Cycle World

Husaberg created a very powerful, light weight, competition four-stroke motorcycle and made it available to the general public. Said motorcycle was cutting edge. Now such a marvel is simply considered the status quo.

To survive I can only assume Husaberg found it necessary to diversify by branching into a segment of the market that they were not particularly well versed. (ie electric starting, balance units, long life, low maintenance, steady idle, etc.)

The racing foundation remains and one need only dig a bit to find it. The question now is wheter or not it is worth the effort. For me personally it is as I enjoy the challenge of being the underdog nearly as much as riding.

Kindest Regards TM.
Sincerely,
Dale

dale

the carb

it tells you a lot about husaberg-don't you agree? i can imagine you sat around a table with the bloke from sweden who designed these andf had to make these decisions and he retaliates every point- "yeh well you know, we can make the cases 3LB lighter if we put a balncer in blah, blah. yeh well it's been proved, a leccy boot saves time when ya fall on a 4T but huseys are still leading edge, on the edge race machines blah, blah!"

so how about the phuqing carb mr smorgesborg?

98-00 is when they lost the plot. when they decided to cut prices rather than go for the dogs knee caps in carbs and ignitions etc.

however as i had never ridden a dirt bike till the spring of '00 i bow to any archive deep knowledge.....

Taffy

LINEAWEAVER said:

Hi Simon,
Selling Husabergs is more like selling Harleys than anything else that comes to mind. You see, Harley Davidson markets a lifestyle not a product.

Owning a Husaberg is far more than simply owning an offroad motorcycle. In my opinion and regarding a cult motorcycle such as Husaberg the strict following of a conventional business strategy will continue to prove disappointing at best.

Husaberg was born of passion out of the ashes of Husqvarna. Passion is the life blood of Husaberg for which no amount of planning will replace. Nine to five, overtime and / or bottom lines are not a suitable substitute.

Kind Regards,
Dale

Click to expand...

Dale,

I think you may have missed my point :wink: , which, in more succinct manner :wink: is really about that these people running the show must surely have something up their sleeve that will present itself as a pleasant surprise - at some point.......... they have already built up one very successful business and therefore I personally give them the benefit of the doubt that they have the intelligence and ability to do it again (hopefully appropriately to the market too ).

Selling a lifestyle is the marketing man's wet dream, but I'm afraid to say it, Husaberg doesn't at present offer a very favourable or desirable lifestyle for you chaps over in the states - I wonder whether in truth it does anywhere at the moment? Quite frankly, I think the lifestyle element of Husaberg has been diluted more and more over the past few years into something rather sterile and pretty "plain Jane" :wink: :wink: :wink:

Selling a lifestyle is, unfortunately, now an integral part of conventional business - even down to toilet paper

You see the problem with selling a lifestyle is that people have to want that lifestyle for it to be successful - even Harley had to buck up their stuff pretty sharpish because their average customer age was rising beyond the practical - and they weren't really attracting younger people anymore because the image wasn't what they wanted.

The biggest problem that is surely being faced is that of how do we expand our business, keeping the hardcore aspect to the product - "ready to race", "get serious, have fun", we're a load of lunatic swedes let loose in engineering! :wink: - yet making the marque desirable for those not part of the hardcore. Without the "softening" changes in latter years, I would bet we wouldn't have seen anything like the increase in unit sales happening here in the UK, for example.

Problem is, there are only a limited number of people willing to risk their money on a hardcore bike, many more on a hardcore labelled bike that has a few creature comforts. Actually, Ducati have done a pretty damn good job of this balancing act.

I personally would hope that the Husaberg "lifestyle" leant towards the Ducatista instead :wink: :wink: :wink:

Dale, I suspect we're pretty much agreeing with each other here, just using a different approach and words to do it!

Simon

Hi Simon,
I do indeed believe us to be on the same page possilby with the only exception being that regarding a master plan.

KTM Sportmotorcycles USA (the US KTM inporter) is in no small part responsible for much of the growth regarding KTM in recent years. Rod Bush (KTM Sportmotorcycles USA president) also holds a seat on the Austrian KTM board of directors. In my humble opinion the master plan for KTM was hatched in Ohio under the guidance of Mr. Bush. This is the very same Mr. Bush that I personally know and respect who is not particularly fond of Husaberg.

