Remember When BMW Ruined Husqvarna?

Husqvarna went through dark times when BMW decided to acquire them. After 5 disastrous years, KTM came in and bought them again. This is the story of how the Germans ruined the historic dirt bike manufacturer!

If you want to support this channel even more, and you've paid all your bills, got all the gifts and put money aside... And if you still want to show more support, you can check out our Patreon below! Cheers!

PS: YouTube Memberships are also available if you don't feel like doing Patreon, it's up to you. But, no pressure, the channel and its content isn't changing a bit :)

The links below are affiliate links, we get a commission every time you make a purchase using them.

What I use to make these videos:

My Gear:

Where I get all the cool music...

Thanks to everyone for watching! If you liked it, please leave a like, subscribe to this channel for more and drop us a comment! Also, give us a follow on:

[garethkelsey-evans]

I have a TE511 from the BMW era it has revolutionary design. Under seat fuel tank, air box where a normal fuel tank is, the front sprocket is on the swing arm pivot etc. Never missed a beat and still on its original lithium battery. I did buy it for half the original price a year old with 400 kms on the clock! No one wanted them. But it has served me well and I still feel that I don’t need to upgrade it. Good video thanks.

[TheGardenSnake]

What was also a shame was the way KTM just turned Husky into a rebadged bike. They had Husaberg that did use some of KTMs parts but was able to be its own thing. They had their own models with the original engineers from Husky. We all thought they’d just make husk those bergs now and that would have been fine. But somehow KTM was like “nope we delete both”.

[marremane]

The Husqvarna Nude 900 R was one of my first dream motorcycles when i was a kid on my moped

[Peccs]

I bought a used 2012 TE310 back in spring of 2019, got it with about 800 miles on it for $2, 800. Man, what a steal of a deal that thing was. Fuel injected, hydraulic brembo brakes, aluminum frame, excel wheels; the list goes on. It was a fun bike for sure but it was very hard to find parts for. Thank god there was a guy at a local dealer who used to sell/wrench on them. He pointed me to a good site for parts. Bike treated me pretty good and I had a lot of fun with it. Eventually sold it in summer 2021 when prices were through the roof. Swear to god some guy paid me $5k for it.

[Checkyoursix]

Personally did I like that era of Husqvarna. Had a TE310 and it was a great bike even compared with contemporary KTMs. The fact that SWM still sell the old Husqvarna bikes supports that. Hero’s Dakar rally bike is based on the old Husqvarna rally bike.
For me the real Husqvarna died with Husaberg.

[anposen]

I love my te310 from 2012.
Engine has plenty power and thorqe, KYB forks and shock works excelent, Brembo brakes, master and slave cylinders are best in their leauge, clutch- same story, and that styling OMG I LOVE that mix of black, angry red and clean white colors.
But sad reality is there are almost no new parts for it and factory fucked up e-start system so it breaks completly on daily basis.
And with no money to buy new bike you are doomed to somehow repair it in frankenstein way...

[ozadv]

BMW did add a balance shaft to the 610 engine that considerably smoothed the thumper on highway miles allowing the AJP PR7 for eg. to become such a great all rounder..

[garrysmith]

Interesting video, but you forgot two other models worth a mention, the te630, with its engine still in use, pr7, swm and CCM and the tc250, the lightest production motocross engine of its time, with the right level of understanding and backing, it really could have been better.

[Danger_mouse]

17:50 This was the same for the Gas Gas factory and workers as well.
KTM are not the heros here, sweeping in to 'save the company', the Pierer Group are a wolf pack that devours weak companies for their own gain.
They didn't find a buyer for the factory by choice. They were instructed to do so as compensation for not supporting the workers of the business they just bought.
Never mind the thousands of owners who needed parts for their bikes, but had no supply chain for nearly two years post takeover.

BMW certainly need to accept blame for the extremely poor management of the company, but at least it operated out of the same factory and supported the workers and previous Cagiva era owners.

On a more positive note, I have a 2011 TE449 that's done over 400hrs on the original bottom end and clutch, all of it off road in single track.
It's not my primary bike any more, but I get it out from time to time and appreciate it.
I also manage a Facebook group for this particular model group (449/511s) where we have a big community.

[Vallecaucanisimo]

Same old story…. The engineers dream and make a company that everyones admires then the accountants and CEOs kill it, all while giving themselves raises.

[dominiqueborz]

I have a TE310 from that time. Its extremely fun bike to ride.
It has a kick starter, looks different and I absolutely enjoy riding it.

[lukefish]

Appreciate your work!
Love my Huskies so very happy we still got em.
🏍️💨

[thewatcher]

Not Just Dakar, Huh!?! You Are Really The Motorcycle Historian. Thank You. (Like #139 - Comment #10)

[powerwagon]

My son bought a new TC 450 in about 2011. It seemed like it performed well but we changed over to Beta 300 rr to suit rough single track better.

[llama]

I personally love a lot of the dirt and enduro bikes from this era - it seemed that manufacturers were trying new things, and while a lot of the ideas didn't work it certainly was a colourful period (things like the BMW G450X with the under seat tank, swingarm pivot and countersharft sprocket in line, Aprilia's absolutely awesome V-Twin RXV/SXV, Husqvarna TE449/511 etc etc - so many cool ideas and companies trying different things).

Dirt bikes are now all pretty boring for the most part (with a few exceptions like the AJP SPR310/510), the formula seems to be settled upon. Maybe that's simply what works, and the bikes are certainly very capable now and a lot of fun to ride, but I would love it if more manufacturers tried new things.

Great video as always!

[MDfun]

Nuda, Strada and Terra are awesome machines! Small tank on Nuda is not am issue, as you won’t be touring with it, it’s a hooligans’ bike. On other hand Terra and Strada had 16 liters capacity. I owe TR650, great bike and arguably is still better than many modern days mid weight adv machines. (170kg according specs)
I also heard/read that KTM bought Hysky from BMW as they were a bit scared that ‘Beemer’ made Huskies will take a big stake if their sales, and ultimately killed it for the benefit of their bikes. So I don’t think it’s a BMW who came to KTM with offer to sell, but vice versa.

[douglashill]

I had a SMR511 for over 5 years. Brilliant bike & super reliable for over 10k miles

[tudorcotoi]

Corporate desperation aside, those models are superbly reliable(2 stroke wise). I started riding on a ‘09 WR125. That poor Husqvarna saw everything and taught me how to ride.

[Toolabuse]

As a fellow motorcycle nerd i appreciate your content. Keep up the great work.

[hmstrtube]

had a Nuda900 for a while some years ago, man what a bike! the most fun and charming street bike for me! that actually you can drive like a dirtbike. ( the only street moto that moved my heart ) sold for the same price that i payed for. GREAT.