouse 300 2stroke engine with 6speed box and top shelf suspension. many fans the world over have been screaming out for a 6speed wr250 or 300 for about a decade,bmw ignored them. i can`t speak for the rest of the world,but i know where i ride 300exc`s outnumber the much cheaper WR300`s about 25 to 1, whats the difference between them besides $3500+ the marzocchi forks did a pretty good job but had a well deserved reputation for leaky seals,yet when the opportunity arose to update, they selected decade old KYB`s to replace them (probably more of a financial choice than anything else) the KYB`s are not bad forks by any means, but they`re not the sort of thing that sells bikes when trying to compete with brands offering the best of the best with the latest ohlins/showa/whatevers with upside down inside out chamber forks with triple kryptonite frictionless coated unobtainium tubes etc bmw did think up some interesting ideas,the GS450 did improve,and the 450class husky 4strokes evolved hand in hand with it,some would suggest at the expense of the 510 class 473cc 4stroke competing with 525cc KTMs, 550cc 70degree bergs etc i can`t help but ponder if they`d spent less time and money trying to carve a slice of the road bike&dual sport market and more time on the core business that built husqvarna (dirt bikes), the brand may have ended up in a very different position. where would the brand be if they had instead spent the budget on a 250 or 450 class 4stroke which was regularly carrying riders onto the podium in the MX or SX arena? or dakar? erzberg?
The head inserts have been around for 10 years or more. True craftsmanship and Euope tuners been doing for years. Big outfir in Belgium doing them. They are pricey so no mass marketing done and made in US....Instead they feed you crap like "Powerbomb" and other shock and awe products. Sad to see they are going away from V force reeds and putting on run of mill Boysen reeds.
Is that catalog available online? I couldn't find it. Do you mean there are different combustion chambers available that can be swapped out to get more or less compression and different squish? If so I had a Jetski 20 years ago that I bought an aftermarket head that had combustion chambers that could be switched out and wondered why that was available for dirt bikes.
here you go, Eaglefreek... http://shop.husqvarna-motorcycles.com/us_en/husky-power/husqvarna-factory-parts/engine-2-stroke
BMW could have done better for sure but I remember early on some of the information leaking was they got kinda snookered and bought something they did not completely understand and were handed a much larger pile of crap than they anticipated. They tried to dig themselfs out but were just bleeding money. Not defending them and maybe they just wet the bed but do remember persistent rumor that what they bought was not exactly what they were told and started much further back than they had known. In the end non of this finger pointing resolves or changes anything. Swedes sold it to the Italians, Italians did a good job of running it for a while but bled it dry racing MVs and sold it to BWM who bit off more than they could chew and KTM ended up with the logo. Such is big biz. We are consumers of a toy, buy what you like and move on, there is nothing this bitching will do about history, it is what it is.
Here's your Supermini kit for the big wheel 85! Pretty sure this one says KTM on the side...may need that 'Young Guns' forum section. 105 TC kit Article no.: SXS13105000 Big bore kit with extra displacement (105 instead of 85). For plenty of torque and even more peak power. Without cylinder head/engine brace attachment. Where to buy
Finally, someone is making some sense. I am so tired of reading all the negativity on here about Pierer and KTM. Pierer save the brand, Period. Nobody can stay in business very long when half of the motorcycles they sell are at 40% off as year old leftover models that are cheaper than a good mountain bike. I expect we'll see a whole new round of bitching when the new prices come out. Brace yourself, cause they're not gonna be cheap!
