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.
For a middleweight street bike, 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.
GALLERY: 2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen 701
GALLERY: 2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen 401
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