here is a short list of what I care about . . . . - Cool things - A 33.8 inch seat - not the 36inch+ seat height on the XR or KTM's - my bike dropping days are over Nice 58HP Fuel injected 65+ MPG = almost 200 miles per tank (This is just me) Twin pipes at the rear - SWEET - I know they weigh more, but who cares - TWO PIPES !!! :ddog - Bummer parts - only a 5 speed weight 408 lbs - 185kg ( still lighter then a KLR - but that's not hard) need a better visor no belly pan I have been bagging away at Yamaha's door for the XT660z - they might just lose out to this little bike . . . . And I forgot to mention - $7000 - that's a great price KLR,, XR ( I have one), DR ( I had one ) better watch out - and KTM ( I had one) , get your butt moving on a 6xx adv bike
Ricky and Alt, rode my XChallenge for 19000 klm and never needed a sixth gear. The wide spread of the 5 speed and the power and torque characteristics of the motor covered everything from hard off road to highway. If you were to do a lot of highway then a 1 tooth up on the front sprocket was all that was needed. I would think that the extra power and torque in the Husky would make the 5 speed even more adaptable, will just need to see if they fitted a steel gear shift lever unlike the alloy one on the BMW.
I'm with Cruz - the X-Challenge does really well with just 5 gears. Don't get me wrong, a 6th would be better, but that would be pretty far down my wish list. I assume the Husky will have similar gearing, or perhaps slightly taller top to bottom since it has even less dirt pretense. As much as I'd like to see the Tenere here in the states, this would be a more compelling package to me, other than finding dealerships or trusting Japanese build quality. Especially if the Tenere was priced near $10K as some were speculating. If the adventure market is really growing like they say, this bike and the Tenere should have a place here. But I'll believ it when I see it.
Husky seems to be hard at work last couple years setting up their dealer network. I now have 2 Husky dealers within 25 miles of each other and a BMW dealer 10 miles away. Pretty sure a BMW dealer will be able to cross ref the GS in a pinch for parts-seems promising.
I may just be "all in" for one of these. Too bad it doesn't have the 6-speed transmission. Looks like I have a lot of KLR parts to sell. I bet that I could get the weight down to 350lbs easy, just like my KLR. Dumping one muffler should do it.
Good, that will get me to 359lbs. There has to be some additional pipe in there connecting the muffler to the other one. The rear fender, barends, mirrors, passenger pegs, and I'm sure I could find more would be next. Very doable!
Contacted a few dealers in the Northeast. They are expecting them in dealerships first or 2nd week of October. Dealers I spoke to are pushing them as KLR 2.0.
I plan to contact a couple of dealers this weekend to see when these will be arriving in my neck of the woods. Hopefully, the first bikes aren't spoken for yet. My 2008 KLR650 and my 2009 KLX250S are now both for sale. Honestly, I can see this as my next and only bike. It should work well for my type of riding. And I do believe that I can drop some weight from the TR650.
I appreciate that Cruz and the truth is, my common riding situation is probably pretty unique. The Malaysian jungles I love to ride in are some of the slowest riding on the planet. I'm one of the faster guys here and when I look at the "overall moving average" stat on my gps, its often around 18 kilometers per hour! (Really I'm not a slow fart - in Baja California it's closer to 150 k/hr.) On the same ride I'll often be on our north south hiway which is a perfect freeway and has a 110 k/hr "suggestion" but not enforced. It's nice to be able to drone along at 150 k/hr without reving the engine! All I'm saying, is if it was "doable" to add a 6th, and keep the engine mounting points the same that would be an awesome engine! I don't know if my thinking is accurate by my thoughts would be: You'd have tons of support for the engine in that for most breakdowns you could probably use parts from the Aprilia Pegaso (super common here) or other BMW 650's. 10 more hp is certainly good! 400 watt alternator vs the X challenges 250? I'd probably build up an Xchallenge around that engine if it had a 6th and proved reliable. Call it the best 600cc adventure bike entraint!
FWIW....... Not much of a first ride impression but it's better than nothing. http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/908/1...usqvarna-TR650-Strada---Terra-First-Ride.aspx
And imho I don't think it needs one. Plenty of torque and smoothness in this motor to accommodate a wide 5 speed box (which it already has).
I just got rid of the GSXR, fixing to pull the trigger on a Brand New dual sport. Had my sights set on the TE511. I dont see these 650s on Huskys US website. ?
They appear to be updating the Husky site, they have 2 dual sport sections, and I'm sure that will be fixed come October when the Strada and Terra are supposed to be making their US appearance.