Launch: 2014 Husqvarna enduro range

After 20 years of inconsistency, financial uncertainty and a product line that reeked of the ‘almost’, Husqvarna is back.  The bikes were almost great, but little niggles stunted their growth and achievement. With the BMW Group deciding that playing in the mud no longer suited its business model, KTM snapped up one of the most iconic off-road brands and decided to “blend the genes of Husaberg and Husqvarna and return what was once one, back to one”. In other words, Husaberg is now Husqvarna, with a little twist or two.

This means that the new Husqvarna range started life in the blue and grey of Husaberg and has been fettled, refined and given the long awaited linkage that many people called for. The line-up maintains the clever plastic sub frame, the WP 4CS fork, billet triple clamps, DID wheels, chain and all the fancy parts that graced the Husabergs. What results are ‘premium’ motorcycles, in stunning early 1980s style with white, touched by splashes of Swedish yellow and blue. The bikes will be slightly more expensive than the equivalent KTM -- but have things changed for the sake of change, or are they better enduro bikes?

A solid two-stroke range is something that Husqvarna has been found wanting on for a number of years. While the 125 was still a genuinely good bike, the 250 and 300 were less than the competition. In 2014, the two-stroke line-up consists of a 125, 250 and 300.

TE 125
The controls are wonderfully light. Like all 125s, it’s incredibly nimble and turns quicker than anything else on offer. It instantly makes you feel like a hero, and you can hang off the throttle absolutely everywhere -- without ever terrifying yourself. It’s a great feeling but every 125 feels like this. Where the Husqvarna truly stands out is in rideability.

Most small-bore two-strokes are tough to ride, as they have narrow power-bands and require thought and input to make move, let alone ride fast. The little Husky doesn’t suffer from that problem, and the engine is without a doubt one of the most ride-able 125s ever produced. It has genuine torque, it’s easy to get on the powerband and very easy to keep there. While gear selection remains important it’s not vital.

The suspension is sprung for lightweight riders, and suffers under the heavier-framed person. However it’s valving still feels well balanced and the little TE never does anything untoward. All round it’s a great fun, well jetted and well-presented bike.

The engine on the TE is incredibly well jetted. Far leaner than its Husaberg cousin, it’s smooth, delightful delivery makes finding traction easier than ever before. From the first turn of the throttle all the way through the power curve it pulls with a strong mid-range. The dips and fluff that the recent Husabergs suffered from have gone, and what’s left is an easy but potent engine that has more than enough go but retains a tractable and smooth character.

The suspension balance has also improved, with the linkage helping to remove the front pitch that made the previous Husaberg feel nervous. The fork feels vague at times and dives through the stroke a little too much, but all up it is a good base setup.

When it comes to technical and ‘extreme’ style riding, the 300 is ridiculously good. The torque it produces and the way it’s delivered equates to phenomenal grip. On the slippery, wet, moss-coated Swedish rock the TE 300 found fantastic grip and was easy to climb hills on. However, when the going opened up or you wanted to attack the terrain, the 300 requires a level of finesse you just don’t need on other bikes. The potent mid-range regularly needs reigning in, and around the tight Scandinavian forest it proved to be over-powered. On more open riding that extra poke would be great but it’s far from necessary.

FE 250
KTM’s takeover of Husqvarna also means that the widely loved and extremely nimble TE 250/310R four-strokes are no more. In its place is the newest generation KTM-based 250 powerplant. The engine was completely redesigned from the ground up, and what results is probably the most rounded small-bore enduro engine to date.

The Husky doesn’t disappoint either. The engine has carried over with all the same strengths that its cousins have. It no longer suffers from flat spots like 250s have in the past. The power is useable, torquey and pulls all the way to the top end. It loves to rev hard too; the more it keeps the 250 singing the better the whole bike works.

The biggest difference between the two generations of Husky is the forward progress that the new engine makes. The old engine had a tendency to spin, but the FE gets fantastic grip and builds speed impressively. It is also a fantastic handling bike; it turns quickly and has a great front end feel which provides a lot of confidence to carry bags of corner speed.

FE 350
The 350 has proven to be a masterstroke from the Austrian manufacturer, with its midsized four-stroke sitting at the top of the sales charts. The new Husky is equally as good to ride. The 350 handles almost as well as the little 250 but it has so much more punch that it smashes the smile onto your face at all times. It’s almost never short on power; it sits on the delicate line of too much and too little. You never feel like it’s getting away from you, and as soon as you want a burst of power its there on tap. Like the 250 it is rev happy but if that doesn’t suit your style it still has enough torque to pull gears without too much difficulty.

The addition of the linkage has balanced all of the models out and given them a more neutral, lower rear end feel. It hasn’t adversely affected the turning in a way that was immediately noticeable but the bike deals with sharp edges and unexpected hits in a way that previously was uncomfortable to do. The 250 and 350 have benefitted from this purely because they lead you to push your limits due to their ride ability. The fork on the 350 does lack feeling, feeling slightly numb, but it isn’t a drastic problem.

FE 450
The FE 450 was always going to be an improvement to the quirky TE 449, a bike that was mashed together in an attempt to solve some latent design issues. While the 449 was a decent trail bike with a potent and fun engine, it was lacking for the racer, with a dislike of ruts or turning corners.

The new FE doesn’t feel particularly special to ride, especially compared to the flickabilty and power of the 350, but it doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary either. That’s what makes it so damn good to ride. It’s neutral, without gimmicks or quirks; it’s just going about doing everything really, really well. The power is exceptionally smooth and fast. It turns well, not overly nimble but quick enough and having that much acceleration on tap more than makes up for the reduced corner speed. Because of these traits you find yourself going ridiculously fast without too much input, as quick as you would on the 350.

It’d make a superb race bike, but it’d easily turn its hand to being a cracking trail bike. The engine is rich and torquey, with more mid-range than you will ever need. The engine struggled to find grip in the close, slippery rockeries on test and felt a big bike, but as soon as the terrain opened up in the slightest the 450 excelled.

The fuelling on all the bikes is superb, especially on the two-strokes. The suspension, while not perfect, is a pretty good starting place and, when coupled with a great handling chassis, feather light controls and decent quality parts, you have the makings of something special.

The linkage is without doubt the standout difference from the KTM range – and it works, too. It doesn’t feel like an afterthought to ride; it feels like it should always have been there. The bikes feel more ‘normal’ and neutral, and they don’t seem to sit has high on the rear end as the 2014 Husabergs. They are also more confidence-inspiring to ride. The Husqvarna range is about as good as it gets in every class at the moment, and if the bikes arrive in Australia as well prepped and jetted as there were in Sweden, it is going to be very hard to choose something else.