Bought one a month ago. Its my 11th bike and by far with the smallest capacity and lowest power figures. Still don't find the performance lacking in any way. Really good fun. After years on a Beemer boxer this engine feels smooth as silk 😁

As a Svartpilen owner, those updated turning LEDs look so much better than the previous generations... I always thought they kind of stood out from the futuristic aesthetic, cool to see they updated it.

First time I'be watched one of your videos, and thank you! Very well done, I like how you emphasize that riding is much much more than spec sheets. You were clearly having fun, and I can feel that it would be a fun bike to ride.

I have a 2020 and have put 10k on it so far, and I LOOOVE MY BIKE!!! I think you pretty much nailed it Dan. Its simply a FUN bike to ride. It's like the Miata of motorcycles. Husqvarna's campaign was "feels like flying" and I agree. The wide bars, agile handling, and good pop from the engine, make it a point and shoot machine. Just did a 700 km (round trip) last week, with tank and tail bag, and here's the thing... you are going to stop for gas every 90 mins or so, so you will never be sitting on it for longer than that at a time. A 10 minute break does wonders. There is very little that this bike is not good at doing, and with some customizing, even more so. Windshield, more off road/more race tires, etc.. you can put your bum back on the seat and ride it like a sport bike, or sit up and its a super moto or dual sport. Ive seen people put bags all over it with a giant windshield, and are giddy happy, and I don't have the heart to say how dumb I think it looks lol, but hey, to each their own! I've also kept up with litre bikes on twisties and actually slowed down while they lug their machines from left to right. For the money, this bike is very much- party up front - party out back lol EDIT: Forgot to mention the quick shifter- it's quirky but can be mastered at any rev count, and cant say enough about the suspension 43mm fully adjustable front and mono back. Very solid planted feel all around. It's fun to switch it up every couple weeks softer/firmer, makes it feel new all over again. Again, for the money you will not find ANY bike equipped with all those features and I researched for 2 years before I got mine. Sheesh. Oh adjustable brake and clutch levers too lol so if you're in the market, it's hard to beat. Also hard to get a hold of some places too. I searched for a month when I was ready to buy... Okay, just got home from a business trip and I haven't ridden in 4 days....Time to RIDE>>>>

I bought one just before Christmas, it is hilarious for a bit of back road blasting! Best looking small capacity bike by a country mile! Great review, keep up the good work!

Loverly review. I'm still loving my duke 390 from 2014, and on the back lanes and twisties are where these bikes come alive, they are so engaging to ride, banging up and down the box. I would love to have a go on the later models or even this model to see how far they have progressed over the years.

Thanks for the review and info. I didn't know the company had been around for so long. Impressed with the bike. Looks good too!

Stunning styling. I have a 390 Duke, so I know how this will perform. Small fuel tank on the 401. Too small. Clunky gearbox: I am surprised as my KTM's is slick, the best gearbox that I have experienced in 250,000 plus miles - equal with a Suzuki DR250SH and a KTM 950 Adventure. I'd rather like a Svartpilen 701. Excellent review.

Fun watching your video, your laughter says it all. 😀 I had a 390 KTM Duke and I think I’ll go for this cool looking futuristic beauty.

Nice review!

Great review. Bought one yesterday.

Yankee owner , my wish would be for a larger capacity tank. Led turn signals might be in the works, along with a tail tidy. First ride in forty plus years. Loving it, hopefully not to death .

Hey thanks for the video :)

I own the 701 svartpilen and get compliments e rywhere I go on it everybody asks what kind of bike it is and always suprised its from Husky. The 701 is a rocket imo very quick bike even with only 70-75ish horsepower. But smooth and fantastic sounding single. Got going on 5k miles on my 701 and been great fun reliable bike after replacing the stock slave clutch cylinder. If they had a better dash as well as cruise ontrol this would be a complete winner though I'm still happy with it.

