Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition
While the adventure bike world has gone bonkers in creating ever-larger, ever-heavier and ever-more-powerful bikes that are spec’d and promoted as being bikes capable of going offroad, we all know that the bigger, heavier and more powerful they are, the more of a handful they become, and the greater the chance of you getting into trouble and properly hurting yourself becomes. So there’s perhaps little surprise in that various manufacturers are making adventure bikes that aren’t quite as colossal as the biggest behemoths being made; that don’t make more power than a sports bike of two decades ago; and that don’t cost the same as a terraced house in Bolton.
The Norden 901 is a relative newcomer to the market, and it is one of the few that fills the gap of ‘big adventure bike that isn’t actually too big’. Although we do have to point out – in case you hadn’t already noticed – that in this line-up it is considerably bigger than the others. The Expedition is the latest upgrade, essentially running the same spec as the KTM 890 Adventure R, with the addition of a GPS mount, heated grips and seat, taller screen and soft panniers (while these are all available as aftermarket parts for the Norden, it would cost you more to add these to the base model, costing £12,699, than it would to buy the Expedition), plus upgraded suspension.
The panniers are 18 litres in capacity each, so not massive, but large enough for a couple of days’ worth of kit, and also large enough to cause some issues when out on the Manx trails, getting caught on gorse bushes and heather, and making heavy work of some very narrow, and very rutted, tracks on to the uplands. It was on these tracks that the massive sump guard – that is probably heavier than the GasGas’s entire frame – made its presence known, although in an aural capacity, rather than causing an issue with ground clearance. Being followed by the Norden was like being chased by a Caribbean steel drum band…
Appropriately, given the upgraded Expedition status, it also has heated grips and seat, and quickshifter (which Husky refer to as ‘Easy Shift’). And, as a modern adventure bike, there’s also full connectivity to deliver navigation, phone call and music selection, etc. Using the app, the TFT screen displays the turn-by-turn navigation, allowing up to 128 waypoints via the app, or more if using a GPX file import. And if you don’t know what that means, don’t fret, neither do I…
There are three rider modes (which, in my mind, are about the most that could ever be needed) of Street, Rain and Offroad, although this model does have the additional Explorer mode which allows you to tweak all of the functions independently (i.e. power, anti-wheelie, ABS, traction control…). In Offroad, the ABS no longer operates on the rear wheel, and its activation on the front wheel is reduced.
Those rider modes will bring a level of comfort, given that the powerplant is KTM’s feisty big parallel twin, the LC8c, with 889cc of potent power, delivering more than half as much again as the two other bikes combined. I know that you’ll be pointing out that this is still much less than various other big adventure bikes, but the power and weight of the
Norden are made all too clear when ridden alongside the KTM and GasGas. This is of virtually no consequence when ridden on the road, with the Husky being an accomplished milemuncher, thanks to both the roomy cockpit and the punchy powerplant, with 200 miles covered in one hit with ease thanks to the big tank, and while it can’t be thrown around in the twisties with the same kind of enthusiasm as the other two petroleum-powered machines, it is surprisingly nimble for something of its height and width.
Mention was made in the intro about how trail riding can have its consequences, and a big, powerful motorcycle is all too likely going to increase the issues when something goes a little pear-shaped. A fact that I became very, very aware of when riding the boardwalk on the trail heading up to the East Mountain Box on the Mountain – if I’d have slipped off the wooden boards and into the underlying quagmire, both myself and the Norden would have been lost forever. Shortly after, it was the Husky that bit me – albeit more of a playful little love bite rather than any kind of tiger shark style limb removal… A kickback from the rear wheel over a larger rock, allied to the fact that I was sat rather than stood on the pegs thanks to the mass of the big Norden already niggling a longstanding lower back issue, and that was me out, incapable of any further off-road riding and sidelined to a slow and dreary walk back to Tarmac.