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Husqvarna Concept E-go – The Entry-Level Electric

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Watch out Zero, Brammo, BRD, and KTM as Husqvarna just decided to enter the electric motorcycle market with its Husqvarna Concept E-go. An urban commuter aimed towards first-time bikers, the E-go concept draws from the Swedish brand’s dirt and supermoto background to bring a stylishly aggressive electric motorcycle package to the table. Clocking in at 80kg (176 lbs), the Husqvarna Concept E-borders on anorexic, and is the first electric motorcycle we’ve seen specifically geared towards younger riders.

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Husqvarna Nuda 900/900R Technical Details

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Our favorite German-owned, Italian-based, Swedish brand has released some more images of its Husqvarna Nuda 900 and Husqvarna Nuda 900R street motards, and also disclosed some of the bikes’ technical specifications in the process as well. Using a fully-revamped BMW motor, Husqvarna has taken F800’s parallel-twin motor, and bored it out by 2mm (84mm total), as well as lengthened the stroke by 5.4mm (81mm), taking the 798cc motor to an 898cc displacement. Originally built as a 0º crank motor, Husqvarna has altered the crankshaft to a 315º configuration, which the company says creates a more aggressive feel to the bikes’ power delivery.

The compression ratio on the motor has also been raised from its BMW-spec, and comes with modified head gasket, camshafts, pistons, and conrods (along with a re-designed crankshaft). Additionally the intake and exhaust valves have been increased by 1mm, making them 33mm and 28.5mm respectively. With these modifications, both the base model Nuda 900 and higher-spec Nuda 900R will make 105 hp and 73.8 lbs•ft of torque. Still listing the curb weight for the Nuda 900R as sub-175kg (385 lbs), expect the Nuda 900 to weigh-in a few kilos heavier.

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Claudio Castiglioni Passes Away at the Age of 64

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Claudio Castiglioni, President of MV Agusta, passed away this morning in Varese, Italy at the age of 64. In a statement from MV Agusta, the company says that Castiglioni succumed from an unnamed illness while attending a clinic in Varese. Over the course of his career, Castiglioni touched such esteemed brands as Ducati, Cagiva, Husqvarna, and of course MV Agusta. His most recent accomplishment was bringing MV back into Italian ownership, in an act of business acumen that saw Harley-Davidson actually pay Castiglioni €20 million to take back the recent refurbished company.

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Husqvarna Nuda 900 Base Model Breaks Cover

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Husqvarna’s foray into true-blue street bikes has unsurprisingly taken a two-pronged approach (for an “R” version to exist, a base model must exist as well, right?), as the Swedish brand has unceremoniously dropped photos of the base model Husqvarna Nuda 900. Sporting lower-spec components, and having a noticeably absent “R” missing from its nomenclature (that’s called product differentiation), the Husqvarna Nuda 900 is no doubt going to be Husqvarna’s more affordable version of the Nuda 900R.

Though we can only discern the differences that are skin deep at this point in time, it would look like the base model sees the R’s Öhlins rear-suspension, Brembo monoblocs, and carbon-accented exhaust exchanged for lesser models. The base model’s rear shock is now a Sachs unit (matching the fully-adjustable Sachs forks Husqvarna says it will be using on the Nudas), while the exhaust can is aluminum stem-to-stern. Noticeably still present though is the Nuda’s anti-lock brake pick-up discs (in fact, the entire wheel/fork package looks to be the same), which could also suggest that a traction control system is available on the base model.

It will be interesting to see how Husqvarna prices the Nuda 900 against the higher-spec Husqvarna Nuda 900R. Unless there is significant differences between the two bikes’ motors, the R-variant will have a hard time commanding more price tag for a shock and carbon fiber-tipped exhaust, especially considering the latter will be one of the first things owners will be replacing. 21 photos of the Nuda 900 base model after the jump, including the mysteriously really bad ones where you can see the photographer’s turntable in every photo…go fig.

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BMW Sales up 2% in June 2011

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BMW Motorrad continues to post improved sales in 2011, as the German manufactuer is showing a 2.1% increase for last month’s sales compared to June 2010. Selling 11,831 motorcycles in June of this year, BMW has sold 141,913 motorcycles in the first half of 2011, which means 6.3% more Bavarian motorcycles have been sold in Q1 & Q2 of 2011 compared to last year. BMW’s Boxer series is unsurprisingly leading sales for the company, fueled by the best selling big-displacement motorcycle in the world: the R1200GS.

