Husaberg
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Motorcycle |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Mattighofen, Austria |
| Parent | KTM |
| Website | www |
Husaberg was a manufacturer of enduro motorcycles with four and two-stroke engines, the displacements ranging from 125 cc to 650 cc. Originally based in Sweden, its motorcycles were developed and manufactured in Austria by parent company KTM until the line was retired in 2014.
Husaberg Motor AB was established in 1988 from the circumstances arisen out of the purchase of the motorcycle division of Swedish company Husqvarna by Italian Cagiva in 1987. Cagiva shifted the production of motorcycles to Varese, Italy. A group of engineers led by Thomas Gustavsson decided to stay back in Sweden and continue to work on their project. Husaberg Motor AB was registered in January 1988. The other Husqvarna employees who joined Husaberg were Ruben Helmin (Husqvarna chief engineer and Husaberg's first managing director), Urban Larsson (Husqvarna designer ), Björn Elwin (chief of Husqvarna test department). Roland Söderqwist, a small Swedish mechanical firm owner was also involved in the Foundation of the company. The first factory was set up in a woodshed at lake Vättern in the town of Husabergs Udde from which the name of the company is derived.
The name Husaberg was only made official by Gustavsson when entering an enduro race at Skillingaryd, as he was forced to declare the make of his motorcycle.
The Husaberg team tried to compensate for their lack of funds by their courage to rely on technical innovations and could never afford to hire established professional riders but rather ambitious rookies such as Joël Smets, Jimmie Eriksson, Walter Bartolini, Kent Karlsson, Anders Eriksson, Jaroslav Katriňák, Mike Tosswill and Peter Jansson.
Good results on the tracks could not compensate for slow sales, and Husaberg was eventually purchased by the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM in 1995.
Although Husaberg motorcycles have been produced at the KTM factory in Mattighofen, Austria since 2003, and the development department is also at KTM in Mattighofen, the Motorsport department remains in Sweden.
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Wikipedia