'Less than' what they have been 'numbered' as engines, have always existed. Look up the capacity of the '505' twin cam KTM engine. Every overbored 450 I've ridden - all well set up ones, they have been, have been better bikes than the 450 they were based on. The '511', is far better than it is at 449, same with the '505' KTM Twin Cam engine over it's '450' version. And I find the current single cam KTM the same - the bigger engine, is nicer. It's why I'm so in favour of the premier class of MX, going to 500cc / or better still, Open capacity. Have the Premier Class, open to a variety of 'solutions', as it was in the 500cc class era - but even moreso. As, I'd love to see, BIG capacity, Grunt Monster 4ts return, as an addition to the current 450s , even 500 / 510.4cc screamers. Hey, I grew up around 580 /635 CCMs, And 360 / 390 Huskies, 380 CZs, and 380 / 400 / 440 / 490 Maicos, plus 370cc RM through to 465s, and on and on with various brands. And 450 and above 4ts, that have rev limiters that come in at 11 / 12k rpm are screamers. The Premier Class, Should be about bikes that are inherently difficult for a rider the deal with. And the various solutions that can be used to make them usable, for a rider / riders. We've just seen the MXDN, that has the usual crap about 250s being faster, and " we don't need those scary big bikes anymore". Well, that's nearly always been the case. With reference to 250 vs 500s, of yesteryear, and now, non Foo Foo 4ts. World Level 250 4ts are bumping at, or over, 50 HP. If you think not, well, you are 'limited in your knowledge'. The Bike It / Cosworth Yamaha 250s are 3speeders that reportedly rev to 16,500. Moto3 Road Race 250 4ts are limited to 13,500 / 13,000 RPM - sorry, I can't recall exact limits, but when the 'cooking variety, standard production NSF250R from 2012 has a smidge over 47HP at 13,000 rpm, it's not hard to see World Level 250F MXers, being at / above 50 HP, right now. As they have No restrictions in revs, or modifications, other than having to pass noise standards, and not be a forced air induction. Everts said earlier this year, that the KTM Team 250Fs, were at 48 / 49 HP. I'd say that was a rather low figure -unless it's at the rear wheel, with a knobby bouncing around off the roller. BMW got the Husqvarna brand for the price of a few months of the BMW Executive Coffee room budget. KTM had p***sed off BMW - no , not just the Motorcycle division, but the Monster that is the BMW Group in it's entirety - by openly stating they intended to surpass them in sales, so, BMW picked up Husky for cents in the dollar, and had a go. It kept Husky around for a few extra years. The BMW 'Controllers', and, by that I mean the Auto side of the company, saw the waste of money that should have been used for the BMW Road going bikes, and 'stopped play', as they say. BMW Motorcycles, are just a 'symbol' of BMWs history, but, one they do make a good amount of Euro's from. The profit from the bikes, probably pays for the car factories 'tea room ' budgets. Good Cookies and Coffee, cost a bit in Europe, you know....... They, the BMW accountants 'stopped play', fairly suddenly, and, in a bit of a hit to how the Castiglioni's have done so very, Very well, with the selling of 'Marques', for big money, then re-aquiring them for peanuts - or, being 'paid' to re-aquire them, BMW, apparently, approached KTM with a deal that was pretty much a present. Teutonic solidarity?, or just a 'f*** 'em, the conniving bastards' attitude to MV's / now the young Castiglioni's probable expectations of a wonderfully cheap a re-aquisition of Husqvarna. Just check out Harleys purchase from, then return of MV, to the Castiglionis, for an education, gentlemen. A Very Nice way to make money, that was, for the Castiglionis. I can't recall the figures, but it came down to something like $1 ....... As for the "Italians bled it (Husky? - well, not even MV) dry racing MVs", well that sure as hell wasn't the case. The MV Factory / Castiglionis, did not bleed anything dry by racing MVs. They've had sweet F.A, to do with racing MVs. They may have bled it dry, but not by racing MVs. But you're right with the latter point, Motosportz, we are consumers of toys, with regards to our dirt bikes. The bestest of Toys, in my opinion : Motorcycles / Two Wheels.
Lets focus on the threads title: 2014 Husqvarna line I'm not in a terribly good mood at the moment, I've been up since 2am because of this thread (over 8 hours ago). While I did try not to do too much, I did delete a few things. From the pictures someone posted of the berg vs 2014 husky, is it possible the swing arm is a bit shorter on the Husky?
The head inserts are done in the US just not for what you ride. http://www.eddie-sanders-racing.com/product_p/yz250 325 kit big bore.htm How do you know the Boyesen reeds KTM is using are "run of the mill"? Is the v force reed cage better than the RAD valve?
