Husqvarna Nuda

I think we must conclude that the occupant of Husqvarna's legal dept. has a memory unakin to that of a certain long-nosed pachyderm:
http://www.bikeexif.com/suzuki-nuda

And that no marine biologists are employed…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuda

And this is the answer I got from Kevin after emailing him my post... since I could not post it!

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Hi, well I'd have guessed exactly the same as you, a dull engine and sharp chassis, so it was a bit of a surprise. The motor's exceptionally good, and the handling's fine in normal riding if a bit vague at times, it's just too soft for anything really sporty, and you'd have expected better practicailty from something from the BMW stable.

I didn't get a dry weight definition but I have found the wet weight, which is 195kg with 90 per cent fuel load (11.7 litres), so they managed to lose some 20kg by draining everything for the dry measurement. Does make you wonder what the point is...

I'm a little embarrassed to say I'm not sure about all the dash info. Oddly there's nothing about it in the press info and I was struggling to get it all to work while riding, although I did find that an odd number that was appearing was actually the number of litres of fuel remaining, which is pretty important on this bike. The rest seemed to be the standard, basic info. I'll see what else I can glean though. There isn't any on board computer option though.

Kevin

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The question that comes to my mind is if BMW will use the engine modifications in their own bikes? It sounds as if it is a huge improvement on the standard mill.

I would also be interested to learn if there is real world value in shelling the extra out for the R vesrion.

All talk of comparison aside, I would imagine that many of the people who would consider this bike would not really buy it primarily as a track or touring machine, so perhaps as an every day road machine it shall find devotees. It carries a much more unusual badge than others, even the small factory KTM, so perhaps that novelty factor combied with the knowledge that it does have BMW behind it, may make it an interesting proposition.

My BMW sales rep seems to think the NUDA will be coming-to-America, but only through some privately owned BMW dealerships. Anyway, I'm not holding my breath.

Unfortunately, it appears that KTM have dropped their SM-R in America. This is probably the closest rival, along with the Hypermotard 1100SP EVO.

For comparison purposes, BMW's F800R is listed as weighing 199kg wet (with 90% full tank), which makes the NUDA's 195kg weight believable.

For the weightweenies out there (I certainly am with bicycles), this makes the NUDA about 10-15kg lighter than the SM-R and probably the same as either the Hytermotard or Monster 1100 - which are air-cooled. Not bad at all.

As for tank range, the F800R is rated as doing 65mpg at 55mph (US website), which I believe since my K1300GT does 48-49mph (actual, not readout). Therefore, the NUDA will have a range greater than any of its closest rivals. Probably by at least 20 miles. I'm guessing 135+mile range at the very least. With a light throttle, you could conceivably see 180+ miles. Cycle World listed the Hypermotard's range as 116 miles!

There are several videos of the NUDA in action on YouTube. Check out the longer ones, 4-6 minutes done by the same magazine. There are a couple track videos as well. Speaking of track, one of the journalists said that while the bike didn't especially feel that fast, he lapped within just over 1 second of his best time, on a Daytona 675 shod with better rubber.

While I like the R's red color scheme, I would probably opt for the standard version and stiffen the front forks. The difference in price just doesn't justify what you get in return. Plus, I'd prefer the lower seat and less aggressive brakes. Its shorter gearing isn's practical for street use as the standard version already has fairly short gearing.

This bike sounds like a blast to me. As I said previously, it's not an SMT beater, but a really fun bike which could also be used as everyday transportation, especially with bags.

My plan to get a Street Triple for shorter/fun rides has been put on hold - for now.

Cheers.

I'm a big weight weenie (I rode 350 km of mountain roads on a 350 kg bike today) and I doubt that the Nuda is 15 kg lighter than an SMR.
The kerb weight for an SMR is 192 kg (one more than last year) and if you fill its 15-liter tank with 14 liters (more than 90%) of unleaded that's extra 10 kg, so you get 202 kg. So if Husqvarnas stated weight is wet weight, then that's a 7 kg difference. It's pretty good actually!

I'm not sure if Husqvarna uses the same system as BMW to list its weights though, but it does look pretty light! So may be that's the wet weight.

What I like with the Supermoto, is that if you get a set of Akrapovic aftermarket exhaust, you save a whopping 9 kg! I don't know many bikes where you save that much with a set of aftermarket exhausts. It's usually between 3 and 6 kg.

It's great to have more choice for this kind of bikes!

Yeah, I know that you replace exhaust on all bikes. It's just not very usual to be able to gain 9 kg on sport bikes or naked bikes, it's usually half that, on average.

I have heard about the lighter batteries. But are they reliable? Durable? Do they deliver the same power? They must be super expensive.
The good thing with the exhaust, at least with the full lines, is that you gain in performance while also saving on weight!

I mean you can also save some important (rotating, non suspended) weight by fitting lightweight aluminium sprockets and a smaller racing chain. But I would not do that on a road bike, especially the racing chain.

I rode a fully loaded K1600GTL today. That's quite an engine on that bike! It doesn't go too badly in fact, but the weight is definitely there! That heft coupled with that deceptively fast engine and almost no engine braking means that you need to stay focused or the next corner could surprise you! It brakes very well though. It took me a good 100 km to get comfortable with it, finding the best way to hustle it. That engine sounds nice when you find the room to push it through a few gears!

Thanks for the info on the batteries, I'll check it out!

I haven't tried the K1200 or 1300 bikes. That's probably the only modern BMW motorcycle engine I have not tried. I remember there was some discussion here about this performance difference between the K1300 and K1600 engines. I don't remember the conclusion, was it gearing (and weight! :-P)?

I actually was using 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear since I was riding mountain roads. I was almost using the same gears as on an R1200GS or my SMT! The only difference is that I tended to stay in 3rd gear in some corners where I usually go down to 2nd. I agree that in higher gears the acceleration from lower rpm felt a little underwhelming given that we are talking about a 1600 6 cylinder engine. But in the "right" gear, I thought this bike was accelerating really well out of turns for such a heavy beast.