With the level of interest our readers have shown in this new Husky (our first report has generated 135 reader comments as of this writing), I thought you might like to see the video just released by Husqvarna (embedded below). Although obviously a promotional video, it does provide a clear sense that this new Husky will be well balanced, nimble and powerful. The video made me think of a single-cylinder supermoto, not a 900cc twin.
Here is the video:
Sweet Unit! A bit like what you might expect a sexed up & modernised evolution of the most excellent Raptor 1000 to look like – Which is not entirely surprising given that Husqvarna previously shared the Cagiva stable.. Great to see that Huskie has carried just a pinch of rogue Cagiva DNA with it to the new owners. The BMW influence seems to have made it larger for northern european riders tho by the looks. Very sexy looking motard. I find it hard to walk past the KTMs but this will be even harder! Should be a wicked mountain blaster.. Except there aint many gas stations up out in them mountains! Will need a jerry can strapped to your back if you wanna stray too far from the cart track if this pre-production mock-up’s anything to go by! Pity as this engine and chassis format would otherwise provide a brilliant foundation for a (mountain) touring-bike. But then why piss about?? Why not keep the same sexy finish, increase the scale of it slightly, throw a 1200 parallel twin into it and design for a cruising range of at least 370km (using two fuel tanks if required). Now that would fully kick the competition into touch in a lot of segments..
Wouldn’t Suzuki own the rights to the “Nuda” name?
Mega!
You guys got it wrong. I love this bike because I see POTENTIAL. Potential to have another HARDCORE v-twin TRUE adventure bike that is as offroad worthy as it is street worthy. SOMETHING to compete with the 950 Adventure from KTM. There is still NO competition for that bike.
Folks will yell out about the GS, the Strom, and now the new Tiger… NONE of them come close to comparing to the KTM when it comes to offroad travel. None of them.
This Husky has my attention. Make the adventure version with great suspension (ohlins as stock?), great ground clearance, get those pipes out from under the motor, and give me a comfy seat with lots of fuel range… oh please make the oil easy to change like my 955i Tiger was… It’ll be hard to beat.
Since the F800GS was launched people have been dreaming of an SM version. There have been some unique makeovers, but none with the superb components used on the Nuda. We had all hoped that the F800R would fill the gap, but we were bitterly dissapointed. Finally it is here, it’s still hard to believe it’s happend, but it seems the powers that be have listened to our prayers. Some of the pictures I’ve seen show the wheels with ABS sensors, I wonder if BMW safety will make it onto Husqvarna bikes. KTM finally managed it on the 990 SM-T.
I can’t believe how many negative comments have been posted on such an awesome concept; do you lot ride? In a world where the fun-police have virtually outlawed enjoyment of all forms, one of the best ways to get your rocks off is on a high power-to-weight ratio-ed vehicle that does not have a substantially high top speed: enter the motard. I’ve done 4’000kms in 3 days on a KTM Superduke. Not only was it more comfortable than a sportsbike, it ate sportsbikes for breakkie in the twisties. Super motards = fun fun fun + a lot more practicality and useability than has been suggested.
To all the peanuts who suggest that monos and endos are ruining our image, I say NO, it’s your insipidness and need to subscribe to political correction that allows mainstream attitudes to lever motorcycling into the backwaters. Do you really think the squid that you scraped of the tar was bound for a life of sensible safety until he saw a wheelie ad?
re: “do you lot ride?”
not so much. in the 21st century, like a lot of things, motorcycling too has gone “virtual”. you wouldn’t think that, but ironically it has. we’ve substituted the local highway for the “information SUPER highway”. and thru the miracle of digital clocks (as if to aid and abet a felon) it’s also easier to hide our embarrassment. when gauges were analog, you could just walk up to a clutch (pun intended) of parked bikes and readily seperate wheat from chaff… “rider” from mere “owner”. so in 2011 when someone asks… “yeah, but does it blend…?” the answer is YES. the line between consumer/poser/owner/motorcyclist/rider has blurred. neither good nor bad, just something to be aware of.
re: “allows mainstream attitudes to lever motorcycling into the backwaters.”
i love your phrasing. but truth be told, mainstream “tudes” are only 10% of it. the other 90% is the massive internal division within the paltry 3-5% of the mainstream that we represent. for example, last week i was standing with a group of typical UJM sportbikers (gsxrs, cbrs, etc.) during a local dyno event when a good friend pulls up on his screamin’ eagle HD dresser. he wasn’t there for the event or anything, just out riding. immediately i could hear the collective making subtle cracks about the HD’s power and his riding ability (assumed lack thereof). none the wiser were they that in addition to that HD, he ALSO owned a mint triple-9 that he frequently (without fear) takes to the track and drags a knee on. but see, he was already “pre-judged”. conclusion…? i have seen the enemy, and it is US…!
If that thing on the front fender is meant to keep the front wheel firmly planted on the tarmac then it is not doing it’s job very well.
The reason why the Nuda and other peculiar bikes generate so many comments is because they are controversial. It’s never the bikes that the average rider would buy (or could afford) that we want to read about, but bikes that really aren’t in our future. How many folks will actually cough up the dough for a bike like the Nuda that is nothing more than a glorified dirt bike adapted for street use? Hmmm? How many do you think Husky will sell at the premium price they are asking? Not many. We don’t care, the bike looks cool even if the seat is only good for 20 minutes before pain and numbness set in. It does look like a fine bike for getting free admittance to traffic court.
I want to hear people talk about how they want to hear the motor.
LOL
Doing a wheelie will get you a reckless driving ticket where I live, not exactly promoting safe riding behavior. I agree about the lack of engine sound in the video, probably sounds like a fart.
