Any news about 2013 ?

BNG for my2013? So I guess maybe I don't need to wait for the 13s, a 2012 WR300 will have to do.........darn it....

This is the same way we won the War for Independance, they got mad and left.

Seriously, any word on the Steve McQueen desert sleds yet?

That's Funny - I've been kickin' alot of a$$ with my bike , with it's tank under the seat. Great bikes don't need much after-market stuff. Besides 10 years from now - all bikes will have gas tanks under the seat or maybe, no gas tank (Fuel cell)!

Not sure what kind of racing you do but for a 3 hour race and having to pit for fuel theres a lot of wasted time trying fuel that stupid thing while everyone else is using quick fills.

I don't have one (449/511)... do you have to wait for it to Burp and siphon into the other tank as you fill the top tank?
I spose it would take some additional time... without much/any time to spare.

It is a big ole world out there with all kinds of people and all kinds of bikes and it is good to respect what others want.
I happen to like the race oriented Husqvarnas with close ratio's that is why I ride a TC250 in tight woods. But the reason KTM is so successful is they study what people in ALL parts of the world want and build a wide variety of bikes to suit a lot of different people. The reason the wide ratio-big tank guys on here don't buy a KTM is they like Husqvarna, just want a few options to suit there needs.
I think Husqvarna will eventually make more additions to the line up, they just need time to get up to speed.

It's more costly to provide that kind of variety, too. Perhaps with BMW now and increased sales, they'll be able to work on that. There was talk a few months back about a plug and play wide ratio tranny option...

Has anyone tried to make a new style Quick fill cap for the 449/511? I would guess when you pull into pits the bike would have gas in the lower tank. Only requiring the large tank needing a Quick fill. This could help on the Desert races where you have 30 mile loops or GP'S like the team races. ZipTY Racing has a Replacement tank for the 449/511 for those that need the extra capacity or wish to have the old tank feel

So no race bike needs a WR transmission? Come on dude, good it works for you, but not everybody races motocross. Your point about Husky winning the E1 and E2 classes, okay so.............Racing and winning is more rider than bike, so not a valid point. You don't like our points? Okay don't read em'. no body really GAF anyway..........

Bottom line, Husky is lazy and just keep putting out the same ole thing cause it's cheaper and easier and more profit than making new cog's. Is it really that hard to add a WR 6th gear? No...............I also own a KTM, who will get my money again when I sell my 310 if Husky keeps just pushing out the same ole thing.

I had to pick up on this one.. Husky is far from 'lazy'. There is a huge amount of development going on between Italy and Germany that will result in a brand with the 'reference' bikes in every segment they choose to sell in. Things have really ramped up in Varese now and the new management team seem to be making huge strides in giving us all the company we want it to be. We've just had 3 days at BMW World in Munich for the Husky international distributor meeting and if half of what was discussed comes to fruition the future will be really bright.

As a side note, the WR250/300 are now long in the tooth and commercially it isn't viable to revise the transmission as this will require re homologating the bike for Europe, with no chance of recouping that cost with the sales volume of those 2 models.


Dave

That was good to hear.

If Captnemo is riding the same stuff in Arkansas that I have ridden 1 tank of fuel might last 3 hours. It can be some of the tightest gnarliest stuff out there. But I sure as hell wouldn't want to ride 3 hours of it on a big 4t of any brand.

This is exactly what I think HVA is up to, just doesn't happen overnight.

Proof is in the product, still waiting! Loving my wife's GasGas more every time I ride it.

I think 2013 will see a little more than BNG. Like the new ecu/injector combo for the XLites on more models. And the new head on more XLite models as well. Probably a few other miscellaneous improvements/refinements/changes/etc, too.

Hi Dave, I think husky and maybe you are missing the point, husky already has a 6 speed that goes right in the motor. No need for any development costs making something up. There are a lot of riders here in the US, and some in Australia, that have been willing to buy a old 250-360 motor and swap the gear sets and shift mechanism to get a 6 speed. We want it that bad that we are willing to buy another motor and split the cases to get a 6 speed. They could simply do this for the US, Canada, and Australia. This would not create any new part numbers or parts. They would find that those bikes would be hard to keep in stock. This isn't difficult to do, they just need to decide to do it, hell they would be suprised to see and nice bump in sales of the WR 250/300.

I certainly hope Husky is moving forward and have bet a lot of money on it buying a new TXC310. For the racing I do the bike is pretty close to perfect but I have made a few mods which suit my needs - sorry if I offend purists by saying the bike isn't perfect for my needs as delivered. When I'm not racing I like riding tough trails which sometimes require a lower 1st gear than the MX gearbox has - and for transfers I need a taller 6th gear - neither of these gears is used much (if any) when racing so ..... I hope Husky has the braintrust to address the issue - if the company is too narrow-minded to heed market needs ..... there won't be a market for Husky.

Talking about 2smokes what works in the uk for riders aged 35-55 are six speed electric start. Gas gas and ktm sell a lot of 2mokes in the uk. The problem with husky is bmw has a similar view to kawa, suzi, honda, yam and concetrate on 4t's to drop 2mokes. There are more 2mokes being ridden in the uk then 4t's. Ive not only a 449 but a ktm 300exce and both bikes are good but in different ways. Husky could make a lot of money if they matched gas gas and ktm and get rid of that bultaco kickstart.

It's still a huge amount of work even with existing components. You have to manage two different engine builds on production including managing the supply chain for the additional components, revise owners manuals, service manuals, parts catalogues as well as producing the marketing material required to support sales of the 'new' bike in the relevant market. This all assumes that the pre production durability testing which would have to be carried out from a liability point of view was successful.

With a basic platform of the WR250/300 which doesn't lend itself to the electric start fitment which is becoming more and more important to new bike buyers, it's just not a viable option. The effort would outweigh the rewards massively. Development time and resource would be much better spent on an all new model...

Dave

I think we all know that any 2t produced by 2014 is going to have to be drastically altered to meet Euro 4 standards. I understand not having a product ready for 2013 that can embrace those changes and not wanting to spend excessively on one years production of an old model. What seems like such an easy alternative is to sell an optional 6 speed kit with all the needed parts for the conversion. There are a pile of WR250/300's that would love to have that as an optional buy. Husky has the parts in the books, they have survived many years in a WR360 with no issues, and re-sourcing those parts that have already undergone all the engineering is inexpensive. That is an option that needs to be in the Hard Parts catalogue. If they don't want to offer that because it would potentially hurt future sales then that is unacceptable to me. Allowing your customer base to refine their bikes to their personal comfort level insures future sales. The six speed was just the final piece to making my WR250 the cats meow and many others would feel the same if they had the option. It still didn't stop me from buying future Huskies.