New 2024 Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 Full Walkaround & Specs!

Welcome back everybody to another MotoBob video and you join me in the studio again today with this fantastic looking motorcycle. It's the brand new 2024 Husqvarna Svartpilen 401. Now this press bike just got dropped off a few days ago and we've actually got it for like two or three months, which is great because it means we can go into quite a lot more detail and there really is a lot to get stuck in with. There's loads of updates to the technical side, it's got this different styling package as well, and also bags of new tech and standard features which I think make it look like really very good value for money at just over five and a half grand. So I thought I'd kick off this little series of videos with a full walk around of all the specs and details as well as a few of my first initial impressions. So look we'll go nose to tail to make sure we don't miss anything and we'll start with the wheels and tires. Now with this 401 platform you've actually got two choices of bike. This the Svartpilen is a little bit more off-road inspired whereas the Vitpilen is like a road by spec with cast wheels and you know proper road tires on it. So look it does have a little bit of that robust and rugged vibe with the spoke wheels and these Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires, but I will say it is on 17 inch wheels front and rear so it's not like a scrambler like the Triumph 400X where it gets a big 19 incher at the front and I think you have to manage your expectations of what this bike's about. It's not really a proper off-roader, more sort of almost flat track inspired. It's a kind of go anywhere road bike. Generally I've found these tires to be pretty good though on the road considering how they look, although one downside of this setup is that they still take an inner tube. These aren't tubeless spoke rims and so if you're looking to do a puncture repair at the roadside then a plug's not going to do the trick. Braking comes from Vibrae which is a budget sub-brand of Brembo and you've got a four-piston radially mounted caliper up front on a 320mm disc and then a two-pot caliper at the rear on a 240mm disc and look this isn't a particularly huge bike in terms of weight, we'll get onto that in a moment but I'd expect the single disc up front to be up to the job and also Vibrae brakes are becoming more and more common on all sorts of bikes now and my experience of them so far has really been quite good so I'm expecting it to be decent. One thing I do like as well is the fact that the brake and clutch levers have those little adjusters on them it can really make quite a big difference to the ergonomics getting those dialed in and so again there are lots of little really good features on this bike considering the price point. As for the suspension well it's good quality stuff I guess that's the advantage of having your own suspension company in-house as KTM and Husqvarna do with WP and so this is a WP Apex 43mm upside down fork rebound and compression adjustable and I really do like those little twiddlers there on the top of the fork legs that allow you to make changes without using tools and then also we've got a WP Apex shock at the rear mounted off to one side and this one is pre-load and rebound adjustable so definitely a lot more ability to dial in the ride than some of the other competition at this sort of price point. Now I don't think I'd be alone in saying that I think it's a really great looking bike as with most Husqvarnas to be honest and one of the most prominent features has to be the lighting with that typical round headlight that takes a little bit of inspiration probably from retro and classic bikes but then you've got the modernness of the LED internals that keeps it looking really clean and I also think they've done a great job on the taillight so it looks brilliant from both ends and you've got LED indicators all around just to complete that modern look but I think the standout feature for me on this bike has to be the new 5-inch color TFT display and also this backlit switch gear which is a real bonus if you do ride quite a lot at night. Now I think this is kind of inherited or at least designed alongside the new KTM 390 Duke. Of course KTM and Husqvarna are sort of sister companies and so there's a lot of shared componentry but what you get on this bike is Husqvarna's typical design style with the software and the layout of it and I really like it. Super clean, it's fun to use and I also really like how intuitive it is with the little diagrams of the bike that shows you what all the rider aids and settings do. Now you've got a couple of riding modes so you've got street and rain and that's going to mix up the throttle response and also how the traction control intervenes and they do say as well that the traction control is lean sensitive with a 3D sensor so probably not the full-on six-axis inertial measurement unit that you get on some more premium bikes but still it should intervene more appropriately depending on whether the bike is banked over or not. Now you've also got their Supermoto ABS mode which allows you to switch off the ABS just on the rear wheel so you can slide the bike around a bit. There's a quick shifter which you can switch on and off again that standard fit which is just crazy on a bike like this. There's a few different layouts for the dash as well so you can have quite a busy one with lots of information or you can make it look a lot cleaner and then also as standard you've got a speed limiter built in. Now not quite as good as having proper cruise control because you've got to hold the throttle open all the time so it doesn't reduce any of that sort of wrist fatigue but still you know it's probably a feature that most people would rather have than not. Now I haven't hooked it up quite yet because I've only just got the bike but you can also pair it with your phone and headset and that gives you navigation prompts on the screen as well as the ability to manage your calls and music and that sort of thing. And again this is the sort of thing you'd normally pay extra for but here fitted as standard. Still in the meantime I've put the quad lock mount on so I can have my phone on the bars and they're obviously expecting you to do that because you get a standard USB-C charging point on the side of the dash there so it's really easy to run a discrete cable under the top yoke and then up to the bars here and it all looks very neat. In fact I've been able to use the handlebar mount pro around the bar in the middle there just to get the phone right in the middle where you want to see it and I've paired it with the vibration dampener to keep your phone safe from harmful vibes from the engine and on top of that we've got the wireless charging head which keeps your phone juiced up for longer rides without having to plug it in. To me it looks absolutely perfect it really suits the bike and also having your phone in a landscape orientation just below the dash there sort of looks like a continuation of it and it really looks in keeping with the rest of the bike. So massive thanks to Quad Lock who I think make the best phone mounts in