Be well Simon.
Dale

Taffy said:

dale

the carb

it tells you a lot about husaberg-don't you agree? i can imagine you sat around a table with the bloke from sweden who designed these andf had to make these decisions and he retaliates every point- "yeh well you know, we can make the cases 3LB lighter if we put a balncer in blah, blah. yeh well it's been proved, a leccy boot saves time when ya fall on a 4T but huseys are still leading edge, on the edge race machines blah, blah!"

so how about the phuqing carb mr smorgesborg?

98-00 is when they lost the plot. when they decided to cut prices rather than go for the dogs knee caps in carbs and ignitions etc.

however as i had never ridden a dirt bike till the spring of '00 i bow to any archive deep knowledge.....

Taffy

Click to expand...

Hi Taffy,
Believe it or not I have indeed had such conversations.
However, what really comes to mind is how upset I became while visiting Husaberg Sweden when I was informed of the aquisition by KTM. The past few years have played out quite close to what flashed before my eyes that fateful morning.

Sincerely,
Dale

Damn, this thread is growing too fast to read it each day. For those that haven't seen it here is the review.

Cycle World Shootout

Happy reading.

Just read cycle rider test results.


I have to admit it is worse than I thought, This surely did not help any

if the husaberg brand had a reputation surely it was as a leading edge sports bike? where the phuq did boutique bike come from? ten years ago is a reference to **** machines that were unreliable crap. what an insult!!!!

i can hardly believe it!

go to my 'gallery' for a piccie of a beefed up sidestand that WORKS! it's not just tenth. it's dismissed for being naughty!

leading edge? husqvarna and KTM take one, two and three. if i was one of the swedes that started husaberg i'd just sob at how low things have got!

Taffy

I think a carbon fiber frame would put the bike out of over 90% of the villager's price range, but aren't there some other developments in frame technology that would make an impact? A spine type over the top with just a system for protection underneath the engine? I'm not up on my 007 gadgets, so I wouldn't know, but watcing bikes run around w/single forks and half a swingarm makes me think that there's some screamin' ideas floating around....

thanks,
json

splat and tim

lads they have jackets that fit very snuggly for you two!

lose weight? not like that i'm afraid. if they're not doing it on a road bike they ain't going to be doing it for us! alloy frames don't save weight-ask ducati.

an engine redesign is one way. laying everything out simpler and with less gears etc but husaberg are the very company renowned for using "two-stroke bottom ends" so the saving here would be minimal but could be done.

sticking to the engine i feel that the MK 2 keihin deserves a 20% downdraught the same as all modern roadbikes. go look at a picture of the husey in the skin (owners manual back page '02 and on?) i would then look at the frame and the first thing is that the frame spine should reach higher at the front up the triple clamp post, that the forks be 1"-2" taller this will get rid of ape-hanger bars and 2" spacers.

the same spine should go down at a steeper angle across the top of the engine and split into 2 around a huge airbox and carb which (as said is steeply angled) then on to the rear axle point.

the bike should have an aluminium detachable sub frame. the first part of the box section frame should house all the electrics with a rubber bung outlet for the HT lead. it should also have box hole in the bottom for the inlet tappets.

split radiators as per every other dirt bike. they should go right down to the exhasust and even higher with the extended frame.

fuel tank could be slimmer and hold another 2 litres (for same capacity) above what is presently the air filter.

my difficulty is the rear shock. it should be laid down but not enough to ruin the airbox (yes a proper airbox). battery under the seat for cleaner lines.

so far i've gained ya about 5hp and can't lose a LB in weight. bugger! you have another go! the frame would have a smaller more rigid triangle from headstock to bottom front of engine to rear arm pivot.

ducati with the pantah were one of the first manufacturers to make the trellis frame and use the engine as a 'stress member'. is this the way to go? nobody else appears to have done it? too advanced methinks.

i have made the engine more efficient, the riding position better for racing created better cooling for that power.

losing weight is a bit like the fight they had in the 50's to the 70's when everyone said that lower roadracers would 'flick' better. turned out that you had to lay them over further and had to be like a mutton chop being bashed around by tom 'n jerry in the essess!

now the bikes are taller.

Taffy

I'm not sure where all this concern over weight has come from. My 2004 FE650 weights 251 with oil, no fuel. My KTM 525 MX/C weighed 262 in the same trim.

