KTM/Husqvarna... now how will this play out?

I think I'm in the same boat. I always thought part of Husky's heritage was off-road [and desert in the USA]. So I am a little surprised at the MX focus -- but not shocked though. I think it makes a certain degree of sense from an ownership group perspective. I'll keep my finger's crossed though.

Dungey on a Husky?!?!?!? Could be cool....

One last thought on Husky as an MX company...

As it relates to off-road -- I do see some cross-over [ala Kawasaki and Suzuki with their previous efforts]. A good 450f and 250f will always convert to certain aspects of off-road and can be quite successful. So I would expect to see a new Husky off-road as well.

My worry is that MX=Thumper. Since I am a two-stroke guy largely, I am not sure if there will be a new two-stroke Husky for me if the focus is on MX [short of the 125].

Berg makes 4t and 2ts and covers the gamut. I expect Husky will as well under the guidance of Pierer. I think he'll work to define Husky's core strength as being MX, although Husky's enduro history is very strong, too (did you see many Bergs in Dakar?)

Dungey on a Husky... what a great idea! I'm ont a big Dungey fan, but it would be great to see Roczen or Dungey on a Husky. I SERIOUSLY doubt it would happen, though.

Dungey will be on a 250 DI 2-stroke Husky and will win all the races . I do think Husky will make/sell 2 and 4 strokes.

I don't think Husqvarna will leave the enduro market/race space at anytime in the near future, why? CH Racing! They have been the official raceteam for Husky for eon's now and with the greatest enduro rider whose's ever lived, SP has at his disposal, a rider(s) and team to improve the bike but really have to dominate if they want to buy the confidence of the punter out there who wants to upgrade their bike for the coming season.
I doubt that Husqvarna will appear in supercross in the US unless SP can build a team and take out the World MX1 or MX2 titles within the next 2 years. Then the pathway will be via the AMA outdoors, like they did when the KTM450 appeared under Alessi.

They use to say that what wins on sunday, sells on monday; well the motorcycle offroad game still works off this addage - the more husqvarna bike's on podiums results in increased sales figures - it's as simple as that in the MX/Enduro game!!

I keep hearing that, but since 95+% of riders don't race, I'm not so sure I agree. But it doesn't hurt. I just don't think it helps as much as it used to in the old days.

Here is some more news about how this is all going to play out and what KTM plans to do with Husky.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/video/business/bajaj-auto-ktm-to-roll-out-husqvarna2-years-_818643.html

I see this as shared engines, suspension, and other common components but seperate frames and BNG to keep brand identity. JMO, I can't seem to wait for actual official statements.

understandable and if the husky frame will be kept on its level then even with a KTM engine it would do better then the KTM

suspensions are easy to tune/swap in the aftermarket field so for the average woods rider there is not that there is leaving a product from the shelf its just modified to make it more cost effective to produce

(I kinda do the same in my job)

Robert-Jan

...raced Husqvarna's for 32+ years,now I am chillin' ,having fun reliving my youth-play racing/practicing with my son..who is now on his 3rd Husky...I might not race anymore(although I play the notion in my mind whenever I ride!) but the ONLY bike that deserves a spot in my garage is a Husky...if KTM (Stefan) screws with them and rebadges them...ain't happening..if you buy a company then rob Peter to build up Paul(think Husaberg)I "will" be buying a couple '12 or ' 13 model Huskys and hold unto them to see how this plays out.Call me an ass if you will but I'm getting old,been thru all ups and downs this marques been through and to keep hearing the people who think they are mightier than tho(KTM owners-most)I will be not be buying into their logic that it takes KTM to make a better Husky.I will sit on the sidelines watching this play out until further notice with hope Husqvarnas will be in my garage until I die.

KTM has a multi pronged attack. The future for making money is in small inexpensive street bikes for emerging markets. They will be building these in India with both KTM and Husqvarna badges apparently. That does not mean that high end Husqvarnas won't still be produced in Italy even with some shared components.
Problem is, we can speculate for the next 6-12 months on this thread and we are just wasting our time because they won't say anything until a plan is in place.

I respectfully disagree, this is a husky forum so we ride'em cos we all agree that Cagiva/BMW/Husqvarna made great bikes...outside of our own world you will see ad's with number 1 plates for the championships that KTM have won in the offroad racing world in the past year, MX/SX is dominated by the big 4...it's pretty intimidating when that 95% who don't race want to buy a new bike, they pick up a copy of the latest dirtbike mag and then they are plastered with these advertisements, not to mention bias/questionable commentary from testers.
Husqvarna isn't marketed well, we can debate about outdated technology or it's got a great motor but the home truths are that it's really only trading on it's past rather than it's present and future success - this is where we all hope SP will transform Husqvarna when he talks about racing....that ability to impact sales worldwide by being successful in the racing arena.

Just remember, this was/is the KTM strategy to this day "Ready to Race"

which they aren't...

he said it!

Don't forget AS rode the 350 machine in ama sx also and did just as well on it as a 450 ...

And racing is advertising ... Any product sold has got to have a live performance to sell ...Podiums are great but not necessary for Husky ..Consistence results and a few holeshots with a known rider such as Shorty will be money well spent on advertising ...

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The enduro world just does not receive the top billing the MX\sx world brings forth ... Hitting these 2 arenas might cost more but the return should be bigger also ...

I'm with you here ... I've got 4 Huskies now and would like one more of these current models ...I'm not overly interested in a 'better-cross-breed' bike either ... The current line of Huskies kick holes in the pimkins when the top level riders are on board so I also do not think that cross-breeding is needed to make a better Husky bike ... Maybe a cheaper bike for the company to build, but not a better bike ... And I'm old enough here to understand this is business with these ownerships and sales numbers driving the showroom...

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All the MX talk is a very exciting ... How much different are the TC and TXC models? Very close bikes and one can almost be the other ...

I'll be very interested in a new 450 MX model ... To the point of maybe co-owning one here and putting a top PRO rider on it and race these islands ... This yr will be a 'testing the water thing' for any Husky racing I'm doing both on the track and on the business side ...

Did the x lite motor come from BMW engineers?

I'm still riding Swedish Huskys, as well as Cagiva Huskys and my '09 is a BMW Husky I guess. How is this new period different? Cagiva re-badged some of their own models as Huskys, and then re-designed the 2 strokes with Cagiva technology and the Husky faithful either cringed or embraced it. They were the best Huskys ever. WR250/300 is practically the same bike today, as '92 was. Same with BMW and 4 strokes in this last period. You must have embraced it or you wouldn't be wanting to buy up '12 and '13 models to save. You'd be over in the Vintage forum with the "Swedish Purists", cringing 26 years later. We'll see how it plays out, but I hope production stays in Italy.... for the sake of the 250+ people who have worked hard to build some of the best Huskys ever.