the business for supporting the channel and sponsoring this video and if you want to get a similar setup check out the link down in the description below and you'll also find down there a 10% discount code for anything on their site. I think this bike is only about 100 quid more than the previous iteration and I know that some people from the comments of previous videos I've made about this update prefer the looks of the previous gen but it has to be said there are absolutely loads of little enhancements that undoubtedly make this the better bike in terms of riding and practicality and features. I mean the tank is a big one the previous gen had a 9.5 litre tank this is 4 litres bigger at 13 and a half and given that this engine is pretty efficient it's 3.6 litres I think per 100 kilometres travelled that gets you well over 200 miles or you know getting on for like nearly 400 kilometres of theoretical range providing you can ride sensibly. So yeah very good stuff I also like the details like the Husky logo in the filler cap here the slightly different finish on the filler cap Husky logo at the front of the seat there and then you've got this little tank rack now I thought this was going to come with some sort of tank bag accessory but looking at the configurator there isn't really anything that fits it and so maybe it's coming later or maybe it just doesn't exist and this is just a bit of a visual tank spoiler but look I'll check in with the Husky guys and find out because this bike's got to go in for its first service in a couple of weeks. Personally I actually think I prefer the looks of this new bike and I like the way that they've elongated it and so while it does still have some of the typical signature Husky Vipilon and Svartopilon features like these big shoulders to the tank you know it just looks a lot more substantial through the subframe and out to the back and I think looks like a you know proper big bike as opposed to the previous gen looking a little bit you know slightly toy-like. Now the steel trellis frame they say is new for this year and again I think it's in common with the 390 Duke they're saying it's stronger and lighter and that's one of the factors that contributes to this bike being 159 kilograms I think they say without fuel. So with 13.5 litres on board a full tank I guess that would make it in the low 170s and if you look at the competition like the Scrambler 400X I've already mentioned I think that bike's 179 kilograms fully fuelled up and so this looks pretty good although you could say it's not quite as big of a bike because it doesn't sit quite so tall. Now a quick look at the engine it's not massively different you've still got a single cylinder 398 cc now peak power is healthy at 45 horsepower which is about as good as it gets in this category and peak torque is also punchy enough with 39 newton meters at 7000 rpm and look that is quite high in the rev range I would say and I think just from taking this bike for a little bit of a spin you know it does thrive in that upper part of the rev range maybe with it being a single I was expecting it to be more chuggy and torquey but actually it feels quite lively and like it likes to be revved and so I'm certainly looking forward to doing a bit more riding and getting to know the engine more. Now you've got a slip assist clutch it's nice and light I've also talked about the quick shifter you know KTM has found to make these really light quick shifters that feel very slick and so yeah very pleasant all around I will say the sound is a little bit on the quieter side but there is well there are two accessories actually the Akropovic and the Remus I think we're getting the Remus accessory pipe fitted when it goes for that first service so I'll probably give you a sound check when it's got the proper can on it. One of the other significant changes as well for this year is the fact that the seat height is now at 820 mils so for someone of my height around 175 centimeters or 5 foot 9 it really is very easy to flat foot so that's 15 millimeters down from the 835 of the previous generation and I do think that's really going to help broaden its appeal and while you know I think probably more experienced riders will still enjoy this bike ultimately an A2 compliant bike is always going to be partly targeted at newer riders and 820 mils just going to be a bit more reassuring for them as for the rest of the ergonomics well it's not quite as big and wide I'd say as the Triumph we'll get onto a full comparison video I think at some point of those two bikes this is more just like a regular naked bike but really really comfortable and just completely natural you know the pegs and the grips you know they just fall exactly where you want to put your feet and hands I've got to say as well that slightly longer tail section I think is going to be brilliant for a passenger there's so much space here for such a you know relatively small bike and also this spoiler type thing is going to serve as a really good solid grab rail to give your passenger plenty of security as well as being a bit of a styling point it has to be said now under the seat not a great deal of space this is really common for modern bikes to be fairly compact under there but you do get a little tool pouch I'll have a look what's in there another time in terms of installing accessories and things like that trackers there's not going to be loads and loads of room but I don't think it'll be too tricky and then right at the back here I just wanted to show you the sort of rear shock like I say rebound adjustable and preload adjustable up here marked off to one side which I think looks really nice and then also through to this lattice swing arm which is a bit of a signature KTM feature and it's stuff like the swing arm that can really make a bike look cheap if it's got something that looks a bit budget but this all looks great to me and beyond the styling stuff the hardware's got to look good too and the whole package for me is spot on so look hopefully you can see like I say there's a lot of bike for the money here and I'd love to know what you think of it down in the comments below and also any questions or ideas that you want to see over the next couple of months while we've got this bike the main drawback for me is probably the inner tubes on the tires which you know for a bike that's predominantly going to be ridden on the road is largely going to be less convenient but elsewhere it's hard to see anywhere that it's not really well specced so yeah let me know what you think of it down in the comments below also we're going to be getting the 801 version once we're done with this which for me looks absolutely fantastic based upon the 790 Duke which is a hoot to ride but just with a styling package that I think is more suited to my tastes and so if you want to see all of the specs and details from that bike being announced in advance of us getting one for review I'll put it on the screen now so you can give it a click and give it a watch if you missed it first time round also hit subscribe if you want to see all the follow-up videos with this bike and the 801 if you've not already many thanks for watching today and we'll see you in the next video