Bought mine a year ago ,was a little disappointed with power but my last 400 was a zxr so that's a while back that been said it's a very decent bike.

The chances of this are slim, I've just ordered an ex demonstration 401 with this exact registration plate. Can't wait to get it delivered moving from the 125 which has been great fun

Bought one barely used used a few days ago and I can’t stay off it. Bikes are funny as I can’t always articulate why I love certain ones, but I LOVE this one. I also have a MV and MT07, but this one is my baby.

This is my 4th motorcycle and I love it. Especially after exhaust reroute, new muffler, mirrors, luggage rack, this is a different motorcycle. Really it's so much fun to ride, so nimble, light and powerful enough to cut through heavy traffic or riding Los Angeles 80mph left lane. I even ride backpacking (camping) with 60 liter bag on the rack and gas canister on the side. It's a steal for the price. Max speed is +- 105mph with no chip.

I was curious about the 2022 Euro 5 version. Great review. I really like the Svartpilen 401 overall.

Here in NZ they aren't selling so are now £4000 new, so unbelievably cheap. I've ridden around the world from the UK and I've just bought one of these, small fun bikes for the win

I didn’t like the look at first, but tbh I think it’s awesome now, only thing I’d change are the mirrors

I had a 2018 that I bought in 2019 and sold in 2020. Learned to wheelie it... since then WR250X, FZ07, FJ09, Triumph Scrambler 900 and then I traded the Scrambler for another Svart (2023) last week. The 2018 didn't come with quick shifter or adjustable suspension. Gonna be fun riding this beast again.

Very nice review, well done.

Great review of a fab looking bike. 👌

nice video, at 13:56 the body part you're trying to describe is : a rear tyre hugger combined with a license plate holder, which is actually well-designed by Husqi and worth mentioning as we don't find it in any other category.

such a sleek bike, was thinking to change mine soon :)

13:57 I love these mud guards / number plate holders as opposed to the tail-hanging holders which most of the times serve as a disservice to the overall design

Nice review as always. Cheers Dan!

Dan, thanks for the review. I've noted that on many (most) of your first ride videos you give the seat height and make a point of showing whether you are flat footed or on your toes, but not your inseam measurement. This would be super helpful! I come in at a whopping 5'6" of thundering manliness and it's helpful to see a visual reference.

I have 2022 model and it is absolute blast of the bike. All points mentioned are spot-on, and despite "agricultural" QS, tall seat, plenty of wires all over the place and cheap looking and not most sophisticated dash, the bike shines in on and off-road rides. With 335 lbs wet it is so quick to move around, and accelerates swiftly. Range must be observed as the low fuel warning shows rather quick, I'd say as early ass 100km and that is about half the tank.9.5L is not much, and the 2024 models got upgraded to, I think, 13.5L. Husqvarna does not have many mods for this bike, but I found a bunch on Amazon that can improve it. Bar riser, engine guard, radiator grill, and tail tidy is what I got on mine. Lastly, gearing is bit tricky till one gets used to it. 6th gear is for cruising strictly and lacks pull, so most riding is up to 5th. Wind protection is minimal and anything over 120kmh is not great fun, and I hear it will go as fast as 160kmh. The known issues are sudden engine shutting off, and it has been assigned to a too rich fueling. Some people have used the add-on module (not sure what it is called) and reported more power and disappearance of the issue. Manufacturer is either not aware of it or hasn't gotten enough complains to do anything about it. Still, it is manageable. Great bike by all means, and a keeper. There is a 5L gas can and mount that can be attached to it to give it longer range - thinking on doing this. This would extend it to around 300km, which for a small bike and scrambler would be sufficient - hence the improvement for the 2nd gen. There is a great video by @stavros who showed what this bike is capable off-road even with 14cm suspension travel and clearance. I was grabbed by the look of it and all the high end specs and the price. WP adjustable suspension, QS, 44hp, 335lbs, spoke rims, Supermoto mode, KTM390 Duke engine and all for about CAD7K- that is great deal IMO. If you want it, get it, you won't be disappointed.

