Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

reality how ling wide ope n on the high wa y . Add in the fact that t he ligh tweight, two-stroke-derived TE / TC610 motor, wi th its trad emark separation of crank cham ber within the engine cases, reli ed on splash lubr ica tion rat her than the proper oil system you'd need o n a road bike, and yo u can see why Husqva rna wa nted to wa it till thebud get was a va ila ble to get th e ir hea vil y revised new m otor up a n d ru nn in g be fore launching the SM610. Whi le sharing the sa me 98 x 76.4mm dime nsions of the old 571cc eng ine, the n ew m otor ha s bee n co m p le tely redesigned to incl ude - for th e firs t time o n any Husqvarn a - not only an electric starter but also a counterro tating, geardriven b al an ce s h a ft to s moo th o u t vibra tio ns . Located behind th e cra nksha ft, it d oesn't add to the length of th is v~ry compact motor, bu t it d oes dampen m ost of the vibes , altho ugh you do still get so me tingles at high revs and the e n g in e fe el s smo othly r ou gh wh en gassed up hard in the midran ge. Su ch a co ntrad iction in terms is hard to explain, bu t while th ere isn' t any real vibration un til yo u get close to the 7500-rp m red line (wi th an aggressive rev-lim iter kicking in a t 7800 revs), the Hu sky d oesn't feel particularly smooth, ei ther - not like a five-valve Yamaha XTZ/SZR660 ....rith simila r gea r-d riven balan ce shaft is, for exa m ple. A nd a Du ca ti Su p ermono it surely ain' t. Th e n ew HVA e n gi n e defi nitel y d oesn't have the outrageous bo lto m-end and midrang e zap of a KTM Duke, nor d oe s it even feel as punch y as the o ld TE / TC610 mot or, which no t only seems to ha ve m ore pu nc h but a lso presuma bly w e ighs a lo t less, cons idering it d elivers a d ry wei ght of just 260 pounds fo r the co m p lete TE610 mot orcycle o n which the Six Dix wa s based . Pa rt of this difference su re ly co mes from th e ca talytic converters as we ll as th e elec tric s ta rt now provid ed - bu t, even so , it seems a big weigh t pe nal ty for ad ded convenience and relia bility. Being fitted with 17-inch Pirelli Dragon radia ls allows seemingly Impossi ble lean angles . Husq v arna app ears relu ctant to quote a p ower o u t p u t fo r th e n ew eng ine , but given that the old one delivered 49.5 bhp at 7100 rpm fitted with the sa me 40mm Dell'Ort o PHM carb as on th e SM610, I reck on th e new bike must kick ou t arou nd 45 bhp once yo u take th e po w er-sappin g bal ance shaft and ca ta lys ts into acc ount. Add in the substan tially inc reased dry w eight of th e w ho le bike , and it' s not su rpris ing th e Su p er m o to seems le ss li vel y - just a good bit m ore civilized fo r street use, es peci ally now you can light 'er up just by th umbing a button. Should the need arise, the re's an auxiliary kickst art fitted as w ell, w hi ch h a s t ha nkfull y b een moved to the right sid e. Anyone w ho' s ev er needed sh in th erapy after grappli ng with the art of left-foo t leg-overs will definitely regard th is as a Good Thing. H u sqvarn a d idn't s to p th ere in re vam ping its liqu id -cooled , four-valve si ngle, though it still has a sing le overh ead chai n- d riven cams haft. Wh il e reta ini ng the se para te cra nk cha mber, Husk y has now g rafted on a pro per oiling system utilizin g twin pumps, as we ll (Left) Though It says "Dual Sports," th is dirt-bikederived bike lives for ta rmac. (Below left) The SM610 is one of the new Husky models to benefit from the reva mped four-valve s ingle. . Though there is a kickstarter, the eng ine is fitted with electric start. (Right) Ride height is substantially lower than on the dirtbike brother of the Supermono, though you still get so me 11 Inches of travel front an d rear. as a cart rid ge oil filter . Th e compression ra tio w asn't changed fro m th e form er e ngi ne 's 9.0:1, but th e intake and exha ust ports, as w ell as th e combustio n cha mber, ha ve all been altered, as ha ve the airbox and va lve and ignition timing, all to in an effort to deliver a more reli a ble a nd rid able p ackage fo r road use. And while the bottom two ratios in the six-s peed gearbox are u n cha nged , the top four are different fro m those on th e TE/TC motor (more evenly spaced for road u se), and th er e is now higher overall gearing thanks to d ifferent gea rbox and rear-wheel sprockets. Ult ima te top speed is p rett y much irrel evant o n a b ike like this, bu t th e Hu sky SM s h o u ld break the ton though l OO-plus-m ph on a bike like this mi ght give new m eanin g to th e te rm "ho ld on tight " with those hig h handlebars. Personall y, I'd fit so m e na rrower , flatt er bars - more flat -track than end uro - to cut d own the w id th for use in nar row st ree ts as well as red uce the leverage. Th e s tee ri ng is a b it too ligh t in sp ite of the leading ax le fo rk , th an ks p ro bably to that trail-red u cing smalle r front wheel tha t seems to have sped up th e steering a bit much . Still, the Dragons do a good job of sticking to the road at unlikely angles of lea n, and you can always stick your foot out to prop th e bike up if it feels lik e yo u' re about to ' wa sh out the fro nt wheel- ca n' t yo u? Anywa y, thi s is a p o int ' n ' sq ui rt motorcycle par excellen ce, a sm ile-bike su pre me that send s you out into battle o n city streets or co untry roa d s w ith a grin on your face that will still be there wh en you r etu rn from actio n . Yo u w o u ld n' t w an t to rid e fro m Rome to Paris on th e Husky - least of all with a passenger on th e back, though there is space for o ne in boulevard mode. But as a tool to unlock traffic congestion a nd bea t the g ridlo ck blues, the 610SM is a pretty ca p a b le piece. Ju st do n't expect to Duke it out wi th a KTM and come out on top in the performance stakes, that's all. l~ Husqvarna SM610 Specifications Engine .' Liq uid -cooled sing le-cy linde r four-stro ke w / single ov erhead C am and four valves Dis pla cement .576cc Bor e x stoke 98 x 76.4mm Compressi o n ratio 9.0:1 Ca rbu re lio n Dell'Orto PHM 40 MS Ignition CDI electronic w I adj ustable adva nce Horsepower .45 hp (est .) Transmission .e-s peed , constant-mes h Clutch Multiplate wet Final d rive Chain Suspensi o n Fron t . : 45mm Marzocchi leading-axle telescopic . cartridge fork. fully adj ustable; 11 inches tra vel Rear Single Boge shock w / rising-ra te linkage. full y adjustable; 11.2 inches tra wl Brakes Front .Single 320mm Brernbo • floati ng disc wi four-pis ton Brern bo caliper Rear .Single 220mm Brcm bo disc w I tw o-pisto n Brembo caliper Wheelsrrires Fro n t 3.50-inch- wide spoked alloy rim wi 120-7017 Pir elli MTR 0 1 Dragon rad ial Rear 4.25-inc h-wide spoked a lloy rim wi 150-60 17 Pirelli MT R 01 Dragon radial Wh ee lbase .59.25 in. Rakeltrail NA / 112m m Seat hei gh t : . .33.86 in. Dry w eigbt 330 lb. Fuel capacity 2.4 ga llons U.S. Distributor Cagiva USA 1901 Davisville Rd . Willow Grove, PA 19090 215/830-3300, FAX 215 /830-3301 19

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