Trail Rider Magazine

34 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Vintage Feature Vintage Feature 1968 Husqvarna 360 Viking 1968 Husqvarna 360 Viking By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart In today's world, the name Husqvarna is quite com- mon, but it's never too late for a li le history lesson. Named a er the city where it established its roots, Husqvarna of Sweden has been in business for literally hundreds of years. Outsiders to the sport of motor- cycling have been familiar with Husqvarna chainsaws and lawn care equipment for quite some me. The Swedish Husqvarna company was actually quite di- verse. Rifle manufacturing was a specialty in the early days. From 1689 to 1757, the company supplied the Swedish and Norwegian armies with rifles by the tens of thousands, and to this day, the Husky logo, de- rived from a gun sight, remains rela vely unchanged. A manufacturing company, Husqvarna or "Husky," changed focus and began producing sewing machines and bicycles a er stepping out of the arms business. As with many bicycle manufacturers during the late 1800s, Husqvarna evolved into producing motorcy- cles. In 1903, Husky also entered the motorcycle pro- duc on business. The first Huskys used imported en- gines, and it was not un l 1918 that Husqvarna began producing machines built en rely in-house. Around that me, they secured a contract with the Swedish Army and began entering cross-country and long-dis- tance races. In 1920, Husqvarna established its own engine factory; its first engine design was a 550cc four-stroke, 50-degree, side-valve V-twin, similar to those made by Harley-Davidson and Indian. Husqvarna competed in Grand Prix road racing in the 350cc and 500cc classes during the 1930s, and by 1939, it was Sweden's largest motorcycle man- ufacturer. All of the racing bikes were based on a 50-degree, V-twin prototype. The Husqvarna team beat the Norton works team at the Swedish GP in 1931 with a 1–2 finish by Ragnar Sundqvist and Gunnar Kalen. This and the next year's success led to a full commitment to the GP tracks, with Stan- ley Woods and Ernie No joining Husqvarna. That year, No finished third in the 350cc Junior TT, and Woods ran out of gas eight miles before the fin- ish of the Senior TT. In 1935, Husqvarna withdrew racing support, but new race bikes were s ll built and raced privately, while the company focused on producing a new two-stroke, two-speed com- muter bike. That year, Woods won the Swedish GP (marking the fourth year in a row that a "Husky" had won) on a 500cc Husqvarna motorcycle that weighed only 279 pounds!

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