Husqvarna 2014 and forward... Or life after BMW.

[Norman_Foley]

Norm, CAGIVA NA had one of those mito's with a te250 motor in it for some of the motorcycle shows they were doing here in the states... not sure what happened to it, but it's probably in eroldo's garage now.

Actually,,,, it had a 510 engine!

[rancher1]

they have the 300

Try lining it up with a WR 250 and you may be suprised. The KTM 300 is nice and mellow, not really like a big bore of old.

[rancher1]

Yes... across the lake!

Funny, I went to both locations and saw the lake at one but not the other. The drive fron one to the other was funky I will say.

[MrBlahh]

Try lining it up with a WR 250 and you may be suprised. The KTM 300 is nice and mellow, not really like a big bore of old.

depends on the setup, I've rode XC's that were violent

[HuskyRips]

Actually,,,, it had a 510 engine!

Those motors all looked the same... seems like so long ago.

[Norman_Foley]

Funny, I went to both locations and saw the lake at one but not the other. The drive fron one to the other was funky I will say.

Stranger in a strange land....

[rancher1]

depends on the setup, I've rode XC's that were violent

Have you ridden a WR 250 or 300 ?

[MrBlahh]

Have you ridden a WR 250 or 300 ?

I've rode CR500's KX500's and KTM 300XC's

little reason to make more than what a modern 300 makes now, hard to put the power to the ground

[HuskyRips]

I've rode CR500's KX500's and KTM 300XC's

little reason to make more than what a modern 300 makes now, hard to put the power to the ground

I agree modern 300s work really well... and from a manufactures point of view it's about economy of scale and with 250s and 300s thet share most of their engine components with one and another.

500cc two-stroke require their own separate engine components... driving up the cost of doing business.

Anyways.. the new Huskies will most likely be sharing engine components with KTM.

Edited March 24, 2013 by HuskyRips

[Ud_Luz]

I agree modern 300s work really well... and from a manufactures point of view it's about economy of scale and with 250s and 300s thet share most of their engine components with one and another.

500cc two-stroke require their own separate engine components... driving up the cost of doing business.

Anyways.. the new Huskies will most likely be sharing engine components with KTM.

Yep, just like the difference between a 250 and a 300, bigger piston, cylinder, head and in some cases crank. Really a difficult thing to do. ? There is no issue making a 500 with common parts to a 250. Did you know the KTM 250exc-f was identical to the 525exc-f except for a few minor parts? 2 strokes are no different.

[HuskyRips]

Unfortunately there isn't a big enough market for big open 2 strokes.

KTM stopped building them because they just didn't sell.

[weantright]

Not sure why anyone would want a open class 2t 500cc bike when these new 450 put out good HP and placing it to the ground much better. Where would a 500cc 2t be used that would be better than a 450???

Edited March 25, 2013 by weantright

[Slackkinhard]

sand dunes

[weantright]

Better than a 450??

[Slackkinhard]

I think the dunes were made by a CR500 ?

[Piney Woods]

sand dunes

Yep. And when you went home you wouldn't have a new large hole in your engine with thousands of $$$ of destroyed parts.

[john01]

Yep you can chew up big chunks of ground (500 cc 2-stroke) or chew up valves (450 4-stroke). I think the big 2-stroke wins in the open stuff.

[MrBlahh]

Better than a 450??

yes, they are expensive machines now too

[Ud_Luz]

Unfortunately there isn't a big enough market for big open 2 strokes.

KTM stopped building them because they just didn't sell.

There really wasn't much of a point any more. The advent of power valves and electronic ignition made bikes like the 300 more than enough for most people. A number of years ago a roll on wheelie with a 300 wasn't going to happen. Today it's easily done even on the old WR300 or the KTM and GasGas with the 6 speed trannies.

Even now though try to get a KTM 380 or for that matter any of the old 500's. Rarely does anybody get rid of one or if they do it doesn't go arm's length. Ludicrous power for the guys so big a 300 just doesn't do it. Another major factor with the big 2 strokes is fuel consumption. I have a 380 and I'm lucky to get 60 miles out of a tank. It's ridiculous how much fuel the thing sucks down. One of our riding buddies has a CR500 and it's even worse even though is doesn't have any more power than the 380.

Can you imagine how quick a new updated 500 would be? Almost uncontrollable in any riding situation. Be great good fun though.

[CHILLY]

Back on topic, the million dollar question really is, what is KTM going to do with Husky?

As I see it, the biggest problem with some the ideas floated here, is that they completely overlook the fact that KTM already has another stand alone brand to play around with as they wish. Husaberg. At the very best, KTM's use of the Berg brand has been only moderately successful It is still a small niche brand that has some difficulty justifying its existence.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad the Husaberg exists. Even if it is only a blue KTM, it is nice to have some choices and variety. But the business model of adding a third brand along the same lines does not seem very likely. They have it already and there is little justification to replicate it again. If they have new, unseen, ideas to implement, they already own a separate brand name to to play around with.

Honestly, I think we are just seeing the smoke and mirrors of a new business venture right now. After all the dust has settled and the spin goes away, maybe we will really start to understand the ideas that Pierer has in mind. I still have a very strong feeling that Husky will become the third world brand name for KTM/Bajaj. With 10,000 Duke 200's sold in just over a year, the market potential is incredible. But perhaps KTM does not want to dilute its own brand name on more of that type of product.

As for 2014, we are just a month or so away from seeing details on new KTM models. What will we see for Husky? Will a rebaged 350 show up so quick or will we just see carry over for the next year to move out any remaining inventory? Who knows?