I have several bare frames sitting around, and if you picked one up you'ld realize there's not much fat to trim.

And if you ever tried to cut or drill into a Husaberg frame, you would understand just how good the quality of the steel is. Nothing even comes close.

I think Super Hunky needs to break out his famous scale and get down to the nitty-gritty on actual bike weights...


~ Ken

schwim said:

I think a carbon fiber frame would put the bike out of over 90% of the villager's price range,

Click to expand...

That raises the marketting question of " To whom are we trying to market and what are we trying to market?" It seems the current complaint is the bike is not cutting edge technology. Do you want a real race bike or just something better than the jap bikes? I think the obvious solution is for Husaberg to go high end. Why should KTM continue the brand and compete against itself for floor space in the dealerships. They need to have a unique and different product at a different price point.



The single fork and half swing arm designs work for pavement. I seriously doubt they could handle the stress of landing from a 40 foot double, much less a 70 foot jump.

I didn't mean to say that single forks and such should be crossed over to dirt, it was just an example of how far motorcycle technology has come.

As for KTM competing against Husaberg, I don't understand this at all. They own Husaberg. If you buy a KTM, they make the sale, and if you buy a Husaberg, they make the sale. It's like Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus or Gary Coleman/Asia Carrera(ok, that last one's all me, but you get the point). They would be making a product different enough to pull in more of the market. Why wouldn't they want to do this? Why would they build a bike only 10%(if that) of the current owners could afford?

The above isn't a rhetorical question. There might be a very good answer to this, but I don't know.

thanks,
json

My Goodness!!!!

I think this is the biggest thread I've seen on this site!!! And after reading all the posts I too have a few things to say.

First and foremost!! I think that people should be nicer to Jedi!! He was given a big stick to handle, and was handed it from the poopy end! I think he and BMG have done a great job. At least that's my view from the stands. I saw a couple of posts here that correctly stated that what other distributer talks directly with it's customers.

Secondly, I know for a fact that BMG has listened to their dealers because now the Berg's that come to California are green sticker legal. And that's not cheap to do!! So my hat's off to BMG for getting that done. Honda CRF's are not green sticker legal, or are WRF's and YZF's. The only other Green sticker bikes here in cali are the XR650, KTM' "G" models. And there is probably another that I have missed.

And nice to see that someone has put accurate weights up for the Berg, and KTM's. And WRF's and Husqvarna's are heavier still.

And one of my solutions would be to have Brett Calicott of Eric's motorcycles in Pasadena set the bike up. Brett is a superior mechanic and his attention to detail would be hard to rival. Eric's set up a berg, stock I might add, some years back for a shoot out for Dirt Rider. DR's only complaint was that bike didn't have a steering stabilizer!! And this was against bikes that were highly modified!!

So that's my rant for now. I still think my Berg is the best bike I've ever owned.

Happy trails,

Dale all good points however the husky is indeed lighter now.

CF isn't used especially on frames because it is too stiff, it passes all the energy of bumps and stuff into other parts of the bike and they can't cope.

husaberg can be leading edge technology. the beauty of a small company should be the A to Z of getting things from an idea in someones head all the way out to the shop in 26 quicker stages than anyone else (read; bigger) can do.

the dealers in the UK ara adament that they dropped a clanger getting rid of the 400 as a cooking model and want one back. for WEC i'm sure that husey have a new 250 coming out in 2005 or 2006-it's been mentioned somewhere else that that's on the cards.

right now husey could go to fuel injection, narrow tank and ancillary tank under seat, carbon silencer, alloy subframe, tighter diamond frame like the original VFR750's, tank and seat unit in one.

these would, along with others, be sensible mods to make. husey have made many, many changes in the last two seasons but they did change factory!!!!! they have made big improvements to the bike. their mistakes are the mains problems from last year and the rockers and bearings in the balancers followed this year by overheating and ignition troubles.

the source of this thread is a test in the USA and it's to the importer you must look because at the end of the day about 300 people back at mattighofen are saying "thanks :evil: :evil: :evil: buddy".

husaberg are making better machines, they need to sort the bearings, ignitions and especially iMHO the cam/rocker/timing chain for next season. then we can see the improvements for what they are as stand alone product changes.

Taffy