TIME TO SHINE

Husqvarna has at times seemed like an orphan that’s been thrown from foster parent to foster parent, rarely finding a long-term home to grow and thrive in. It’s been Swedish, Italian and then German, and now it’s Austrian and arguably the most stable it’s been for decades. It finally seems it’s found a happy home after all.

The company began way back in the late 1600s as a munitions manufacturer (hence the gun sight logo) and started making motorcycles in 1903.

Since 2013 it’s been part of the KTM juggernaut, with the white bikes rolling out of the same Mattighofen factory as its orange brethren. This isn’t the first time KTM has crossed paths with Husqvarna, though. When Cagiva bought Husky in ‘87, a heap of the engineers said “hell no” to moving from Sweden to Italy, and instead built the Husaberg brand which was eventually bought by KTM 10 years later. Husaberg lasted right up until Kato bought Husky, which saw us all say goodbye to one Swedish heritage brand and hello again to another. That’s easy to follow, right? We do miss those ‘Berg FE390s…damn, they were good.

So, history lesson over, how is life for Husqvarna circa