On The Pegs May 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 5 | Page 106

On The Pegs
106
From the beginning this 118cc
Model 20 had become the
average-salary persons dream.
Most people had to work hard
and dig deep into their pock-
ets in order to be able to afford
this small, but efficient luxury
motorcycle. In the post-war
period, the ‘Angel-Wing’ be-
came a dominating factor on
the fast-growing bike market.
By 1946, Husqvarna had tooled
up and introduced Model 24 of
the 118cc bike. It was a three-
horsepower machine and cost
960 Swedish kronor at a time
when most people were mak-
ing around 75 kronor a week.
Husqvarna manufactured some
30,000 units of this model, now
named the ‘Black-Mill’ (Svart-
Qvarnan in Swedish), as it had
been developed according to
modern standards and in 1950
the Model 27 entered the mar-
ket, again with a top speed of 75 km/h.
The Black-Mill was also seen in icy regions like Antarctica and under preposter-
ous sunburn in the middle of Africa. Swede Göte Widelund had only done 100
kilometres on his motorcycle when he started riding south towards Europe in
1951. This man from Stockholm intended to go all the way to northern Africa on
his 120 Husky. He packed 75 kilos of luggage in his rucksack and on a reinforced
rear rack, hoping that the strength of his wheels would take him all the way. Wide-
lund wanted to test man and machine against nature’s elements. And what a way
to do it for a bike rookie! He started his 8,000-kilometre trip encountering snow
and icy roads when riding through his home country and also through Denmark.
Conditions were more stable in northern Europe, where he met a friendly land-
scape. Widelund came to see winter again when passing the Alps and crossing