• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

uptite

Mike Kay said:
David Knight, Scott Summers, Ty Davis, Scott Hardin, and now George Earl--?

Um yeah thats probably not a good way to manage a brand. Pissing off the leaders of the industry? Umm, yeah. No.

re badging BMW bikes and calling them Husky and making them in China? Ummm yeah. Probably not a good idea. Umm yeah. No.

Um changing management ever other year, dropping the ball on parts and homogenization and Cali air resources board, etc etc etc. Um yeah thats not how ya run a business.

Its over. BMW/Husky failed in the USA. Failed horribly.

What is now being said behind the scenes about Husky is shocking. Absolutely shocking. BMW/Husky has Zero chance of succeeding now. Zero. The momentum against Husky in 'the industry' is now nothing less than shocking.

BMW will sell the Husky brand within 3 years. To Kymco.
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Sounds to me like Husky has only temporarily failed in a small section of Southern Kali..........Still lot's of em being sold up here.
They have a great 4t lineup, although I wish they'd finally sell us a trans that works better for North America/OZ/everywhere else 'cept WEC europe. The 2t's are a bit long in the tooth, but that's getting dealt with next year. They'll have to catch up to GG and OSSA though, which are going to get a bunch of market share from everyone in the next 2 years.
I agree, that the New TE650, Baja and Nuda aren't the best ideas, but who knows? IMO the TE 650 should have been an upsized version(bigger bore & stroke) of the 511, with a bit wider trans ratios. Give the market a lightweight super-versatile 650 dirtbike & let the owners fatten it up if they want. Sell them high margin hardparts like saddlebags etc. Starting a bike out at 350# is plain dumb.

Kymco is better at bike/engine assembly than Varese ever was. That's a fact.

Failed in the USA? No, not by a long shot. If they had, all the 'muricans on this board would be tearing them a new one on these boards & that hasn't happened. So far it's only been a few guys in SoCal.......
 
Slowpoke said:
IMO the TE 650 should have been an upsized version(bigger bore & stroke) of the 511, with a bit wider trans ratios. Give the market a lightweight super-versatile 650 dirtbike & let the owners fatten it up if they want. Sell them high margin hardparts like saddlebags etc. Starting a bike out at 350# is plain dumb.
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the TE650 is for a different mission. To compete head to head with bikes like the DR650. Cheap, mid performance DS bikes. It is a good selling segment and from a sales standpoint probably the right move. There is still the 449/511 if you want that (I do).
 
Motosportz said:
the TE650 is for a different mission. To compete head to head with bikes like the DR650. Cheap, mid performance DS bikes. It is a good selling segment and from a sales standpoint probably the right move. There is still the 449/511 if you want that (I do).
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It can still accomplish that without being 350# (Think XR650R and later TE610s) light(relatively), smooth, super versatile, with great offroad capabilities. It can even do with a touch less suspension travel to lower the seat height a bit...... The 449 & 511 are great bikes. They just won't do runs to Alaska or Tierra del Fuego as easily as a 650 will.
 
Husky hasn't shown a TE650...

I think you folks are confusing the Strada with a TE. It's not. It could be that's Husky intention, but it hasn't been communicated as such. And, IMO, it's NOT a TE. I'm still waiting for a new TE to appear.

The DR650 weighs about 330lbs, not the 380lbs the Strada weighs. The DR650 would smoke the Strada in the dirt. There is no competition.
 
This is a truly big loss for Husqvarna. I have talked to George a few times on the phone and got to meet him when Husqvarna was the make at AMA Vintage Days in Ohio. He was really awsome to talk to the man knows so much about Huskys. With him and Scot, and the others leaving Husqvarna it really makes me think what is going on. I was around when Cagiva took over and some of this really reminds me of that that dark time. I live in Ohio before Cagiva we had 15-20 dealers we now have 2 that is it. So I hope the best for George and I really hope the people in charge of Husqvarna USA know what they have lost and how to get it back.
 
motosportz, george didn't leave, he was pushed, the franchise was pulled out from under him... the nuda won't be coming to NA.. you might talk to george before you shot your mouth off.,....
 
