SO MUCH SPUNK FOR ONE CYLINDER
Husqvarna’s fiesty Vitpilen 701 offers surprising performance with its 693-cc single
BARCELONA, SPAIN Husqvarna’s new Vitpilen 701 requires a little adjustment, especially for we, ahem, older motorcyclists unaccustomed to radical change. For one thing, there’s the styling. In silhouette, it looks for all the world like a classic café racer; close and up front it looks for all the world like a Triumph Thruxton reimagined by Pablo Picasso. Disagree with that description all you want, but at the very least, the Vitpilen is unique, which is why all the kids have been flocking to it like bees to the proverbial honey.
Then there’s the performance. For the past, 50 years or so, we modern motorcyclists have been conditioned to think of singlecylinder bikes as passé. Certainly slow. Sportbikes always have more than one cylinder, preferably four. Three will do in a pinch, but only if you’re European and you have size advantage, as in the 675-cc triples allowed to compete against 600-cc fours.
Yet the Vitpilen 701 has but one. Oh, it’s a big ’un: 693 cc in fact. But, that’s never been a guarantee of anything remotely resembling high performance. Witness Suzuki’s DR Big, which boasted a hardly scintillating 52 horsepower from its 727 cc.
Not the 701. Its lone piston is good for 75 horses, all of them quite invigorating, especially since they only have to motivate 157 kilograms. No, the largest Vitpilen (there’s a 401 version coming as well) isn’t CBR600RR fast, but thanks to that fairly impressive power-to-weight ratio, acceleration is way beyond brisk.
Jump out of corners is impressive and in another surprise for those used to woefully inadequate singles of yore, it cruises effortlessly at speed as 140 km/h barely raises a sweat and even 150 or 160 km/h feels perfectly comfortable. Indeed, the most surprising part of the 701 is how speedy it is.
Even more crucial is its power delivery, which, if not quite as high strung as a Yamaha R6, is still quite entertaining. The big KTM single — for that is the source of the Husky’s engine — is actually happiest when it’s being thrashed. Below 3,000 rpm — closer to 4,000 in the higher gears — the big single judders noticeably if you give it too much throttle. Fire it up to 5,000 and it’s much happier. By the time the big 693-cc single hits 6,000, its two counterbalancers are in such sync that the single-lung Husky generates fewer handlebar tingles than the last fourcylinder Suzuki I rode.
So forget everything you think you know about low-revving, under-performing singles. The Vitpilen 701 likes to be abused, just like any good middleweight sportbike should.
Handling, as one might suspect from the 157-kg curb weight, is lively. Turn your head and the Vitpilen fairly anticipates your desire to clip an apex. When a motorcycle is this light, all manner of ills can be forgiven.
Indeed, what a delight it is in Spanish hairpin turns, tracking as if on rails and tilting to full lean in an eye blink. Along with its featherweight status, credit a short 1,435-mm wheelbase, a tight 25-degree rake and a shortish 109-mm trail for its lightningquick reflexes. As well, befitting a sportbike, the WP suspension is surprisingly firm, though unlike the lesser 401 version of the Vitpilen, the 701’s 43-mm upsidedown fork and mono-shocked rear are fully adjustable.
Braking is perhaps my only contention with the Vitpilen’s sporting bona fides, surprising me how much effort it took to get serious stopping power. With only 157 kilograms to stop — OK, add another 80-plus kg for my slightly corpulent self — and four Brembo pistons gripping a 320mm disc, there should have been enough whoa power for easy two-finger stops. Nonetheless, the brakes, despite the Vitpilen’s incredibly light weight, felt a little wooden. ABS is standard equipment, however.
As for styling, while its dimensions and attitude would seem classic café racer, it is anything but. I’m not sure if this is what they call post-modernism or if this is a two-wheeled resurrection of art deco, but it certainly is unique. As befits said style, the Vitpilen’s riding position is sportbike aggressive, the slip-on exhaust low and stubby and the rider’s foot pegs rear and high(ish). The seat, as flat as a plank, has about the same constitution. Its only salvation is that with so much weight on your wrists, there’s less on your posterior, so the seat is actually more comfortable riding than it is in the showroom. That said, this is no motorcycle for old men.
This is a motorcycle for a much younger generation, one that 30 years ago might have bought a Kawasaki GPZ600 or 10 years ago a Yamaha R6.
The Vitpilen 701 will cost $13,399 when it arrives in dealerships by mid-May. The 401 version with its 375-cc single and non-adjustable suspension will go for $6,999.
Driving.ca