Posts: 60
Threads: 17
Likes Received: 0 in 0 posts
Likes Given: 0
Joined: Mar 2014
My other bike is a Husqvarna Strada that I have been gradually modifying into an Urban Assault Vehicle.
This bike is an example of globalization gone wild. It's a Swedish brand name, with a BMW engine designed by Rotax in Austria but built by Loncin in China. The frame and plastics are from Italy, the wheels and electrics are from BMW in Germany, and the whole thing was assembled at the same facility in northern Italy as the MV Agusta.
The picture is taken near Alki Beach in West Seattle on a typically beautiful summer day. (the people who tell you it rains all the time in Seattle are just trying to keep the over-population in check)
Posts: 16,287
Threads: 347
Likes Received: 839 in 462 posts
Likes Given: 973
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 23,467
Threads: 697
Likes Received: 576 in 259 posts
Likes Given: 756
Joined: Apr 2025
Neat bike and wow globalization is right. That is a mongrel (of course almost all are these days). Bet it's fun to ride.
Posts: 1,020
Threads: 51
Likes Received: 0 in 0 posts
Likes Given: 0
Joined: Aug 2013
Retro, tell us more about the bike...performance, handling, ability to get it serviced now that Husky road bikes are no more. I've seen smoking deals on these bikes and am tempted, but need to know the real deal on how they are to own. It's a great looking bike, nice work!
Posts: 60
Threads: 17
Likes Received: 0 in 0 posts
Likes Given: 0
Joined: Mar 2014
It's really a great bike, especially for short trips around town. Great engine, brilliant handling. If you read the forums there are some people grumpy about the lean fuel injection setup, but I've had no problems. The people who do hard core off road work don't like the air box/filter but i don't care as my riding is all on the road.
Many of the dealers are kind of ignoring the bikes since they are a bit of an orphan. However, they are basically BMWs in pretty italian clothing so any BMW dealer should be able to do the service. I've had hit and miss luck in getting parts but no big deal so far. The one thing I am unhappy about is that checking and adjusting the valves is not at all easy. The designer of this bike clearly placed styling as a higher priority than ease of servicing....
Posts: 1,385
Threads: 42
Likes Received: 0 in 0 posts
Likes Given: 0
Joined: May 2013
(08-19-2014, 02:35 AM)RetroSeattle_imp Wrote: It's really a great bike, especially for short trips around town. Great engine, brilliant handling. If you read the forums there are some people grumpy about the lean fuel injection setup, but I've had no problems. The people who do hard core off road work don't like the air box/filter but i don't care as my riding is all on the road.
Many of the dealers are kind of ignoring the bikes since they are a bit of an orphan. However, they are basically BMWs in pretty italian clothing so any BMW dealer should be able to do the service. I've had hit and miss luck in getting parts but no big deal so far. The one thing I am unhappy about is that checking and adjusting the valves is not at all easy. The designer of this bike clearly placed styling as a higher priority than ease of servicing....
The "lean fuel injection" cliché has become ridiculously overplayed on the interwebs. If there were really so many bikes shipped from the factory with bad fuel injection mapping, the manufacturers would have gone under with warranty claims.
I think it's one of those stories that gets passed around because sounds good. It's got the evil government behind it, and it explains poor riding habits and poorly done mods. Even the CB, with one of the flattest, smoothest torque lines ever produced, gets credit for "lean fuel mapping." I've tried pretty hard to make the CB's FI act up, and if I really, really work at it, I can get it to surge a bit. But with anything close to normal riding, it doesn't.
