Erzberg Nuda

Erzberg Nuda

When is a Nuda not a Nuda? When the supermoto-style, Europe-only, 898cc Husqvarna parallel-Twin gets a full street-to-dirt facelift to do battle at Austria's Erzberg Rodeo, far and away the toughest off-road challenge on planet Earth, that's when. And who better to manage the makeover than Germany's Black Forest-based adventuretouring powerhouse, Touratech? The "extremely modified" end result seen here is officially known as the Nuda-X-Cross.

Touratech's Lars WUrdemann headed up the conversion, fit ting the usual engine, hand and radiator guards, serrated offroad footpegs and Pirelli-shod 21/1 8-inch wire-spoke wheels. The suspension was modified, as well. Originally developed for the BMW F800GS, the long-travel fork and shock were built by Tractive in Europe. AC Schnitzer fabricated the lightly muffled exhaust.

Both WUrdemann and former European and German national enduro champion Marco Straubel competed in Erzberg's Generali Iron Road Prologue, an 8.3-mile dirt-road sprint, this past June, finishing second and fourth in the Twins class.

"It was an incredible feeling to fly up the mountain with such a machine," said Straubel.

Matthew Miles