Husqvarna has officially unveiled their new 652cc motorcycle, the TR650; it’s going to come in two versions – the street-oriented Strada, and the dirt-oriented Terra.
We caught our first glimpse of this machine last November, as a concept bike.
The new 650 follows the same pattern Husqvarna has followed in recent years; like some of Husky’s enduro line-up, and like their Nuda street bike, the TR650 takes significant parts of its design from existing motorcycles in parent company BMW’s line-up. The fuel-injected, single-cylinder motor is a tuned-up version of the same DOHC water-cooled engine that’s been powering the G650 GS and Sertao for years now.
The G650 GS and Sertao engines are assembled in China from parts made in Austria; we don’t know yet if that’s the case with the TR650 motor. It makes 58 horsepower, up 10 horsepower from its BMW ancestor, thanks to different valves and camshaft and higher compression (12:3:1).
Front and rear suspension will be from Sachs, with 7.5 inches of travel fore and aft. The front fork is a 47 mm USD unit. In comparison, the Sertao has 8.3 inches of travel at either end, and a 41mm telescopic fork; the G650 GS has 6.5 inches of travel up front and 6.7 inches in the rear, with a 41mm telescopic fork as well.
Both Strada and Terra have a five-speed gearbox with mechanical clutch, like the Sertao and G650 GS. As well, the street-oriented Strada comes with cast wheels (19-inch front, 17-inch rear) and the dirt-oriented Terra comes with spoked wheels (21-inch front, 18-inch rear), just like the street-oriented G650 GS and dirt-oriented Sertao do, respectively.
Husqvarna has built a reputation in recent years for building very light street-legal enduro machines, but the Strada and Terra are no wasp-waisted welterweights, with a curb weight of 410 lbs and 407.8 lbs respectively.
That’s not terrible for a dual sport — the BMW 650s weigh about 10-15 lbs more than that — but in perspective, Husqvarna’s previous big-bore street-legal enduro, the TE630, had a curb weight around 317 lbs or 330 lbs, depending where you find the information. Their largest current dual sport, the 478cc TE511, has a curb weight of 291 lbs. Of course, those machines were definitely intended to focus on off-road ability and make less power, while the TR650 models are aimed at broader usage.
Both TR650 models come with a 3.57-gallon tank; wheelbase is 59.1 inches and they both have a single 320mm Brembo disc brake up front and 240mm Brembo disc brake in back (the Sertao and G650 GS both have a 300mm disc in front and a 240mm disc in rear, from Brembo). The Strada will also come with disengageable ABS as standard, but not the Terra – ABS is standard on all BMW-badged machines starting in 2013.
Seat height is 33.8 inches for the Strada, and 34.4 inches for the Terra.
[…] be found. During their very brief and ill-fated ownership of Husqvarna, BMW sold warmed over and largely uninspiring variations of the ancient F-650 and unloved G450X. Neither found traction in the marketplace, which forced BMW to sell Husqvarna a […]
so is this the replacement for my DR650?
Certainly. And you should likely send me the DR650 so I can evaluate its worth as a donor bike …