RIDING IMPRESSION
2014 HUSQVARNA FC 450
BY JASON ABBOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER
T
here was a time when the
Husqvarna name meant every-
thing in the world of off-road
motorcycle racing. And it didn't mat-
ter where in the world. On the moto-
cross track, in the desert, or in the
woods, it made no difference: If you
showed up at a race with a Husqvar-
na in the back of your truck, you were
automatically feared by your com-
petitors, especially if your name hap-
pened to be Heikki Mikkola, Malcolm
Smith, Dick Burleson, Terry Cunning-
ham, Larry Roeseler or Dan Smith.
Husqvarna soon became synony-
mous with winners and winning, and
helped make many legends in our
sport. The name Husqvarna was big
and by the late '70s and early '80s,
just about everyone, especially off-
roaders, wanted a Husqvarna in his
or her garage.
But as they say, all good things
must come to an end. Whether or
not that's true, however, is up for de-
bate. But there's no debating that it
happened to Husqvarna. Ever since
the Swedish company changed own-
ership and moved to Italy in 1986…
well, let's just say that pretty soon no
one was afraid of you anymore if you
showed up at the races with a gun-
sight logo on your bike's tank. In fact,
they might've felt sorry for you. Too
much business and not enough R&D
led to Husqvarna getting left behind.
Over the years, Husky has tried
making comebacks but with no real
success. Once in a while, a decent
model or two would emerge, and they
even won a few MX World Champion-
ships in the '90s with Jacky Marten,
Peter Johansson and Darryl King, but
unfortunately it wasn't enough to make
a real difference in the big picture and
certainly not enough to get consumer
confidence back again (especially in
the U.S.) when it came to the Husqvar-
na name.
By 2007, Husqvarna was pretty
much circling the drain. BMW, how-
Husqvarna is a contender once
again in the motocross wars
INSTANT
GREATNESS
P52
