With the launch of the TC250 motocrosser, Husky is stepping into one of the most ferocious and competitive rings of motorcycle performance there is. It's a class that demands a light and flickable feel, but it must be backed up with solid handling. A 250F's suspension is asked to please a weight range from those just moving up off minis to overweight vets who prefer 250Fs. And the engine, maybe the most critical component, must put out juice while remaining ridable. And if Husky didn't know or understand this before, it does now.
Being all-new, the TC250 was developed around its powerplant. Pictures of this tiny engine popped up almost three years ago as it raced all over Europe in MX and enduro events. During that time Husky was looking after durability and, more specifically, to get the chassis right, and that took some time. During that time BMW purchased Husqvarna, so behind the scenes even more radical things were (and are) happening.
The 249.5cc DOHC engine differs quite a bit from its predecessor; the main differences are the axle distances inside the engine, the gear shaft dimensions were reduced, and the overall length, width and height of the engine were reduced by 13 percent and lightened 10 percent, down to around 48 pounds, claimed. It has a cam-chain-to-gear drive, and it could be one of the only modern four-strokes that you could not only get to the spark plug on but possibly even do valve maintenance without removing the gas tank. The transmission has a hydraulic clutch and a five-speed close-ratio gearbox.
On to the chassis. The frame is being built by a new company for Husqvarna, and you can see the quality improvement if you're familiar with the brand. A major departure is the switch to the new Kayaba fork, leaving the finicky Marzocchi behind. Out back the new shorter swingarm pushes a fully adjustable Sachs shock through a linkage. The claimed weight for the TC250 was being tossed around at 213-214 pounds and was nicknamed the "X-Lite" by the Husky team.
When you first ride the bike you don't doubt any of the lofty claims made by anyone surrounding the TC, but there are some finishing touches that can leave a scar if you're not tough. The bike is hard to start. It has a procedure, like old four-strokes, so brush up on your Husqvarna history. You can't just slam the kickstarter down like you can on almost every other modern motorcycle. If you do, it might start or it might kick back. If you kick it normally, you will get the kickstarter stuck alongside the footpeg. Eventually the kickstarter will start to bend. There are supposed to be updated start levers, but we haven't seen any yet. This will need attention in the future, along with relocating the hot-start button to the handlebar with a cable kit.
This isn't your grandpa's...
This isn't your grandpa's Husky. He didn't know what light, flickable and incredible turning felt like.
Once you've got the engine running, 95 percent of the negative issues with the bike go away. Stock, the carburetion is pretty good, but it was extremely hot during testing so we leaned the needle out one position. The throttle response is quicker and healthier than any small Husky before it. It isn't the same kind of pickup that the current Japanese bikes have, nor is it the flatness that KTM 250Fs have had in the past. The bike has pretty good torque right from the bottom, but it can be sluggish if you expect it to pull up from there with only the throttle, like any 250F. Give it the clutch and get the rpm into the middle and here is where the Husky shines, not with power, but with tractability. For any spot you're on the track, it feels like you can have the TC at about 2000-3000 rpm less than a Japanese bike and it pulls just as well. It feels slow but it is pulling just the same. Then you seem to have longer to play with each gear, as the Husky revs out to a solid top-end pull and rarely hits a rev-limiter because there is a subsequent power sign-off. Our pro riders wanted it to pull more on top, and we have so far unsuccessfully tried some jetting to get it to rev harder, but these were minor sticking points. We're pretty sure the power is off a little compared to the competition, and more so on tight tracks with technical jumps and turns than fast ones. Not helping is the throttle response of the FI bikes in the class, changing the way we can ride 250Fs, but this Husky isn't all that far off.
Riding the motor fast requires little concentration since it is so friendly, and that lets you concentrate on the smaller features of the machine. The shifting took a few motos to break in, then only some of our riders had a hard time with higher gear shifts under a load. The clutch action was great and has both feel and control. The brakes are strong and progressive, a big change in the right direction from our last Husky test bike. Sitting on the bike, forward for the turns, had us thinking this could be the most compliant seat out there even if the rear of it has little to no padding-where you're not supposed to sit anyway. And the layout for the pegs, bar and the thin rider cockpit all draw little attention, even when jumping on from a competitor's machine. The Husky now feels just like the others.