Husqvarna Motorcycles has just thrown the wraps off their new ‘Heritage’ range of motocross and enduro bikes, paying homage to the Swedish-born brand’s 60-plus years of off-road competition. Combining retro graphics with a slew of tasty tech upgrades, these 2023 machines are designed to be, if you’ll pardon us borrowing a phrase from Husqvarna’s parent company, ready to race.
Husqvarna first tasted motocross victory in 1960, when ‘Buffalo’ Bill Nilsson bagged them their first FIM World Championship title. Since then, the brand has racked up 14 more motocross titles, 25 enduro World Champs titles, and multiple wins at prestigious races like the Baja 1000, Erzberg Rodeo and Red Bull Romaniacs. The Husqvarna Heritage range celebrates this storied history, with five motocross and seven enduro two- and four-strokes, and a range of accessories and apparel.
Husqvarna’s Heritage off-roaders are distinguishable by their special edition colour scheme. Resplendent in white, with blue and yellow graphics, blue seats and new black Excel rims, they hark back to 1980s Huskies like the CR250 and CR500. But both the motocross and enduro ranges also feature multiple updates to their engines, chassis, bodywork and electronics.
Heritage Motocross
The motocross range includes Heritage versions of the FC 250, FC 350, FC 450, TC 125 and TC 250. All of them feature redesigned bodywork with improved ergonomics, hydro-formed chromoly frames, new die-cast aluminium swingarms and polyamide-reinforced aluminium subframes. These changes have helped to save weight and improve rigidity, plus Husqvarna have repositioned the shock mountings too, improving the chassis’ anti-squat characteristics.
The four-stroke motocross bikes feature new quick-shifters, while the two-strokes are kitted with new fuel-injection systems and electric starts. All Heritage motocross bikes are equipped with Lithium-ion batteries for starting, and a new mapping selection system that also handles the quick-shifter, traction control and launch control.
The FC 250 and FC 350 Heritage models are sporting new engines too, featuring extensive changes to improve power delivery, responsiveness and durability. All the bikes have had their air boxes redesigned to improve airflow, and the air filters can be accessed without the use of tools.
Other range-wide changes include new 48 mm WP XACT forks and CNC-machined triple clamps, WP XACT rear shocks with tool-free adjusters, and Brembo hydraulic clutch systems. You also get a bigger polythene fuel tank, Brembo brakes, bigger foot pegs, and ProTaper bars with ODI grips.
There are a bunch of add-on parts available too if a ‘stock’ Heritage motocrosser isn’t swanky enough already. These include everything from small protection parts, to a high-end gripper seat, factory wheels with blue anodised hubs and DID rims, and blue anodised factory racing triple clamps. A high-end titanium exhaust system from Akrapovič is on offer too, and while it’s no doubt louder than stock, it’s been configured to be compliant with FIM and AMA noise regulations.
More on the motocross range: Heritage Motorcross Range
Heritage Enduro
Husqvarna’s enduro Heritage models include the FE 250, FE 350, FE 450, FE 501, TE 150, TE 250 and TE 300. All of them get a boost in terms of handling, weight saving and comfort, starting with a new two-piece carbon fibre composite subframe that weighs a hair over a kilo.
The enduro bikes also wear WP XPLOR forks and XACT shocks, CNC-machined triple clamps, and hydraulic clutches and brakes from BRAKTEC. Husqvarna have also borrowed suspension linkage designs from their motocross bikes, to optimise control on the enduro bikes.
Other upgrades include six-speed Pankl Racing Systems gearboxes with enduro-specific gearing. The four-strokes have two different fuel injection maps, plus traction control, while the two-strokes have two selectable ignition curves, plus automatic fuelling adjustment. Standard equipment includes ProTaper bars, ODI grips and Michelin tyres.
The smörgåsbord of add-on parts for Husqvarna’s Heritage enduro models looks much the same as the motocross set, covering protection, wheels, yokes, seats and the like. But it adds an upgraded LED headlight, hand guards, a special preload adjuster for the rear shock, racing sprockets and more into the mix, all identical to the stuff that Husqvarna fits to their race bikes. The Akrapovič system is specific to the enduro range; with a stainless steel silencer and a titanium muffler it not only looks fly, but improves throttle response and engine braking too.
And if you’re the type of rider that absolutely has to match your gear to your bike, you’re in luck. Husqvarna have a new MIPS-equipped Bell Moto-10 helmet and a motocross jersey too, both decked out in the same white, blue and yellow colours as the bikes.
More on the enduro range: Heritage Enduro Range
