While there are a few street-legal supermoto motorcycles available, pure supermoto racebikes are few and far between. Even a lack of competition doesn’t stop Husqvarna from upping the ante on its dirt-bike-based pavement racer, and the 2023 Husqvarna FS 450 arrives with significant changes from last year’s racer. We don’t have all the details we’d like, including a spec sheet. However, that doesn’t stop us from sharing what we do know.
- The 2023 Husqvarna FS 450 gets a new frame. The hydro-formed frame is still made of chromoly steel. The ’23 gets new geometry designed to reduce squat on acceleration. The subframe is a new aluminum-polyamide hybrid, which replaces the carbon-fiber/polyamide subframe used for years. Husqvarna tells us that the new subframe is more durable and has specific rigidity properties that enhance the main frame.
- Expect more acceleration from the new motor. The basic SOHC architecture remains, but Husqvarna claims “class-leading performance and low weight” from the mill. The exact engine placement has also changed in the new frame.
- The quickshifter gets a new sensor. According to the Husky, the change is intended to improve upshifts—more acceleration, again.
- Your left thumb is now the master of electronics. The new switch, mounted on a ProTaper handlebar, controls traction control, launch control, and the quickshifter setting.
- The WP Xact suspension on the 2023 Husqvarna FS 450 gets major changes. The 48mm fork is new, with a focus on increasing the progressivity of the damping to prevent bottoming. The air function remains, supplanting a spring. The shock now requires no tools for damping adjustments, and the main piston is updated.
- Moving around the motorcycle should be easier, thanks to new bodywork.
- You won’t have to wait long for a 2023 Husqvarna FS 450—they’re supposed to be in dealers without delay. We don’t have an MSRP yet for the new supermoto racer.