2018–2020 · Retro Classic · Buyer's Guide
One Cylinder, All Corners
The Svartpilen 701 is built around a 693 cc liquid-cooled single that makes 75 hp and 53 lb-ft, which puts it among the strongest single-cylinder engines you can actually buy. A steel trellis frame, fully adjustable WP suspension, and radial brakes wrap that motor in a chassis that weighs almost nothing. Then Husqvarna strips the whole thing back to a flat-track silhouette: an 18-inch front wheel, a sculpted tank, a simple dash, and nothing you don't need. ABS and traction control run quietly in the background. This is purist retro with real hardware sitting under the styling.
On the road it rides like something much smaller than its spec sheet, which makes it a genuine weapon in the city and a willing partner on a back road. It rewards riders who want feel and involvement over comfort and isolation. The honest caveat is size and range. The compact proportions suit average and shorter riders far better than tall, heavy ones, the seat is firm, and steady freeway miles bring vibration into the ride. Buy it for its character and its lightness, not for crossing states in a single sitting.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 75 hp (55 kW) @ 8,500 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 53 lb-ft (72 Nm) @ 6,750 rpm |
| Displacement | 693 cc |
| Engine | Single-cylinder |
| Cooling | Liquid-cooled |
| Gearbox | 6-speed |
| Final drive | Chain |
| Fork | Upside-down (USD) |
| Front brake | 320 mm |
| Front tire | 110/80-18 |
| Rear tire | 160/60-17 |
| Wheelbase | 56.5 in (1435 mm) |
| Seat height | 32.9 in (835 mm) |
| Fuel capacity | 3.2 gal (12 L) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Drivetrain
Lighting
Safety
Swing a leg over and the first surprise is how narrow it feels at the hips. The slim motor pulls the saddle in, so the tall number on the spec sheet reads far friendlier once your boots are on the ground. Roll away and there's a bit of chain snatch down low, the kind of thing that catches you out the first time if you've come off smoother motors, then it settles as the revs climb. Around town the payoff is real. More suspension travel and that big front wheel mean cobblestones, potholes, and torn-up asphalt simply disappear under you. The saddle is firm and honest about it after a couple of hours, and a long, steady highway stretch lets a buzz build through the pegs and bars. This bike wants streets, not slabs.
My own 0–100 score for this bike against the class, area by area — the marker on each bar is the class average.
The front end here speaks a dialect all its own. The feedback doesn't line up with anything else in the class, so it isn't a case of better or worse against a rival, it's just particular to this bike. Give it a handful of corners and it starts to click, and once it does you trust it completely. What seals the deal is how forgiving the chassis is about line choice. I could be sloppy tipping into a tight city block and it quietly sorted things out. I could be just as lazy through a wide mountain sweeper and it did the same, holding whatever arc I'd committed to without a word of complaint. That combination, a front that rewards a little patience and a chassis that covers for your mistakes, is why the bike feels playful rather than demanding. You stop planning every corner and just ride it.
The front brake has real authority when I lean on it, pulling speed off with no drama at all. What makes it work for me is the lever, which is soft and full of information. There's enough coming back through my fingers that carrying the brake into a corner and bleeding it off as I turn feels natural rather than something I have to concentrate hard on.
This is one of those rare bikes that gets its hooks into everyone. I've watched it pull in seasoned riders and people still building their confidence with equal force, and the trick is that it doesn't split the difference to manage it. Nothing here is dumbed down for the newcomer or sharpened past the point a beginner can enjoy. Both riders get the whole bike, and both come away hungry for more of it.
What I keep coming back to on this single is how honest it stays when I'm hard on the brakes and stacking downshifts into a corner. The slipper clutch and the fueling talk to each other cleanly, so the rear never chatters or steps out as I drop through the gears at the entry. The traction control is the other quiet win. It trims torque at the rear so discreetly you'd never catch it working, and if you'd rather it wasn't there at all, a long press clears it out completely and puts wheelies back on the menu. The throttle backs all of that up with an answer that reads the same whatever gear or lean angle I'm carrying, nothing to second-guess and nothing to feed in gingerly. For a motor this big and thumping, that adds up to a lot of usable performance instead of something you're forever babysitting.
