On The Pegs July 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 7 | Page 154

On The Pegs 154 HUSQVARNA GOES ENDURO GOOD OLD TIMES BLOG B y K enneth O lausson P hotos : H usqvarna As the United States embraced the Husqvarna movement in the 60s, develop- ment and volumes played a major role at the Swedish factory. Now, the Motor- cycle Olympics went from the International Six Days Trial to racing on most any surface. Enduro and desert riding changed motorcycling and paved the way for future Husqvarna success. On home grounds, the brand won almost all “reliabil- ity” races at hand… If you wanted to compete offroad during the 50s and early 60s, there were no race machines to buy at the local bike shops. Everyone relied on their own skills to convert a Silver Arrow to racing standards as best as they could. However, inter- est in riding fast offroad continued growing and Husqvarna reacted by further developing their now popular Silver Arrow models. There were a wide range of accessories to update this motorcycle. The engine was also tuned with a new and bigger cylinder, which became trendy among customers. Power was here to stay. At Huskvarna, the technicians started to make plans to produce a true racer on a bigger scale.