BMW is reporting strong sales from the K1600 series as well though, with 1,255 units sold since its Spring 2011 debut. While BMW says that the new six-cylinder tourer is exceeding expectations, Husqvarna’s paltry 450 units sold last month is perhaps a bit of disappointment. Husky sales were down -57.3% for June, while year-to-date sales were down -24.2% with only 3,530 units sold in the first half of 2011.

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Video of the Husqvarna Nuda 900R Makes Us Feel…Bleeh!

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The straw vote in the A&R office is that the jury is still out on the recently unveiled Husqvarna Nusa 900R. We like that BMW is setting up Husqvarna to be the more edgy on-street brand in its two-wheeled house, and the maxi-motard is a safe street entry for the otherwise dirt-based company. A narrow, fairly light, and peppy twin should be fun to blast from stoplight to stoplight, lane-split between traffic-packed cars, and generally just hoon about town. Price of course will be an issue for the Nuda 900R, as its components don’t suggest a cheap price tag, of course we don’t think Husqvarna (read BMW) is too concerned with that issue, as they’re likely focusing on the more exclusive side of the market continuum.

Speaking of select target markets, the looks are not the most generally palatable, with our office’s spectrum of reception ranging from drool-worthy praise to motions of people hanging themselves with their belt (and not in that good auto-erotica asphyxiation sort of way). One thing we can agree on, as far as promo videos go…this one doesn’t really achieve any of the goals we’d think Husqvarna would set out for its first street bike.

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23 Photos of the Husqvarna Nuda 900R

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Well it didn’t take long for Husqvarna to release some official photos, after showing the 2012 Husqvarna Nuda 900R street bike to the assembled press. The Nuda definitely has a unique look to it, which is already growing on us in a weird way…the name however, well…that’s a different story. Based around the BMW F800GS parallel-twin, Husqvarna has bumped the power plant up to 900cc, making over 100hp with the red-topped lump.

With a 385 lbs dry weight, the Husqvarna 900 should be a potent animal on the street, and promises to be quite the hooligan machine (if you’re into that sort of thing). Until we get a chance to explore our inner-child while on the seat of a Husqvarna Nuda 900R, we’ll have to tide ourselves over with the 23 photos found after the jump.

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Husqvarna Nuda 900R Revealed

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UPDATE: Find 23 Official Photos of the 2012 Husqvarna Nuda 900R here.

These are the first images of the Husqvarna Nuda 900R motorcycle (taken by our good friends at OmniMoto), the Swedish brand’s first foray into the street bike scene. Making over 100hp and weighing less than 385 lbs, the new Husqvarna will hit dealer floors by the end of the 2011 (hopefully by then they’ll have the spec-sheet ironed out a bit more). What technical specifications we do is this: 320mm Brembo disc brakes, fully adjustable 48mm Sachs forks, and a fully adjustable Öhlins rear shock. Check out the photos and video from the unveil after the jump.

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Video: Husqvarna 900 Spied on the Street

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The ever infamous motorcycle industry spy footage continues, as a video of the Husqvarna 900 naked street bike has surfaced on the internets. Compared to the “spy shots” Husqvarna sent out to the press last week, there isn’t too much new information to glean from this short video clip of the Husqvarna 900 cruising down a city street, as even the exhaust note is muffled by the camera’s wind blast. Still, seeing the bike in motion adds another dimension to the machine, and likely whets the appetites of anyone in the market for a new large-displacement maxi-motard. Check the video out after the jump.

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Video: The Design of the Husqvarna 900

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Along with the “don’t call them spy shost” photos that Husqvarna released yesterday, the Swedish brand owned by a German company that’s based in Italy has also released a video that elaborates on the design of the new Husqvarna 900 street bike. As we’ve seen already from the concept sketches, and affirmed in the photos, the new street-going Husky is a super-sized supermotard that features BMW’s F800 series parallel twin motor, albeit slightly revised to 900cc. Find the design philosophy of the new Husqvarna 900 according to Head of Husqvarna Design Raffaele Zaccagnini after the jump.

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First Shots: Husqvarna 900cc Street Bike

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Here’s an interesting twist: instead of going through the trouble of setting up some sort of “spy shot” moment, and leaking it to the press, Husqvarna has cutout the middleman, taken its own photos, and sent them to web and print publications. Because of this, the use of the “spy shot” label is probably not appropriate, though we’d make arguments that it hasn’t been an appropriate label in many other situations as well. Leaving that subject for another time, what you really wanted to see is the new 900cc Husqvarna street bike in almost all of its glory.

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