ASK THE MXPERTS: ARE BROKEN HUSQVARNA AIRBOXES COMMON?

Dear MXperts,
My 2020 Husqvarna FC350’s plastic subframe cracked on the bottom mounting hole on the right side of the frame. My question is, are broken Husqvarna airboxes common?

Yes and no. We have cracked more than our fair share of Husqvarna plastic subframes, but most of the time it was caused by crash damage—that would have bent an aluminum subframe. The plastic Husqvarna airbox flexes more, so it doesn’t kink, but it will crack where it is attached (typically on the lower mount on the right-hand side). Whether plastic or aluminum, we don’t like mangling up a subframe. It is not a cheap fix.

We doubt that Husqvarna will warranty the airbox on a three-year old motorcycle, but the first first step is to go to your friendly local Husqvarna dealer and have him look at your airbox. It is up to him whether or not to send your warranty claim for the subframe through to the home office in SoCal. Depending on the model years, Husqvarna subframes can come in two or three bolt-together plastic pieces. If you’re lucky and it gets sent to Husqvarna’s warranty department, they will need to evaluate whether this was a faulty subframe or crash damage. Even if they decide that it isn’t crash damage, they will look at your hour meter to see how many hours are on your 2020 FC350. We don’t know the exact number of hours that they looking for, but if you have a lot hours on your hour meter, the odds of them covering the part are slim—because they don’t know what abuse your bike may have suffered over that many hours of riding. KTM and Husqvarna have a great reputation for taking care of their customers, but you need your local dealer to process your warranty claim first.

The 2023 Husqvarna subframe is now identical to the 2023 KTM subframe—and both of the have a hybrid version that combines some of the plastic elements of the older Husky airbox with the aluminum struts of the KTM airbox.