Well, in my case it's a Strada, but hey they are pretty similar. I've been interrogated in public more with this bike than any other I've owned, a BMW R75/5 excluded. I'm in a forest visitor center yesterday looking at a map and a young man walks up and says "Dude, is that the Terra?" He's riding a KTM690 he explains, and is thinking about 'downgrading.' I didn't get into upgrade/downgrade, but he sure had a lot of questions. This happens pretty often. Last time I was at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and a fleet of street bikes comes in. I had filled up and was enjoying a diet coke. This guy rides right up, rips his helmet off, and asks "Dude, is that the Terra?" I explained Strada/Terra and he starts jumping up and down yelling at his girlfriend to come over. She freaks out over catching the Husky in the wild, seems she's in the market but has not seen one. I offer her to have a seat and she was giddy, I didn't think I'd get her off it. Not sure why they all call me 'dude', I don't bowl.
I get the same thing. In fact, I just did the Pine Barrens adventure camp this weekend and all the instructors were asking about it. I let them each have a little fun on it ripping around the practice field.
Same thing here. I went through a Border Patrol Checkpoint here in southern Arizona today and got a lot of questions on my Strada (none of them had to do with my citizenship, haha). Also have had several people asking about it at stoplights....."I didn't know Husqvarna made streetbikes."
I picked mine up at a dealership a few hours away. MrsDonkeys and I made a weekend of it, and as such, trailered the bike. We were about halfway home, travelling on backroads, and needed gas. We pull into a town, and I see a guy in a big F250 waiting to turn onto the road, and eyeballing me as we pass him. He whips out into the road, turning left with his right turn signal still on, and gets right behind me. Sure as shit, he follows me to the gas station. He calmly gets out, starts the pump, and casually strolls over while I'm pumping gas and giddily says "That's the first TR650 I've seen!" Lots of questions followed. We had never met before, but it turns out he was an inmate on ADV and recognized each other's handles. He's had more dual-sports than I can count, and was genuinely interested with knowledgable questions.
Sitting in the jughandle on rt20 in patterson, a homeless guy was panhandling and gave me the thumbs-up. told me he had a husky back in the day, said he "didn't know husky make street bikes!"
I work on a military installation and the gate guards always comment on both the Husky and the Ducati - the Gold Wing doesn't seem to do much for them though :-) Got to be an age thing.
My 50th birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I was on a walk with my wife Sunday and a guy goes by on a recent model 'wing in black, 2012 or later based on the tupperware. I turned my head as he rode by. My wife calls me out, says "Wow, you just rubber necked a 'wing, I knew things would go down hill at 50." When I bought my K1600 it was a very close decision between it and the 'wing. She, like any other pillion who has been on a 'wing favored it considerably, but was OK with me getting the BMW for me. Their both geezer bikes. :-)
IMO, the K1600 is no geezer bike. It's got power. Quite a bit of it. It's a touring bike, but that does not mean geezer bike. I toured in my 20s. Just not on a comfortable touring bike (on a '76 Suzuki GT550 3cyl 2T).
Yeah but the K1600 is a 'cool Geezer' bike :-) The 'Wing is just a 'geezer' bike ;-) btw The new Honda 'Wing Bagger' looks sharp (IMHO) - wicked in black! They should have kept the cruise control though...
I can hardly make it out of a gas station without a long winded conversation with someone. Some know what it is others are in amazement. My 511 gets even more attention on the street.
Get used to it, everyone. My '08 TE 250 and TR 650 are eyeball magnets. Add 10 minutes to every gas stop and place you park. They would not be a good choice for a stealth bike, even if you camouflaged decaled them.
Sadly the only comments I get is when small children ask their mom "Is that guy too old to ride a motorcycle?"
Honestly, my KTM 450 SMR got much more attention than the Husky. Maybe it was because I was at the gas station every 35-40 miles? Maybe it was because the exhaust was putting out 110 db? Or maybe it was because no one had seen a supermoto? The cops really liked to pay attention to it. 15 minutes after I got it street legal and got the plate on it, I got pulled over and all he said was "Is it supposed to be like that?" "Uh, yeah." "Hmm." The only time I really get attention on the Husky, are times like this morning, when I miss the turn signal and light up the horn.
Funny, I have the same story. My r75 /5 definitely gets more comments and questions but the Husky is holding it's own. I don't know why I chose the attention getters when I don't want the attention.
Four times yesterday... Pull into the parking lot of the Mount Hood National Forest Ranger station and I don't even have my helmet off a very enthusiastic young man is pounding me with questions. "Is that one of the new Husky's?" Has a F650G but is hot for a Terra. Not to far down the road I'm stopped for a picture and a KLR rides up. "Is that the Terra..." Discussion ensues... Out on the trail, come across three guys on horses, leading a wagon train. We are discussing the best way for me to get past without scaring the horses and donkeys, etc. All of a sudden one of the guys says "Hey, that's a Husky, is it one of the new ones with the BMW engine?" Off the horse he comes to have a closer look. Further down the trail I start talking to a rider headed toward the wagon train explaining what to expect, as it's a bit unusual. Her husband comes up about a minute later. She's on a DR200, he's on a KTM990. She wants a Terra bad, ends up sitting on it etc. They are thinking next year, I explain that there is likely not a 'next year.' This is getting out of hand, it's starting to cut into the riding time.
