Husqvarna see the light
By TMX Archives on 18th Feb 09
HUSQVARNA'S all-new TC250 X Light is the first 250F to weigh in under 100kg, but does their new bike have what it takes to compete against the established Lites class machines?From the moment the Japanese motorcycle industry decided that two-stroke technology was largely no longer for them, the motocross landscape changed forever. Slimmed down, high-revving four strokes replaced oil burners and old-school thumpers, while the race to build smaller, lighter, more powerful new generation' four-strokes stepped into overdrive.The pace with which the Big Four have pushed four-stroke development forward in recent years has been nothing short of astonishing, and has resulted in a number of European manufacturers playing a seemingly never ending game of catch-up.
Husqvarna, despite their 21 Motocross World Championships, have all but been wiped-off the motocross map in recent years. Kings of 125cc two-stroke GP scene in the late 90's, ever since the turn of the century, Husqvarna have all but become an 'enduro only' brand.
That, Husqvarna hopes, is all about to change. With sighting a TC250 at your local racetrack in '08 as common as finding the end of a rainbow, the launch of their all-new TC250 X Light sees the now BMW owned company step back into the competitive quarter-litre class with intent.
Husqvarna have long needed a new 250cc four-stroke motocross bike. With their quarter litre thumper of recent years built more for comfort than speed, in a class where power is king, the bikes simply never made the grade up against tough Japanese and Austrian class mates.
Well aware of this, Husky made only token updates, deciding instead to direct their energies into a replacement machine - one that would feature a motor designed from scratch as a 250F power plant before being wrapped in an all-new chassis. Although it has taken Husqvarna a little longer than they'd hoped to complete the finished product, that bike is finally here. And it's new, new, new.
First things first, the bike, with the exception of its off-centre mounted shock and left-side exhaust routing, conforms to fairly traditional motocross bike design. That said there's no weird forward facing cylinder or unusual chassis construction. What it is though is very different to the bike it's replacing.
Whereas the old 250cc motor was originally a sleeved-down version of Husky's mid-sized four strokes, the '09 motor has been designed specifically as a 250F. It's small, compact, weighs a claimed 22kg, and has its water pump on the left side of the cylinder head. Much in the same way as Honda's 250F motor looks little bigger than a 125cc two-stroke engine, the new Husqvarna power plant is seriously small. Its external dimensions have been reduced by a sizeable 13 per cent.
What it doesn't feature, yet, is fuel injection. Breathing through a 39mm Keihin carb' the DOHC, four-valve head sits seriously low in the bike's chassis with all of the motor's major dimensions dramatically reduced.
The chassis, while similar to that used on the '08 TC250, features revised geometry and is lighter. Combined with minimalist, angular bodywork the bike looks lean, very lean.
For a bike being released into the class in which mid-to-top-end performance is arguably more important than in any other, you'd expect Husqvarna to offer information regarding the type and amount of power the TC250 produces. Nope. Not only does Husky not give any claimed BHP figures, maximum RPM figures or, well, any power related figures at all, there's no mention of what they hoped to achieve in terms of power characteristics when they first started designing the new motor.
All technical literature accompanying the bike refers to weight and reduced dimensions. All of it. Starting with the fact that the motor weighs just 22kg to the fact that the bike has a kerb weight - its total weight with standard equipment - of 97kg it's clear to see that reducing size and weight was Husqvarna's number one goal. You only need look at the bike to see that all unnecessary excess material has been trimmed to leave a compact, fresh looking bike that carries no unnecessary weight.
Sitting on the bike, it feels slim. The bars are relatively high, although the forks were pushed through the clamps on all bikes at the launch, and the saddle height is good for taller riders and maybe not so good for shorter riders. The bike feels anything but cramped from up top with the tank noticeably narrow and with plenty of space below the bars. Moving around on top of the bike isn't a problem.
Starting the bike wasn't always easy. Needing a 'from the top' full length kick to fire the bike into life, shorter two-stroke style stabs at the kick-starter resulted in little more than some fairly aggressive kick-back. With no bar mounted hot-start lever, starting a stalled engine while on track requires a quick rummage around on the left side of the carb'. It's no great hassle, just inconvenience.
First impressions on track leave you under no illusion that the bike is all-new and nothing like the old portly TC250. Although no one single aspect of the bike jumps out as being its strongest point, the complete package - motor, suspension and chassis - feels very much built for competition, not recreation.
Night and day different to the old TC250, the '09 model allows you to feel quickly at home on track. Husqvarna's goal of building a lightweight bike has certainly been achieved, and its lack of bulk is noticeable both out on track and when lifting the bike off a stand. Above all else around the Tenerife test track, it was noticeable that the bike didn't do anything untoward. There was no nasty headshake when entering turns, no vagueness of the front wheel mid-turn, and no uneasy feeling when accelerating out of ruts. The bike does everything it is supposed to do with regards handling, and does it well. Although the test track was a little too well groomed to give accurate feedback as to how well the bike deals with rough, chopped-up straights, as the track was, there were no nasty surprises.
At speed the bike remained stable. And at all speeds it was extremely manoeuvrable. Sticking to its line both into and out of corners never caused any problems, and the ease with which the bike could be made to change direction quickly and easily was impressive. While some will say that due to the relatively low amount of power any 250F has compared to a 450, most all models handle well, the TC250 can be made to change direction easily and throwing the bike around was both undemanding and non-tiring.
