yep i heard sub 7K which IMHO would make it a GREAT seller to the DRZ/KLR650 crowd. If they can pull that off it will be good.
This bike seems more like a KLR killer to me, and thats a nice big market to go after. Nuda styling now seems to be a brand direction. Its all new to us Husky guys. --The problem for me (and i suspect many others) is they replaced my sector of the market (90% off road dual sport) aka the TE610/630, with a bike that will be 50-50 street/dirt when its in TE trim. I see simply a cooler, better, red and black KLR650/Drz650. Great bike for that market segment im guessing, especially at that price point. BMW/Husky will probably have a hit. Great entry level. Great 'light weight' ADV, great chick bike, great urban assault/hooligan bike, etc. But its not a dual sport. Its a ADV lite when its in TE trim. Unfortunately its completely useless for me. Years from now, when my TE610 needs to be replaced, will i have to go with a KTM? Starting to look that way. Also-i see a trend. G450 rebadged as a TE449. BMW 650 'dakar' rebadged as a TE650. GS800 re badged as a 'Nuda' -- all of this is fine with me. IF they keep making real race bikes as well.
Good stuff Mike, glad to see you posting. "G450 rebadged as a TE449" the 449/511 is leaps ahead IMHO. They are taking solid paid for platforms and greatly updating them and offering them at a reasonable price structure. Seems a good place to start for them especially in this economy. Will will see if they completely dilute the Husky brand and push hard core husky dudes out. The 2 strokes should get a great upgrade soon, the x-light platform continues to grow and impress, rumors of a x-light 450, and the 449/511 are right in the mix and are very early in the life cycle. Seems pretty good. we will see.
Trust me, the G450 and the TE449 share an engine. It stops there. I've ridden the G450 and I own a 449.
This isn't a replacement for the 630. The 630 is still in production and is staying. It's just not being imported to the US. This is just another street bike. It's not a rebadged BMW either. What is happening here is Huskey is expanding into the the street bike sector as a way of increasing units sold. And people are freaking out
Great points. Seems people are on edge about BWM and fear every move they make. I have seen it all over. I like to just wait and see what really happens. So far I like what they have come up with. 449/511 was successful in many ways and a great bike so I give them some level of faith. x-light continues to kick butt and get refined upgraded. Rumors of the 450 X-light that I;m sure will rule. Nude, this 650... looks good to me. If it does not fit your segment of buying simply ignore it. On top of all that the 610/630 was an unknown cult bike until last year when a few 630's sold. many people were dising that bike to as it weighed more and had less power stock. Other than a small flock we know here there really is not a big market happening for the 610/630. Thats the facts. Even though we all know it is by far the best most versatile nig DS bike going it's marketability seems limited. The fresh face, different customer and good price might make this one actually sell.
OK, i will bite. Im not freaking out. I assure you. I see the Husky 450 as an updated G450. No different than the way Husky changed things in '05. Then in '08. New frames. New engine specs, etc. SO to it is with the G450 to TE450. An update. I will gladly take back the word 'rebadge'. Let me use 'updated' or maybe 're styled' for the bikes. But my point remains, and its simply this: BMW is moving its motors and related parts over to Husky, where an 'updated' and ' restyled' version of the large BMW bike is coming to market. Rebadge was a poor choice of words. What i see is kinda like a Bimota or Fanta or Beta situation where a common motor and accessories are taken and 'restyled' as a Husky. That was my simple point. Its all good.
Looks pretty obvious what bmw is doing currently with the Husky name ... 3 new streeters with their engines pretty much, 1 dirt bike with their engine, 1 re-designed 310 dirt bike engine ... 250s dirt bikes pretty much left alone and just progressed as expected...2t engines dirt bikes? Let's look at this from a high level business view ...bmw makes cars and big expensive street bikes. bmw does not make dirt bikes. Yet, bmw made a dirt bike and purchased a dirt bike company and made streeters ... This sounds a little bit like an experiment ... I'm hoping it works out ... Who you want Husky to ride with? bmw or who? Freaking out? Over a bike? Please get a grip on life ... Or go see a motorcycle shrink ... ...
FYI: There was a huge thread on another site about the 011 g650 centering on this fork pic ... I read alot of it but never saw the final words from the bike owner ... He said the fork broke while riding easy straight down a hardtop road ... I didn't mean to imply a specific person was freaking out over the hand bmw has over Husky ... I was trying to imply, in the scope of life in general, that its just not that important to anyone's life (and out of their control) really except for maybe the dealers who must sell what ever is put out there ... Customers can just go elsewhere ... (That fork pic is a little different area of freaking out) The more I look at the Husky streeters as compared to many other brands of ADV bikes or sport touring or what ever they are called, the better the Husky looks ... The Husky wins hands down if the performance and the ~price is there ...
Well, from the pictures it seems as though the 630's side-stand issues have been resolved. A good-looking bike ... interested to see what the TE650 will be.
Being a previous owner of a G650, I notice in the pics the bottom of the forks don't seem to have compression adjusters. I hope this isn't the case, because it looks like a nice bike.
Ran into a guy today that was looking to buy a 630. He was talking about possibly selling it later for $6500-$7000. So apparently some people think they are increasing in value. I wanted to schmack him upside the head...
yeah, I keep coming back to this thread. The more I see the more I like it and was curious of there are any rumors of an eta on when its coming out?
