Just when you thought every conceivable corner of the middleweight streetbike landscape had been covered, along comes the Husqvarna Svartpilen 801. Part scrambler, part roadster, part commuter, part flat-tracker, part hi-tech hooligan and part eye-catching style statement, the Svartpilen gleefully refuses to slot into a single category.
Visually, there are plenty of nods to Husky's off-road heritage. There's the Pirelli MT 60 RS tyres, with their distinctive flat-track tread pattern. There's the wide, cross-braced handlebar. There's a single retro-style round headlight. And there's the high-rise exhaust, that silencer tucked up tight against the tail just like a dirt bike.
But the Svartpilen is no good-olddays rose-tinted throwback. Its lines and silhouette are modern to the point of bordering on sci-fi. That headlight is LED, as is all the bike's lighting. The dash is a colour TFT. Wheels are cast, brakes are radial, suspension is multi-adjustable - it's the chassis spec you'd expect of a cutting-edge streetfighter, not anything retro. At first it's hard to know what to make of it all.
Scratch beneath the surface and things feel more familiar. At its heart is a tightly packaged 799cc parallel twin with a completely contemporary design-four-valve heads, watercooling, ride-by-wire throttle. Its crankpins are separated by 75°, giving it the firing intervals, feel and sound of a narrow-angle V-twin. And if you think you've heard that all before, it's because the Svartpilen shares its engine with KTM's 790 Duke.
Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Honda CRF1100L ES Africa Twin
Without panniers he was adventuring nowhere - so at least Bertie's got something sorted now
BMW R 12 nineT
Chad gets a track day surprise when BMW's R 12 nineT turns out to be surprisingly fun on track
Test fleet: VOGE 525 DSX
After testing the Voge's abilities on a long ride, it was time to take it to the Cotswolds and see how it would manage on the rougher stuff
Portuguese Perambulations
Nearly over before it had begun, a brief workshop stint allows Spain and Portugal to be explored
Highway to Heaven
Three friends take on the challenge of riding the length of Canada, from Vancouver in the southwest to Inuvik in the north. The road is long, the conditions merciless, and wildfires are tearing through the country. To top it all off, the final leg of the journey is the ultimate test of gravel riding skills, nerves, and courage - it's the legendary Dempster Highway...
Battlaxes at the ready!
We tend to take tyres for granted, never really looking at them in any detail, or at how they work, just hoping that they keep us shiny side up at all times. Even in the wet
Ducati Riding Experience
When I rode the Ducati DesertX to France last year, I did have a bit of an explore on some easy fire roads and gentle green lanes in the wilds of the Médoc area, but was left with the feeling that, had I the experience, the DesertX would have been capable of taking me along some more extreme trails to some even more exciting places. If only there was a way of finding out just how well the Italian adventure bike could cope with some more extreme terrain...
Four pot flyer
Many said that sports bikes, and particularly bikes in the traditional Supersports class that was populated by 600cc inline fours, were dead. Maybe they spoke too soon?...
Eastern adventurer
With an increasing interest in smaller capacity adventure bikes, the market expands with a new entry
First Time Lucky?
It's ironic that the first all-new MV Agusta model to hit the marketplace right after Italy's No.1 trophy brand was acquired by Austrian giant Pierer Mobility, owner of off-road titans KTM, should be the company's first dual-purpose model of the modern era, powered by MV's all-new 931cc three-cylinder engine that's destined to form the basis of a whole series of new models in coming months and years.