Good test. Now, I'm interested in that bike.

I love the design as well.

it looks beautiful

Great vid as always Dan. I had a 2019 cb500x chalk and cheese or comparable? Appreciate your feedback

A biker from New Zealand commenting. A great review and watch. I’ve owned a navy 2020 Vitpilen 701 for over a year and love that bike. Added a 2021 Svartpilen 401 last recently to my fleet and can’t rate these bikes more highly for their fun, looks and ease of use. Out of the box I think these are an awesome package but mods I’ve done to mine include a Leo Vince slip on, bar end mirrors, tail tidy, rear rack and headlamp cage. Makes this cool bike even cooler. The “easy” shifter works well and a big feature over the Duke 390 which I’ve owned previously (great bike too). Some prefer more cylinders or a bigger displacement but for me these Husky’s give me huge enjoyment and pride of ownership. Ride what you want and enjoy - and ride safe all!

I find it hilarious how Brits and Canadians both use a mix of metric and imperial measurements, but we do so in completely different ways. For instance, if this review were done in Canada, the speedo, odo and fuel mileage would all be in metric, while the dry-weight and seat height would be in pounds and inches.

This is the bike I definitely want to own

I totally agree , it s an awesome bike ! Own myself a 2021 svart , loving it everyday a little more ! But quick question tho , which GPS app are you using ? Still trying to find something better than google map and your look pretty neat. Thanks !

Got a Leo Vince exhaust on mine, sounds great

Copped an SSR150 besides looking cool and sound awesome it’s so bad I’m already look for another bike and this one springs to mind. Time to save some dough

Really thinking about this bike. I'm pretty sure it can be made fast if need be. We just need time and some test dummies. Lol. But this bike looks awesome. I'm a cafe/scrambler fan so it fits

Looks fast enough with that said think I found my first motorcycle.

FYI to new owners in America. My 2021 401 Svart's shifting was super clunky when I got it. Turns out the quickshifter isn't even activated til your first service(around 620 miles). The dealer contacted Husky to confirm this. After the first service and new levers it's a night and day difference.

The Husqvarna badge is actually a barrel of a gun (as if your looking down it) with the iron sights above. I believe they started making motorcycles in 1903.

I like the style, unique.

Nice review as always Dan. I do like the bike. Good styling. It would be a toss up between that and the Duke 390 for me. I reckon the Duke just stands out more for me but it is a different style of bike. Hope you are keeping well sir. Catch you on the next one 👍🏻

Great review Dan , I noticed there was a chop in the footage when you mentioned you were finding neutral, in a few different reviews I noticed this was an issue I was wondering if you had the same issue ?

Wow, that makes as much hp as my 650 KLR with only 375 cc. Looks like a great ranch bike to chase cows with.

Seems like a fun all-rounder. Interested to see if Honda comes through with a 500 Scrambler as rumoured.

Hi Dan, you can get chain saws and strikers made by husqarna . Great vid and it looks a bit straing with its looks

An American here and some of those road widths simply blow my effing mind.

Hey biker Dan, love you video's. Any plans to ride triumph 900 tiger rally plus?. I have one and I think it's brilliant. It would be interesting to get your opinion on the bike 🏍. Keep the video's coming. Tim 👍

Cool, fun little machine.

What gear do you use for your audio setup? It sounds great in all your videos.

Great review and cool jacket! What is it?

looks so nice...

