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What It’s Like to Ride the Husqvarna Svartpilen 701, A Review

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Husqvarna is a sales-driven company. I know this because before our press ride, the (Austrian-owned) Swedish brand spent more time selling us on the company’s staggering sales growth rather than talking about the technical specifics on the new Husqvarna Svartpilen 701.

To that end, sales are good. Very good, in fact. For a point of reference, more Husqvarna motorcycles are being sold now than ever before in the brand’s extensive history, and some of that growth comes from the Husqvarna’s new entry into the street bike realm.

Don’t get me wrong, Husqvarna dirt bikes still out sell the brand’s street bikes by roughly 4:1 when we are talking raw numbers, but the revived company is knocking on close to 50,000 motorcycles sold a year now. That is impressive, no matter how you slice it.

The bike that they hope will push the brand over the 50k mark is the Husqvarna Svartpilen 701, which is the only new model from Husqvarna for the 2019 model year. The Svartpilen 701 is the counterpoint to the Vitpilen 701 that debuted last year, and it continues Husqvarna’s trend of releasing the mirror image machines in various sizes.

As such, the 701 series borrows its platform from the KTM 690 Duke, and its new single-cylinder engine that features dual balancing shafts (one at the crank, the other on the cam).

It is a motor we are quite fond of here at Asphalt & Rubber, so we were intrigued when Husqvarna invited us to Lisbon, Portugal to ride the new Svartpilen 701 – as we wanted to see if this motorcycle was just more than a re-skinned KTM.

The answer to that question is certainly a yes, but with an asterisk. Let me explain.

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Reviews

Gone Riding: Husqvarna Svartpilen 701

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Greetings from Lisbon, Portugal as we come to our final destination on this three-week European press launch adventure. For this installment, we switch countries of origin, and get ready to hop on the Husqvarna Svartpilen 701 street bike.

A sort of street-tracker meets roadster type of bike, the Svartpilen 701 is a unique build from Husqvarna, and it pairs well with the company’s “white arrow” – the Vitpilen 701.

The plan is for us to get to know the Husqvarna Svartpilen 701 on the roads outside of Lisbon, riding along the coast for some twisties, touring along the highway, and doing some city miles in the urban jungle of Lisboa.

The route should give us a good idea of what to expect from the Swedish brand’s newest street bike, and to see if it is as fun as Husqvarna would like us to believe.

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Reviews

What It’s Like to Ride the 2019 BMW S1000RR, A Wet Review

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The 2019 BMW S1000RR is one of our most anticipated motorcycles for this model year, and for its media debut, BMW Motorrad set up a press launch at the esteemed Circuito Estoril in Portugal. Unfortunately, BMW Motorrad didn’t think to invite Asphalt & Rubber to this superbike’s press debut, but we showed up anyways.

This is because BMW Motorrad did invite our friend Jonathan Balsvik to the launch, despite his publication – Sweden’s Bike magazine – recently shutting its doors. With Jonathan looking for a place to publish, and us eager to share what this new S1000RR is all about, we bring you this ride review. Many thanks to Jonathan for helping us bring the good word of the “Double-R” to the sport-biking masses.

It should be noted though, that because of the heavy rains during the press launch, Jonathan’s review is a bit limited in what it can cover, both because of the rain-soaked track and because of BMW’s control riders, who slowed the pace of the track sessions quite considerably.

With these limitations in mind, we hope to bring you a follow-up review in the coming months, assuming BMW Motorrad USA can provide us with a bike to ride. -JB

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WSBK

Eugene Laverty Guides Us Around a Lap at Portimão

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Portimão is one of the most exciting laps of the year for a WorldSBK rider. The Portuguese circuit is used extensively for winter testing, and last month’s official test also offered the majority of the field a chance to fine tune their settings for their return to action.

The circuit, nestled in the hills of the Algarve, is challenging for riders. There’s a bit of everything here, and getting your eye in and getting the most from the circuit takes time.

“Portimao is my favourite track in the world,” said an enthusiastic Eugene Laverty. “It’s something unique! I’ve done so many laps around this place over the years that I know this place like the back of my hand. At some tracks, you need the bike to work in a certain way to be fast because the rider is limited in what they can do – this place is the opposite!”

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Jake Gagne Talks About Jumping in at the Deep End

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“My ass is on the line, but I'll have no regrets.” Jake Gagne jumped in at the deep end, but the Californian has learned a lot about racing and himself during his rookie WorldSBK campaign.

To continue reading this story, you need to have an A&R Pro subscriber account. If you have an A&R Pro account, you can login here.

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Spoiler

Portimão WorldSBK Debrief – Sunday

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Jonathan Rea took another step towards retaining the World Superbike championship, after a dominant weekend at the Portuguese round of the series. In Race 2, the Northern Irishman took longer to hit the front, but the end result was the same: 25 points.

The victory saw Rea extend his title lead to 120 points over his Kawasaki teammate, Tom Sykes. With the Englishman sitting out this weekend due to injury, Rea’s path to the title was given an unexpected boost, but overall it was business as usual for the 30-year-old.

In claiming his 34th Kawasaki victory, Rea became the Japanese manufacturer’s most successful rider of all time, but it wasn’t plain sailing for Rea.

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WSBK

Ana Carrasco Makes History in WorldSSP 300 – Becomes First Woman to Win a World Championship Race

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History was made in the FIM World Supersport 300 class this weekend in Portugal, as Ana Carrasco became the first woman ever to win a World Championship (solo) race.

Her victory didn’t come easy though, as three riders had a hand on the winner’s trophy, as they came down the front straight away for the final time.

Expertly gauging the draft to the finish line, Ana Carrasco put herself in front of Alfonoso Coppola (+0.053) and Marc Garcia (+0.062), narrowly beating the two Yamaha YZF-R3 riders with her Kawasaki Ninja 300.

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Portimão WorldSBK Debrief – Saturday

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Race 1 in Portimao may have produced a lights-to-flag victory for Jonathan Rea, but Saturday also produced plenty of drama.

Rea’s teammate, Tom Sykes, has been forced to sit out the weekend after fracturing a finger in a nasty crash during FP3. The 2013 WorldSBK champion highsided over the top of Jones’ Leap, was thrown from his Kawasaki, and left battered and bruised from the crash.

Having been given some strong pain medication, it was ruled that Sykes would be unfit for the rest of the weekend. The Englishman was in low spirits after the incident but should be back in full fitness in the year future.

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