Comfort here really comes down to who you are and how far you're going. If you're on the shorter side, the bike's waistline works in your favor, since the slim engine pinches the saddle in right where your legs drop, and getting a boot down at a stop is easier than the published figure threatens. Bigger, taller riders get the opposite deal. The proportions are drawn tight, so a larger build sits high and exposed rather than tucked down into the machine. Distance is the other limiter. The cushion is firm and doesn't pretend otherwise, good company for an afternoon loop but frank about its limits once the hours pile up, and a long, constant-speed highway haul lets a steady vibration find its way into your hands and feet. None of this hurts the bike as a town and backroad tool. It simply tells you plainly what it wasn't built to do.
Where this bike quietly earns its keep is on bad surfaces. It carries more suspension travel than most street machines and rolls on a bigger front wheel, and the two together turn torn-up streets into a non-event. Ridges, patched asphalt, the sort of rough going that has you bracing on other bikes, it just rolls across and keeps its composure while you get on with the ride.
I've spent years collecting what Svartpilen 701 owners actually say, from long forum threads and paddock conversations to the emails and messages riders send me directly. Put it all together and one pattern holds: they love how light and quick it feels and rate the hardware highly, while the complaints cluster around long-distance practicality and a few build niggles.
The praise starts with how it turns. Owners consistently describe supremely flickable, precise handling that inspires confidence when the road bends. Just as often they point to the acceleration: for a bike this light, riders say it feels ferociously quick and agile. Many also single out the components, rating the brakes and suspension a clear step above what they expected.
The gripes are just as consistent. With no fairing, riders find longer highway stints tiring and keep the bike on backroads and in town. Shorter owners flag the tall seat, 32.9 in (835 mm), with no factory lowering option. A smaller group reports build niggles, loose fasteners and the odd electrical gremlin, usually fixable. The small 3.2-gal (12 L) tank has them planning stops, with real-world range landing near 125 miles (200 km).
Fuel tank leak (recall HTB2011)
Fuel may seep or leak from the fuel level sensor and fuel pump mounting areas due to uneven sealing surfaces. Husqvarna recalled affected units and replaced the tank with a thicker-walled version.
License plate bracket misalignment (recall 21V-627)
Misalignment of gear teeth on license plate carrier and swingarm may cause rear axle nut to loosen, potentially leading to loss of control. Dealers check alignment and torque.
Clutch slave cylinder failure
Premature failure of the clutch slave cylinder, often before 6,200 mi (10,000 km). Symptoms include fluid leaks and loss of clutch pressure. Replacement with upgraded aftermarket units recommended.
Sidestand magnet falling off
The magnet that activates the sidestand switch can detach, preventing the bike from starting due to safety interlock. Owners glue it back or add spare magnets.
Dashboard flicker / electrical glitches
Some units experience intermittent display flickering or stalling, sometimes traced to a weak battery. Installing a lithium battery often resolves.
Where this Husqvarna Svartpilen 701 pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the Svartpilen 701 is actually built for.
For classic routes and quiet two-lane days it has the look and the character you want. Respect its limits, though: the firm seat and highway buzz reward shorter hops between stops over marathon interstate runs.
Made for Acadia National Park · Austin / Handbuilt Motorcycle Show · Blue Ridge Parkway
This is where it shines. The light steering and eager turn-in make Hill Country switchbacks a genuine playground, and it's happy to be ridden hard on a Saturday without wearing you out.
Made for Austin / Texas Hill Country · Twisted Sisters · Austin / Handbuilt Motorcycle Show
Built for exactly your kind of road. It changes direction instantly and gives you honest front-end feel to work with, so you can chase clean lines through the tight stuff and sharpen your technique.
Made for Back of the Dragon · Blue Ridge Parkway · Cherohala Skyway
If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Any price note compares both bikes at the same age — the youngest age both have on the used market — against this Husqvarna Svartpilen 701. “cheaper/pricier” is what that bike costs second-hand, not how worn it is.