This bike and i don’t know nothing about bikes, Absolutely elegant

I had a 2019 Euro 4 model. As an A2 license holder I can´t compare it to something more powerful obviously but I NEVER felt like I needed more. You will eat 95% of cars for breakfast if you wanted to, there is absolutely enough power for overtaking and highway riding. I am 6´1" and it was literally perfect for my size, really comfortable apart from the wooden seat😅 It is probably the best looking bike in this category by a long shot. The Euro 4 version has a very good sound even with the stock exhaust. On top of that it`s extremely frugal, it never needed more than 3.6 litres, no matter how hard you were pushing it. Another thing that is often overlooked are the lights. Most bikes simply have horrible lights even if they are LED. Not the case here, the low beams are simply amazing. I found that they are even a bit brighter than modern LED car headlights and they shine incredibly far down the road if you adjust them correctly. The KTM guys simply know how to do good lighting, it truly is a treat! Unfortunately I sold mine a few months ago and I already regret it. As soon as I have enough money, I will get my buddy back 😍

I'm looking for a small displacement 2nd bike to putter around on for city and backcountry roads. Curious what you would pick, this or one of the Royal Enfield 350s?

Imaging calling that bike Swedish while running a bike channel. Fascinating

I love your jacket

Handsome bike.

Husqvarna is most familiar with most produced chainsaws and lawnmowers - also robotic. They produce also MX bikes, and compete in MXGP. It is KTM+ of Sweden.

The bike has a really nice style and look which I really love! A medium build/height friend of mine ordered a 2023 model which will probably suit him really well but not to sure how bigger, heavier guys like myself would feel on this bike? From what I have seen, even the 700cc Japanese naked bikes like MT-07 have very short wheelbase where I felt like I was over the handlebars. Though the MT-07 had plenty of torquey power to move my fatass which would be another concern with this bike.

Did you do any stop start riding around town? I had a 390 Duke and the fueling for this and slow riding was terrible. Also had a tendency to conk out when decelerating to slow speeds. I was told this was due to lean fueling and could be sorted by a booster plug or power commander but rather than mucking about I sold it. Having said that, it was great fun on back roads.

The 401 looks so much better than the 250. Unfortunately they only sell the 250s in my country despite apparently making them here.

Well made review...but, weight is 150 kg wet! I agree, I think it looks so good! So thank you for this.

Love my Svart (2018). The Euro 4 model is great to mod to free up the engine sound and smooth the lower end fuelling for even more fun and character. Bought mine for £3k with hardly any miles - can still hardly believe it when I look at 125 prices 😁

So far I’ve only heard good stuff about the 401 and I’m definitely interested in getting it, however the few things I’ve heard are that bad is minimal oil leaks and the bolts need to be replaced pretty soon. Has anyone experienced this?

I was a fan of the 401s the moment they came out in 2018 but bought a Honda CB300R instead due to their price at the time and uncertainty about their quality. Now it's 2022, I sold the Honda and got a brand new Vitpilen. It's the apple of my eye and rides as good as it looks.

I'm getting ready to sit my test in the next month or so, I have been riding a Honda Grom for the past 3 years on CBT and enjoyed it for the most part. I ride all year around no matter the weather within reason. Once I pass my test, I would like to move to a bigger bike and narrowed my choice to the following in no particular order: Honda CB300R, Honda CB650R & Husqvarna Svartpilen 401. Having watched your reviews on these bikes, I still can't decide which would be best. The bike will mainly be used for commuting with a mix of city, B roads & A roads, just over 12 miles each way. The CB300R seems a good choice but I'm just worried I'll regret it and wish I went for the CB650R. The 401 seems to be the middle ground, I'm just not keen on the spoke wheels, I can see them being hard to keep clean. Whats your thoughts @EnglishBikerDan?

Good to see a review on this, it’s a pretty rare bike on KZfaq it seems. Sat on one at the Bikeshow back in December and it felt like a good riding position. I actually think I prefer the look of it to the KTM 390 Duke. Could this be a contender for your second bike?

Had my eye on these for years, but having only one dealer in Tasmania, they are rare so servicing and parts would be a major issue.

Not really on topic but which phone holder do you have installed there? Thanks for another great review!

