First shown as a concept just over a year ago at the
EICMA show in Italy, the 2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 will be on sale in markets
worldwide by the end of April. While Husqvarna is owned by Austrian motorcycle
manufacturer KTM, this does not mean the Vitpilen 701 is a re-badged KTM 690
Duke.
Styling for the Vitpilen 701 is very different,
bearing more of a street bike design, versus the stunt bike ethos of the Duke.
The Vitpilen carries a 692.7 cc liquid cooled, single-cylinder engine – based
on KTM’s LC4 – that produces a peak horsepower of 75 hp and 72 Nm of torque at
6,750 rpm.
The thumper mill is fed by EFI and controlled with
ride-by-wire while power gets to the ground via a six-speed gearbox. The
hydraulically activated slipper clutch is an APTC unit made by Adler, also
found on the KTM 690 Duke.
As is customary for both KTM and Husqvarna, WP
provides the suspension for the Vitpilen 701, with 43 mm diameter upside-down
forks in front and a WP monoshock at the back. Brembo does the braking, with
four-piston callipers clamping 320 mm discs in front, and a single-piston
floating calliper on a 240 mm disc at the back, controlled by Bosch 9M+
two-channel ABS.
The Vitpilen is
light, weighing in at 157 kg sans fuel, but loses out almost 10 kg compared to
the 148 kg dry weight of the 690 Duke. Fuel for the Vitpilen 701 is carried in
a 12-litre tank, and seat height is set at 830 mm.
The 2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 is also joined by
the Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401, both with a 375 cc single-cylinder that
produces 44 hp, making them counterparts to the KTM 390 Duke. Vitpilen means
“White Arrow” while Svartpilen means “Black Arrow” in Swedish, the paintwork
reflecting their names.
