Interesting looking bike. Not serious off road but like the WR250x Yamaha a nice entry level DS 250. Interesting. Just keeping a heads up on the competition here...
Looks a lot like a KLR 250 which I'm sure is the same market... In the end you pay almost and much and don't get a REAL dirt bike like the Husky low TE250 which should be outselling these hands down but can't seem to gain traction...
True but seem to have a good market regardless. The Yamaha is well liked and sells well. It makes no sense at all on paper (heavy, slow, crap suspension) but seems to be a good bike regardless.
Husqvarna needs to get a commercial(s) out during any MX/SX airing on CBS, SPEED etc. Husky needs more exposure, period! It's messed up to have someone looking at our Husky's saying nonsense like they didnt know Husqvarna made anything but chainsaws, or even when a guy in his 20's or so ask me if Suzuki made my TE 510. WHAT! The mags seem to be getting more Husky friendly, thankfully, but not every one has dirt bike mag subscriptions. Some may not even be able to read anyway, so they just buy orange with the other sheepeople. Maybe BMW can insist everyone of their motorcycle dealers has some kind of Husqvarna info clearly displayed in their showroom. The fold out brochure poster of the Husky model line, and the list of Husky dealers. It may sound funny, but it couln't hurt their sales. Someone comes in looking for a BMW DS or dirt bike. BMW doesnt have that, so the customer goes and buys a competitors brand. Fail!
The Japs have brand perception, which Husky doesn't have, plus a lot more dealers. Uninformed folks can be aware of the TE250L, but buy the Honda instead cause in their mind it's a known quantity, but the Husky isn't. Same as why so many people blindly buy Toyonda cars today. In time it'll change. In Ontario, there are a lot more Huskies out there compared to 6 years ago. In 2006, there were probably no more than 20-30 active Husky riders in the province. Now there are probably hundreds.
I rode one of those, it had a pipe and EFI tuner... Slow is an understatement, it almost made me re think my any bike can do a wheelie mentality. I really had to work hard to get any good wheelies out of it. Later,
Of the 3 Jap bikes, the Yammi is the only one that comes close to looking as cool as the Husky. All 3 Jappers look like they weigh a million pounds.
A really old klr250 was my first bike. I did not want to buy something nice, and as planned successfully beat it to a pulp. When people are not sure what they want or how interested they are in a sport they tend to gravitate to the safer options i.e. less expensive bike (at least initially), well known reliability, more dealers to get work done & get parts, and has a known resale value. I am not sure there is anything Husqvarna can do to alter that.
Yes, Husky's TE line are great bikes. What you guys are overlooking is that each of these smaller DS bikes from the Japanese manufacturers have ridiculously long service intervals. The Yamaha WR250R has a 26,000 mile valve check interval. That's nearly 9x the valve check interval of my TE630. Not all of us live within spitting distance of great trail riding. Not all of us have the time or the equipment to haul a bike a thousand miles to find some good trails. If we want to ride our bikes somewhere, we have to ride there. I would not consider making a multi-day, multi-thousand mile trip on a TE smaller than the 630. I'd be afraid of ruining the engine. They just aren't meant to take that kind of abuse. Look at WbCherry's thread and all the flak he's taking for planning a big trip on his TE310. I'm even concerned about my 630 and how fast I'm going to run through it with the way I ride. I had 14,000 miles on my ZX-10R when I sold it and that bike was just getting started. On my TE, I wouldn't be surprised if I was halfway to rebuild time at that mileage, and I'm not too far from that right now.
These things are commuter bikes with big wheels (crossovers?) and suit the needs and desires of many people. Im surprised it took them this long to offer the little CRF with lights .... I wonder if the 250X and 450X might someday get the same treatment....then they will be competing directly with the TE market (although I had two 450Xs and they wont get me to go back)
Most you have these pegged correctly ... just a low performance , ~entry level , 85% street - 15% trail bike. These type bikes (xr200) are the chosen big bike here ... People want a ~street ridden bike that can do some low-speed rough road stuff on occasion OR a low-speed trail bike to ride on Sundays ... Plus, nothing else is really offered that is close to their performance. And long life due to low performance.... The JAP machines compete against themselves really ... That bike looks too weak, too blah, too plain ... a XR looks better ...
inline I don't think you will wear that TE out ... You will sell it first or trash it blasting down the hard top ... An anvil can be broken also ...
Yes, there are engineers at work that think those are real dirt bikes. Yuppy I.T. type dirt bikes maybe, but they are not real dirt bikes. Those are for girlie men.
I think Honda should have made the air cooled XR250R street legal in the US, I believe it is currently available in Australia. I would buy one over the other choices.
Took the wife to the long beach motorcycle show in 08, husqvarna wasn't even there let alone a entry level bike like seen above. So I had to buy the ultra slow klx250s for her, the wr250r seat height was rediculous even for me. Been to the show 4 years in a row, seen gp husky there once.....picked up an 09 te450 afterwards.