I choose not to comment on this because i think my conversations with George were in confidence and he's the one that should make the choice on what gets said. With all the things that go on in your life with family and friends and business, it's best to have a positive perspective and work in that direction. Especially true if you're just one guy wearing many hats.
 
huskyfrk said:
motosportz, george didn't leave, he was pushed, the franchise was pulled out from under him... the nuda won't be coming to NA.. you might talk to george before you shot your mouth off.,....
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Any one who ever meet George knows he would NEVER QUIT The man is Husky thru and thru ,he has been that way before most of us were ever born.He is old school the kind of guy that will return your call
helps you after hours and weekends and gives away more free Husky advise then just about anyone.Remember the way Husky use to be Remember when you could call up husky and talk to Rob Keith,
Scot Harden,Mark Brady even Zip Ty Racing Well those days are gone and so is George sad but true.
Every email I have sent Husky since the new people have taken over has not been answered
 
huskyfrk said:
motosportz, george didn't leave, he was pushed, the franchise was pulled out from under him... the nuda won't be coming to NA.. you might talk to george before you shot your mouth off.,....
Click to expand...

Well that sucks.

Shoot my mouth off? I might have made an assumption. I am not happy about this ether. I am very aware of Georges accomplishments and long standing and amazing support of the brand and have nothing but great things to say about him and send him customers all the time.

Why would husky let a legend like George go when they are signing up a lot of new dealers? that's plain strange.

I will remove my previous comments. Sorry. (Done)
 
I can not shake this. UpTite is the one company that Husqvarna should not have let go. I imagine that WORLD WIDE UpTite is the most known shop/builder people associate with Husqvarna. The one any only time I was able to make it to George's shop and meet him, he was reparing a Husky stator for a guy in England. I call that world wide recognition and respected Husqvarna service. I think an email to Husky NA is due on this one.
 
There is a SF CA Husky dealer (Munroe Motors), well it is listed on Hero's Ride Husky's as a dealer but there is no mention on MM site about them selling Husqvarna anymore? Anyway, back in 2009 when I was shopping for my first Husky, MM was the first dealer I called. My logic was they must be a big dealer in a big city and surly must be able to make a customer happy. My logic was wrong. I called them and specifically told the salesman I was only interested in the Husky/BMW financing promotion. Left my info and got a call back that I was approved with their in house financing as they couldn't connect with BMW financing at that time. WHAT!? They lost my business right there with that bs move.

Why would a company want to keep a dealer listed that diregards a customers wises yet kick a dealer to the curb that will go the extra mile to make sure the customer is treated right?
 
XLEnduroMan said:
I am clueless when it comes to stick and ball sports, so I have no idea what that means? :excuseme:

(Lets hope Coffee doesn't have to start working on a Cafe Beta :censored:)
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Peyton was the loyal QB on the Colts, the only team he had ever played for. That much makes a good analogy. Let go by the Colts after about the most productive career a QB could hope to have. The heart of the team.
 
Haven't been hanging out for a while this is really disappointing news.. Great person and dealer running his 167 on my 125 now and when I had my 4 stroke he was a great source for help.... I hope George does well in the future and sells a butt load of Betas
 
I read a Husky test in a bike mag and the bike was setup by George,he implyed some secret stuff was done and I couldnt let that go.So I gave him a call and he told me a few tips for my 1992 TE 350.I live in Sydney Australia,he is a gem of a bloke,STUPID MOVE HUSKY.
 
Well,I don't like George leaving Husky [bike sales], but hopefully he will continue to make aftermarket parts for the brand.[for our sake]. I too have been a victim of "restructuring" at close to retirement age [60] & I can tell you if leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Thankfully he has his own business & can simply change products & after a few growing pains he will be as good as new. [hopefully]. I called him a few days ago to order a part & it was the 1st time in 7 years that he didn't have it. He did say something about China but being the gentleman he is he never elaborated or bashed Husky. George has returned calls on weekends, sent me parts in an envelope with only a promise that I would repay him after i got it & gave me countless info on anything relating to Husky's. I know he has done a lot for others on this site also. This news makes me sad for us, not him. I hope he retires[much older than me :D but if not i will definitely be looking at Beta for my possibly last bike. I have a very knowledgeable old school small shop Ktm dealer[ don't shoot me] that went Beta after some bulls#$$ from Ktm that is about an hour away & with George handling the brand, I'm sure I will have all the info I will need. Now for some research.
 
dave lindsey said:
Yup George CHOSE to leave...he didnt have to go...he wasnt forced out...Husky's going no where but up. Its always been a great bike...today it's a awesome bike and the future has never looked brighter!
Click to expand...

Actually I'll just say this is not true and I've talked directly to George. They have turned off his access to Husky"s Dealer Site but he never asked for it to be turned off. So not correct to say he chose to leave. If they turned on his access to the Dealer site and listed him again....he'd be a dealer. Hard to be a dealer when you cannot order or get bikes or parts.
 
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