1961-70 : By A Whisper GOOD OLD TIMES BLOG
words KENNETH OLAUSSON photos courtesy of HUSQVARNA
After 1960 things looked gloomy for Husqvarna . The R & D department was in idle mode and the factory had given up hope and interest on their motorcycle division . The street- Huskys didn ' t sell as the best days of the Silver Arrow were gone . No new products lay in the pipeline and the market was under the weather for the Swedes . It was time to ride out a tropical storm .
In the production statistics we can see that the factory only churned out 423 units in the year of 1961 . The Silver Arrow street machines had stopped selling by now and the mopeds also showed a deep decline in output . The overall sales dip was a stunning 85 percent
compared to the successful introduction period of the Silver Arrow some years back . The forecasts for the future were pessimistic and the board of directors contemplated giving up the twowheel division entirely . A last-minute decision gave it another try , much due to the successful history of the company ' s motorcycle adventures from 1903 . But future manufacturing would be performed on a very low scale .
After having scored motocross success both in 1959 and in 1960 with two championship titles , 1961 proved to be disastrous for Husqvarna with limited results in motocross . Especially , the 250cc bikes were inferior on the market
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 166