At the 2015 EICMA show, the Husqvarna 701 Vitpilen (shown above) debuted to much fanfare, as the neo-retro model showed a new direction for the Swedish brand’s street lineup, with the machine heavily expected to come as a production model.
And now today, we see that a “Svartpilen” 701 model will debut as well, with spy photos of the bike being captured in its near-production form.
The black-colored and more scrambler-styled Husqvarna 701 Svartpilen is an addition to the white-colored and more roadster-styled Husqvarna 701 Vitpilen that we have already seen.
As such, it seems clear that Husqvarna is expanding its on-road offering in a big way, and to be beyond its current crop of simple supermoto designs.
From the spy photos, we can see that the Husqvarna 701 Svartpilen will come with knobless dual-sport tires and spoked 17″ wheels, which compliment the scrambler aesthetic that we first saw in the smaller Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen.
The engine is likely the revised 690cc single-cylinder unit that graces the Husqvarna 701 Supermoto, which includes a balancing shaft for the 2017 model year.
These photos also confirm that Husqvarna will have a sort of dual-pronged approach to its street lineup, with the brand showing “Vitpilen” and “Svartpilen” variations of each new platform (401 & 701) it is developing.
As such, it will be interesting to see how these aesthetic differences affect different buyers, and if there will be two growing groups of riders flocking to the Husqvarna brand.
As for the 401 models, our sources say that they have been delayed a full year, and will now be 2018 model year machines.
Presumably, this delay would allow for Husqvarna to debut a more complete on-road lineup for the 2018 model year, which should help dealers who are unsure about offering the 401 street bikes, while the rest of their dealership is choked full of white and blue dirt bikes.
Photos: Husqvarna
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