The Husqvarna Nuda 900 lines up to take on its rivals

 

The Husqvarna Nuda 900 is arguably the firms first serious road bike. Using a development of BMW's F800 parallel twin engine, the Nuda promises an exciting, fun-packed, street future. But how does it measure up?

We pitted the new Husqvarna against its closest competition - the Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 Factory, Ducati Hypermotard 796 and KTM 990 SMT - on British roads to find the king of the 'street moto' category.

Despite a common theme, each manufacturer has approached it in a different way and the only thing that really links these four bikes is the use of flat bars and long-travel suspension.

Engine	Liquid-cooled, 898cc, 8v, DOHC parallel twin	Liquid-cooled, 749cc, 8v, DOHC V-twin	Air-cooled, 803cc, 4v, Desmo V-twin	Liquid-cooled, 999cc, 8v, DOHC V-twin
Power (claimed)	105bhp	90bhp	81bhp	114bhp
Torque (claimed)	73ftlb	60.4ftlb	55.7ftlb	71.5bhp
Chassis	Tubular steel trellis frame	Tubular steel trellis, aluminium side panels	Tubular steel trellis frame	Tubular steel trellis frame
Suspension	48mm Sachs USD forks. Sachs monoshock, adjustable for preload and rebound	43mm USD forks, fully-adjustable. Mono shock fully-adjustable	43mm Marzocchi USD forks. Sachs monoshock adjustable for spring preload only	WP USD forks, fully-adjustable. WP monoshock, fully-adjustable
Weight	174kg	206kg	167kg	194kg
Brakes	Front: Twin 2x320mm discs with Brembo foru-piston radial calipers. Rear: Single 265mm disc with single-piston caliper	Front: Twin 320mm wave discs with Brembo four-piston radial calipers. Rear: Single 240mm wave disc with single-piston caliper	Front: Twin 305mm discs with Brembo four-piston radial calipers. Rear: Single 245mm disc with twin-piston caliper	Front: Twin 305mm discs with Brembo four-piston radial calipers, Bosch ABS. Rear: Single 240mm disc with twin-piston caliper, Bosch ABS
Tyres	Front: 120/70x17 Rear: 180/55x17	Front: 120/70x17 Rear: 180/55x17	Front: 120/70x17 Rear: 180/55x17	Front: 120/70x17 Rear: 190/55x17
Fuel capacity	13 litres	12 litres	12.4 litres	19 litres
Seat height	870mm	870mm	825mm	855mm

The Dorsoduro Factory is the most 'supermoto' and aggresive in its looks, but despite the clean rear end with its neat underseat pipes and smart red frame, the carbon panels let the bike down.

The Hypermotard look has been around for a while now and Pierre Terblanche's take on a supermoto has been considerably better received than his idea of a sportsbike (the 999).

The Husqvarna is the newest bike in the test and as such you would expect a fresh look, but the Nuda is completely unique.

Having moved the SMT more towards touring than supermoto, it is no surprise that the 990 looks bulky in comparison to the other bikes on test.

To read the full group test, pick up a copy of the February 22 issue of MCN.