Recently, car manufacturers have been indicating that some of their vehicle designs have been influenced by motorcycles; the Chevy Sonic and the Hyundai Veloster are two examples.

2013 Sonic RS

2013 Veloster

Husqvarna Motorcycles has just released two new motorcycles, the TR 650 Strada—for on-road riding—and the TR 650 Terra—for light off-roading.

Strada

Terra

Before looking at some of the design details, it is interesting to note that these bikes both use a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, 652-cc engine that produces 58 hp @ 7,250 rpm and 60 Nm of torque (44 lb-ft) @ 5,750 rpm. The engine is a version of the G 650 GS by BMW Motorrad—as although you might think Husqvarna is a Swedish company, it belongs to BMW Group.

Because the Terra is designed for off-road, note the use of the high fender on the front wheel and the light spoked wheels, contrasted with the close fender on the Strada and the cast aluminum wheels.

There are red side trim elements for the Strada and black side panels for the Strada. Both have black-coated chassis elements, such as the swing arm and frame.

Both bikes have light-grey sand cast engine cases, which are accented by a “Husqvarna red” cylinder head.

And as another twist on the expected, the TR 650 Strada and TR 650 Terra are not built in a plant based in Sweden, nor in Germany. Rather, at the Husqvarna Motorcycles plant in Cassinetta di Biandronno, Italy.