Could Husqvarna’s new, street legal 350 and 501 FE-S be ADVMoto’s small and mid-sized dual sport bikes of the year? The resurgent Husky brand is leveraging its rich motocross pedigree in launching the 2015 off road bikes and, in order to appreciate their latest offering and what it means for you, we have to break it down to industry economics and the history of the brand.

KTM and Husqvarna are now under one global roof and the new Huskies are basically white KTM’s with solid engineering refinements and a team of North Americans determined to build HUSKY back into a premiere brand. The FE-S bikes are based on Husky’s popular FE Enduro models and virtually identical to their ultra-high performance FE brethren, save emission controls and recessed mapping. On the surface they seem identical except for color, but the Husky’s are the more refined bike in this family.

The FE-S ‘s WP suspension is also unique and refined beyond the KTM's with the rear shock using linkage and forks employing on the fly dampening and rebound clickers. While the latest adventure bikes being released in the US are being engineered with an ever-increasing bias toward street (Super Tenere, GS, Tiger, KLR, etc), the dual-sport segment is traveling in the opposite direction, evidenced by Husky’s latest 50-state, street legal FE-S. In balancing all the of the tradeoffs of a decision like this, the 501 spares little compromise and gains many versatility points.

Husqvarna motorcycle legacy is a long and storied drama spanning 100 years, yet this latest chapter is about the fabled brand “reclaiming” the name that pioneered the sport of motocross. The newly charged North America effort is in full effect making a big push to be independent from their big brother next door. Look for a full first ride report in the March April Issue of ADVMoto. Husqvarna-Motorcycles.com

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