HUSQVARNA'S SMR 511 is a very narrow focus machine.

It's hard edged and grumpy, but it's also got the best brakes this side of a full on sports bike, a riding position to let you see over most cars, and a narrowness which lets you squeeze through the smallest of gaps.

Did I mention it's shed loads of fun too?While supermoto racing in Australia is much smaller than it used to be it's still big in Europe, and therefore the market is much bigger there. I'm not sure how many SMR 511s will be sold here but it can't be many in the grand scheme of things. You could forgive all the manufacturers if they decided Australia wasn't worth the supermoto effort, so I'm glad Husqvarna's Aussie agent, the Paul Feeney Group, decided it was worth the effort to bring a container load of SMRs Down Under because the SMR isn't all about racing, it's about having fun around town, and even more fun when the road turns a bit curvy.

Before the rideThe dry sumped 477cc liquid-cooled single cylinder engine is basically the same as the engine found in BMW's G 450 X, which is no longer in production. BMW bought Husqvarna back in 2007 and BMW developed its own enduro machine, while Husqvarna continued to produce its own models. When BMW decided to discontinue its 450cc enduro machine, Husqvarna took up some of the engineering, namely the engine. While the G 450 X had its faults (though not many) the engine wasn't one of them.
The engine was about the only thing shared though, everything else is different, including the chromemoly frame which looks nothing like that on the G 450 X.The engine is like any other 450cc off-road single around, four valves, dual overhead cams etc and it's very much a race bred engine so it likes a diet of premium unleaded.It's got a six speed ’box so it's friendlier on the road than your average MX or enduro machine, and the engine has a shade over 50 horsepower which makes it a formidable weapon in the right hands.

There's a couple of other ideas shared with the G 450 X which don't seem so apparent at first. One is the 8.5 litre fuel tank which sits underneath the seat and is filled from behind the seat, and the other is the swingarm pivot which is inline with the front sprocket, the idea being the chain has constant tension at whatever swingarm angle. Changing the front sprocket on the G 450 X wasn't a 10 minute job. I guess Husqvarna would have fixed this issue but then again the design might just not allow an easy fix to the problem.As you would expect, 17 inch wheels sit front and rear, with a 120 and a 150 tyre combination. A massive 320mm single disc and four-piston caliper is all that's needed to stop the bike which weighs in around 127kg with a full tank, and if stoppies are your bag then the SMR will gladly allow you to attempt them.50mm Marzocchi forks are adjustable on every front, as is the Sachs rear shock.

The rideWith any bike a little highly strung like this, getting off the line is never a 'smooth' affair. Dial in a few revs, let out the slick hydraulic clutch and away you go. The gearbox has close ratios so you are snicking through them quick smart. It's easy to slot the bike into too high a gear too quick and the bike doesn't like it, with chain snatch the order of the day. Let the engine spin up though and it's very flexible.Around town it's actually lots of fun. Sure, you can pull wheelstands with gay abandon if that's your go but this tends to be frowned upon by the seething mass of car drivers sharing the traffic light grid with you. Where a bike like this shines in traffic is when you 'thread the needle', splitting standstill traffic and getting yourself to the front of the grid. 

On the open road the SMR is much better than you might think. It will cruise at 100km/h without you feeling guilty, and when you get to your favourite bit of swervery it will be fun, fun and even more fun. If you live a fair distance from such swervery then I reckon the best idea is to trailer the SMR to it then ride it like it's meant to be ridden, and in case you might not know what that is, it's called 'with verve'. The only issue is fuel range which would be less than 100 kilometres if you are riding on the road with said 'verve', although Husqvarna reckons the revised 2011 fuel injection pump allows all of the 8.5 litres to be sucked up.But this is forgetting what the bike was really designed for in the first place, racing. If you are keen to do some supermoto racing with your local club you could simply tape the lights up and go bananas. I like the fact you can then ride the bike to work the next day without spending valuable time putting the relevant road going gear back on before you do so.Husqvarna has a lot of trick bits you can buy direct from your dealer too, from carbon fibre covers and chain guards to an engine hot up kit and full titanium Akrapovic system including engine pipe ($1,695), big tanks etc. You could always go the tried and true slip-on muffler route too.

The final sayThe 511 is a fun and frantic machine, whether you want to stick your leg or your knee out. If this is what you want from your road bike then it will deliver as much as you can take, but at these prices maybe you can afford an SMR, and a new Nuda when it comes out.Thanks to Track & Trail at Belmont for preparing the bike for us.

RIDING GEAR: Zeus adventure helmet, Motodry jacket, Hornee jeans, Arlen Ness boots.