Gee, I bet you’re a lot of fun to be around. This is a motorcycle website for enthusiasts, and that rider is 100% in control. Maybe you should go watch “the View” or something…
Is it ‘spud’ or ‘squid’? I worked as a fireman and responded to a lot of young motorcycle riders that crashed their bikes trying to imitate riders like the one in the video. If you want to race, sign up for a track day.
nah…if you look closely his name is ‘Spud’…see… Dont be a wet blanket dude, vids and pics with wheelies are all over every motorcycling magazine and website in all of christendom. Rider is plainly in control and ‘marketing’ the rig he’s riding. Dont bring the party down.
California passed a law last year requiring all new motorcycles to have only factory exhaust pipes, in response to all the (mostly Harley) riders that put on loud pipes. Stunt riding on the street just promotes a negative image of motorcyclists and gives the bike haters more reason to pass laws. That’s the real wet blanket.
Riding like he did in the video is loads of fun but not really possible on the street without surrendering your license to an officer sooner or later. Spend your money and only hope you could perform hooliganism like the rider in the video, cause the first time you try it on the street you’ll wish you didn’t. Let’s get back to the real world and see bikes that you can use without getting in big trouble.
Yeah, or join the Oprah Winfrey Book Club.
I don’t know about you boys, but my motorcycling behavior is more about flipping the bird to common-sense and henpecking do gooders.
Take your Yellow Darien Aeorstich and ride your Honda Silverwing off a cliff you square!
Sorry, I don’t own any Aerostich riding gear and I ride a Buell T Bolt. And yes, it has chicken strips on the tires.
The biggest questions that I have at this point:
360* or 270* crank?
BMS-K or other engine management?
per my post below, i call same 360 and bms-k as used in the F8GS. if something HAD been changed…? rest assured it would be touted in the marketing. no tout =’s no change. remember, this is a “sub-niche” vehicle in an already “niche” business (only 3%-5% of the population). no sense spending money to fix that which isn’t broken and could never be recouped by the low take rate. it is only by the DELIBERATE sharing of componentry that we even KNOW from this bike. now a decade into an eroded industry, no business case exists for a clean sheet build. certainly not from a relatively obscure marque like husqvarna.
pffft, no stoppies…? what a rip.
Looks like a cheesey rip-off of the Hypermotard
Hate the Front End, Good Luck Getting Parts, or Finding
a Dealer, Having Said that I do like the horsepower ratings
I am a bit partial owning an 08 Hyper S myself
re: “Looks like a cheesey rip-off of the Hypermotard”
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…
Parts shouldn’t be a problem. Husky parts have been integrated into the BMW parts distribution system and warehouses since soon after they were bought up.
OK, I’m sold on this bike. It looks light and flickable, easy to wheelie and it looks great. The seat looks a little thin in width, otherwise the riding position looks comforable. I’d love to take one for spin.
Damit! I’m really starting to like this bike. I’ve wanted a twin SM for sometime now and this one seems to have all of the right features.
Nice.
I like seeing interesting new models.
Another vote for less music and more motor. 🙂
I wonder what the production version will look like. The White undertail back fender will look real bad in a few hundred miles. This video “mule” doesn’t have turn signals and I wonder what other pieces will end up stuck on the Nuda before it passes U.S. regs and hits the showroom?
Let’s see now…..pay the rent, or put a deposit down on the new Husky Nuda 900….? Hmmmmm……
Ditto: another video producer who prefers music over internal combustion motor sounds. At least it was pretty decent music by current standards for such use, didn’t even notice a synthesizer (though I didn’t listen closely).
re: “Let’s see now…..pay the rent, or put a deposit down on the new Husky Nuda 900…?”
ummmnn… helllllooo… the answer is obviously PUT DOWN A DEPOSIT…! you can pay rent when you’re dead. 🙂
Oh my, how sweet would it be to get that white tail piece all dirty riding to work 😉
I’m really trying to like this thing but its not easy when I have to look at it.
I want one! I was hoping the video would have the bike sounds instead of the music though.
visit your local bmw dealer for a test ride on an F8GS or a 12GS. the firing order of bmw’s p-twin was deliberately set-up to mimic their flat twin.
Lots of options for firing order on a two cylinder engine, are there?
sure, all dictated by the throws off the crank naturally. 180, 360, 270. bmw went the 360 route with a 3rd dummy con-rod in the center (think supermono). from these 3 we get at least 4 different sonic variations. in this case, bmw’s substituted music for engine sound because they don’t want you to hear and be influenced by something that sounds like maybe a “frumpy” bmw when the goal is to sell you a “hip and cool” husqvarna. not that it’s bad, but my guess is you will never be allowed to hear the sound of this engine in any of the marketing.
this being said, when the video above ends, you can hear a bit of the sound by clicking on the youtube link to a bit of cellphone video (fwiw) someone recorded from an internal meeting. or again, you can hear it live by just visiting your local bmw dealer.
Sorry Norm. I was just yankin’ your chain a little. 2 cylinders. Number one fires, then number two. Or, if you prefer, number two fires, then number one. Where there are more than 2 cylinders, like my “modern” Oldsmobile V-8’s, (1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2), one can play around with the order in which each cylinder is fired. That’s firing order. How far apart those firings are from each other is irrelevant to the order in which they are fired.
re: “Sorry Norm. I was just yankin’ your chain a little.”
i know…
re: “How far apart those firings are from each other is irrelevant to the order in which they are fired.”
yup, the ultimate “report” to the ear is still heard as a linear series of events… albeit with cadence.
I like it too. Light, quick. I really wanted to hear the motor though.
word.
Cool bike … but I wonder which genius decided to paint the underside of the rear tail section white.
I really like this bike.