2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 First Look Rennie Scaysbrook | November 7, 2017 The 401’s daddy is in the house. Welcome to the 2018 Husqvarna Vitpilen 701 The Vitpilen 701 marks a major step back into streetbike territory for Husqvarna. The final production ready machine from Husqvarna at the 2017 EICMA Show in Milan has broken cover in the brand new 701 Vitpilen café racer. The Vitpilen 701 uses the same design ethos of the 401 Vitpilen but ratchets everything up a few notches, with a 75 hp single cylinder motor swiped directly off the KTM 690 Duke, as is its steel trellis chassis. Under KTM ownership, Husqvarna is going after a whole new segment of the market with the Vitpilen range, which marks the first real street focused machines to bear the famous ‘H’ single the Husqvarna Nuda when the company was owned by BMW (obviously, we’re not including the 7011 SM models here). The Vitpilen 701 will get WP suspension and Brembo monobloc brakes with ABS, as well as a slipper clutch and ride-by-wire throttle to go with its striking futuristic café racer-style body. Expect the Vitpilen to be in dealer showrooms by early summer of 2018 (a vague date, we know, but that’s all we have).