I have the 2021 Duke 390 and although I like looking at other bikes all the time reality is unless you are going to spend a lot of time on the motorway commuting long distances this engine in this lightweight package is all anyone really needs. 68+ MPG doesn't hurt either with gas prices as ridiculous as they are right now. A bigger bike would never come close to that.

Personally, I think the design of the Husqvarna bike is very good.

Hello, me also finally bought a new Svartpilen 401. Overall, I am very excited about it, but I still have noticed one little problem: the “balance” of the motorcycle. - When I ride straight on the road and lift my hands from the handlebars, the motorcycle starts to pull slightly to the right ... Considering that the motorcycle is brand new, from the store, I find it a little unusual that the center of gravity is out of balance. Have any of you had a similar problem? Please for any advice or experience .. Thank you very much, Jure

Hopefully there's reviews of the new 2024 model very soon. New engine and gearbox. Reviews of the Duke 390 say that the quickshifter is improved... maybe the gearbox is less clunky too - not that that's an overwhelming problem

Dan I appreciate the fact that you give us a look at how you fit the bike. But I have questions. I know you mentioned that you are 5'7 but what is your inseam measurement. And do you measure pant length or to the ground. I've seen people do it both ways. Thanks

Interesting looking bike not quite as in your face as the 390. Shame about the tank size though and not much more money than the cb300 so good value.

Thanks for the review! I kind of like the looks of the bike but I wish they made a 890cc version. Also for me that dash just ruins it (seems so dated) Other than that I love the whole cyber punk aesthetics of it

Really awesome country roads. What part of the UK?

Idk about a2 but here in Australia we have Lam's and the bikes the one of the quickest 0-100kmph you can get. Easy sub 5s should be quick enough for most people in that market. Also normally the quick shifter isn't active during break in so that could be why you found it agricultural. Did you notice it blipping the throttle when clutch less down shifting at the appropriate rev range? (Another issue is not many people use the quick shifter in the applicable rev range)

This bike looks sexy and I want this spec in Thailand, But it's imposible, A price could jump up about 100% more.

really dumb question but I am doing my motorcycle license soon and I'm planning on buying this bike as my first bike. You say it has a quickshifter yet you still use the clutch when shifting. Am I missing something or do you still need to press the clutch when using a quickshifter? I thought that was the whole point of it? please help because I am thoroughly confused about what a quickshifter actually does... Thanks!

what's the verdict? Suzuki SV650 or this bike?

Does it look and feel like a full size bike?

You can also change the gearing (hi end/low end) by changing the sprocket set up. At my age I'm done with trying to break land speed records & acting foolish.

My work commute has about 25 minutes of mountain highway driving ( downhill one way - up hill, the other ). Can this bike maintain 70+ mph on a highway that climbs a bit?

Guess the tyres r just for the rugged scrambler looks to look nice in ones loft. Suspension travel and 17 inch front, short caster and wheelbase don't exactly scream dualsport for me. Nice bike indeed, 2 sad they don't sell the 701 anymore (over here)... well, biggest capacity for a onepot, any bigger would have to be called 🚜 😉

Think I'd get the Scram instead...but looks fine.

Could this potentially be a contender for the 2nd motorcycle you're looking for???

Hi, How tall are you? I'm asking because of the fairly tall seat height.

Don't think I'd like to get my wedding tackle anywhere near that tank rack.

I own a Kawasaki with this Motor/Engine platform , I enjoy the quick response and how smooth this single cylinder motor is. The engine is built in India. Hope that you enjoy the ride and keep verticals on two wheels.

I’m 194 cm tall any insight if the bike would fit me? I have my big boy GS but I want a little bike for city riding and this one caught my eye

Wish I could find one lol in the US it’s a unicorn

its pretty much a 390 Duke. It means "the black arrow" in Swedish!

For a beginner, would you recommend this over a Trident 660?🤔

What button are you pressing with your left thumb after you clutch usually? It looks like a little white button.