[faster and faster] - 2015 Husqvarna FS450: Go forth and drift

The Husqvarna FS450 packs only 60 horsepower, but for the expert rider, offers unmatched supermoto-style thrills. Wheelies? Two-wheel drifts? Yes!​

Set up in Sweden about 110 years ago, Husqvarna have an interesting past. The company used to compete in 350cc and 500cc motorcycle grand prix racing in the 1930s, dominated motocross in the 1960s and 1970s, was bought out by Cagiva in the late-1980s, sold to BMW in 2007, and bought out by Stefan Pierer (current CEO of the Austria-based KTM Motorcycles) in 2013. Wow!

Starting in 2010-2011, Husqvarna had taken some tentative steps towards producing a few streetbikes (as opposed to their traditional off-road-oriented machines), but those streetbikes have been axed after Husky were bought out by Pierer Industrie AG. Now, the company is again focusing on off-road machines only. Except for the track-use-only FS450 supermotard. Fitted with a 450cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine that pumps out 60bhp, the FS450 doesn't seem to be that big a deal on paper. However, take into account its 110-kilo weight, light and stiff chrome-molybdenum steel tube chassis, adjustable WP forks and shock, APTC slipper clutch, and 310mm front brake disc with four-piston radial-mount caliper, and you realise that the FS is something of a razor-sharp weapon.

The Husqvarna FS450 rides on 16.5-inch (front) and 17-inch (rear) wheels, shod with Metzeler Racetec SM rubber, and the whole package is perfectly set up for supermoto-style drifting in and out of corners. Watch the video below to see the FS450 in action!

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