The TC250 motor certainly offers a smooth power delivery. Needing to be revved relatively hard in order to get the most from it, the engine is much more responsive than the one fitted to previous quarter-litre Husky's but still retains a similar, but much more free-revving, feel. One thing the bike doesn't do, despite building revs quicker and easier than the old motor, is rev to the moon. While it performs best when kept alive and not laboured too much, the strength of the motor is such that, provided rpms aren't dropped too low, the bike doesn't need to be revved overly hard when changing up through the gearbox. To get the very best from it, higher revs and a heavy dose of clutch use are best.
One thing the motor doesn't do is leave you feeling that the Husky is the fastest 250F available. It's top-end performance, and the overall strength of the motor, isn't likely to be enough for top-end racers, but that's not to say the TC250 is going to get blown into the weeds the moment a start gate drops. It won't. With the bike performing best when ridden hard - bottom-end muscle isn't the TC250's strong point - its smooth power makes the bike enjoyable and easy to ride.
The ease with which the bike can be both ridden and raced is largely the TC250's strong point. It doesn't deliver huge power, or deliver it in the hard-hitting way that some top racers will want, but its broad spread of tractable power made it an easy bike to get on with, and an enjoyable one to ride.
The action of the gearbox and clutch while under load was positive, with the clutch being both light and responsive. Slowing the bike down certainly wasn't difficult as the action of the Brembo brakes were impressive, with the action of both the front and rear stoppers extremely smooth and strong.
Husqvarna's new TC250 is light years better than the machine it replaces. But, lets face it, it had to be. What Husky has done in building their new 250F is address the old bike's weight issue with conviction to produce a seriously lean MX2/Lites bike. Reducing, compacting and trimming away everything that wasn't needed the '09 TC250 is a bike that not only feels massively more alive than the old bike, but one that raises the bar as far as just how light 250F motocross bikes can be built.
What Husqvarna haven't done is build the most powerful quarter litre motor. How well the TC250 stacks up against Yamaha, Honda, KTM, Suzuki, Kawasaki, even TM's 250cc MX bikes only a shoot-out style test will determine. With power that is a little slower to build compared to some other 250F bikes, and with a top-end that's not quite as strong as it could be, the TC250 is however certainly not too far off the mark. Easy to ride, and with great cornering and manoeuvrability, the TC250 sees Husqvarna step back into the 250F arena with a product that is vastly improved. Oh, and seriously light.
Prizing riders away from Japanese and Austrian built 250F machines won't be easy for Husqvarna, but now that they have a fresh, new product they can at least start to re-build their motocross reputation.
The chassis...
WITH a wheelbase of 1460mm, an overall length of 2215mm, an overall height of 1305 and a seat height of 985, the chassis fitted to the '09 TC250 is every bit as new as the motor.
Offering better weight distribution and a new steering angle, the frame features both oval and square tubing to give improved structural efficiency and decreased weight. With a removable aluminium subframe, the two-part chassis also features a new swing-arm and an off-centre mounted Sachs shock.
The rear suspension linkage is also new, offering a more progressive action, while at the front of the bike 50mm USD Marzocchi forks take care of the damping. Both the front and rear Brembo brakes feature 'wave' style rotors while the bike's minimalist, angular plastics give the TC250 a clean, lean look.
The motor...
MAKE no mistake, Husqvarna's new TC250F motor is compact and much, much lighter than the company's previous effort. Weighing in at a claimed 22kg, the 249.5cc motor has seen its external dimensions reduced by 13 per cent with a notably compact cylinder head and gearbox.
The DOHC engine features four titanium-alloy valves with the motor having a bore and stroke of 79mm x 50.9mm. A five-speed gearbox ensures that maximum power is transferred to the rear wheel at all times with less than one litre of oil held within the engine and gearbox.
The kick starter features an automatic decompressor while the motor breaths through a 39mm Keihin FCR-MX carburettor and a steel header pipe connects to a titanium silencer.
Why the wait?
HUSQVARNA new 250cc four-stroke has been up and running since the start of '07. Used then only in WEC competition by Polish rider Bartosz Oblucki - Husqvarna haven't competed in MX2 GPs in recent years - it's taken a total of four years for the project to go from a pair of prototype motors to completed production bike.
"As most people know, the TC250 project started around four years ago, which was during a difficult time for Husqvarna," explains Husqvarna's PR and sport activities manager, Martino Bianchi. "We had just two engines to test and a couple of bikes for racing. We weren't able to move the project forward as quickly as we wanted to. When BMW brought Husqvarna we were able to continue the development of the bike.
"We had planned to put the bike into production before Christmas but due to some delays with a few suppliers, we were forced to bring production back a few months. 50 bikes were built in December, which have been delivered to our racing teams, as well as being used for the international press launch.
"January is an unusual time of year to launch a new model but the TC250 is a very important bike to Husqvarna. Although the 2010 models will be available in less than five months we wanted to promote the model as soon as we could."
What about an enduro model?
WHILE Husqvarna are focused on increasing their share of the 250F motocross market, as well as returning to Grand Prix racing in the not too distant future, it is when fitted with lights that the company's new 250 will likely sell best, in the short term at least.
Using the bike in prototype and pre-production form in the World Enduro Championship for the last two years, Husqvarna have amassed a huge amount of experience with the bike in enduro trim and factory team rider Antoine Meo will switch to the Enduro 1 class aboard a new TE250 this season. But what about the new TE250 production bike?
The new TE250 will be available from late June, early July," explains Martino Bianchi. "The main differences over the TC250 will be that it will feature an electric starter and be fuel injected. The gearing will also be slightly different and the bike will be six-speed, not five-speed like the TC."
With Husqvarna's current TE250 already popular with many riders the, 'new' quarter litre enduro four-stroke should give Husky an even more spirited Enduro 1 class product - one that will certainly be much lighter and more competitive than the existing model.
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