Husqvarna street bike takes shape
Traditionally a dirt bike company, Husqvarna has revealed sketches of its first road bike as it heads into uncharted territory with a 900cc naked bike
After releasing details of its modified BMW 900cc parallel twin-cylinder engine, Italian-based motorcycle manufacturer Husqvarna has come clean with a handful of early design sketches of its first road-going motorcycle, which as predicted will be a naked bike.
If these images are close to the finished product, we're looking at a naked bike with more angles than a protractor factory. However few extremely angular naked bikes have gained traction in the Australian marketplace - will this one succeed where others have failed?
The design also appears to be about as minimalistic as a mainstream manufacturer of motorcycles would go, and very Italian at that. It shows a compact tank, upright front cowl, slimline duck tail and front fender.
"The strong shapes of the body are a consistent evolution of the new style and design direction introduced by the Varese based company, and are testimony of the manufacturer’s ability to innovate," reads the Husqvarna press statement.
The end result is a curious cross between a naked and a supermoto bike, and making use of a modified version of BMW's 86hp (64kW) and 86Nm engine, which has been bored out to a larger 900cc displacement, the new model can be expected to be very competitive with a range of naked and big bore supermoto bikes from companies such as Yamaha, KTM, Ducati and even Aprilia.
If these early sketches are close to the production reality that is it (as yet unnamed) street bike, Husqvarna could be onto something. It'll certainly turn heads.
According to the press release Husqvarna sent us this morning, the company is "consolidating its philosophy of style" by creating "a balanced combination of visual emotion and riding experience".
What do you think of the new design? Husqvarna says "The architecture of the vehicle is brand new, above and beyond any layout available on the market," adding that "Dynamism, agility and lightness are balanced harmoniously."
The ultimate judgement will be seen in the sales figures when the bike goes on sale. At this stage Husqvarna is remaining tight-lipped, but we can expect to see the new naked bike in Milan in November, at the EICMA motorcycle show -- at which time we'll have a better understanding of what the bike represents and when we can expect it.
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