A lot of people say that it's dangerous to let kids ride adult bikes, but these concerned citizens should spare a thought for adults riding kids bikes. Picture for instance an innocent and trustworthy magazine editor visiting the warehouse of a motorcycle importer. Our hero spots an interesting looking bike, and glances around to find himself alone and unguarded.
    `Hell, what harm can you do? It's just a kid's bike,' he thinks, throwing a leg over and prodding it to life.
    The thing gets a fair rev up before the auto clutch bites in so he gives it a fistful
to hurry things along. Key-ryst! Suddenly there's a huge, sweeping black mark across the pristine concrete floor and the suspension gets a test as the bike shoots out the roller door and over the gutter.
    `Gosh,' thinks the editor, who is hard to motivate past thinking these days, `that came as a shock. Wonder how it goes on a fancy grass median strip like this?'
    There was no chance to find out. The bigger and burlier blokes from Husky Imports, alerted by the smell of burning rubber and the maniacal laughter, had caught up. Our man was dragged to the ground and held until head honcho Hans turned up.
    "You wanker," he sighed. "If you want to ride the Husky Boy that bad at least take it somewhere legal."
    There's a thought.

  Power Plus
    What good is a toy that doesn't go like a cut snake? The Husky Boy is a liquid-cooled 50cc auto that pumps out 12hp and weighs less than a woman's handbag. The technology is impressive, with a linkage-less shock laid well over in the rear giving plenty of travel, and oildampened Marzocchi forks and a disc brake up front. The bike is homologated to run in MA's Division 2 for junior competition but on a really tight course it could be a contender for outright in seniors.
    Okay, so the bottom end isn't exactly strong, but the meaty mid-range explodes into a monstrous top end that floats the front time and again, no matter how far an editor leans over the bars to keep it down.
    "You wanker," sighed Hans again. "Why don't you let someone with some clues ride it."

  Right Size
    Young Dale Fear is an impressive bloke. The kid rides very, very smoothly but what was most impressive was when he was asked to clear the double on the Husky Boy for some pics. When we say doubles we're talking big launch ramp, and about three metres of vacant space under the wheels in mid-flight. He'd been doing it easy on his KTM 50, and seemed to be settling into the Husky well, but he wasn't keen.
    "I'm not confident enough yet. Do you mind if I don't?"
    Smart kid. Sensible too. He'll never end up as a magazine editor.
    Dale was hooking in elsewhere on the track though, locking the rear into the berms and whipping the throttle open on exit. He nailed the Husky down the rutted sandy straights and while we're not much good at estimating speeds - ask our local policeman - we can say he was going quicker than most adults would.
    Dale says the Husky is quicker than his KTM, so you can bet mum and dad are copping a flogging about getting one. Still, at $3895 it is about the cheapest high-performance bike around!

 

This article appears in Issue 41, June-July 2002
Web conversion by Glenn Alderton