Husqvarna To Retail Bikes In India By 2020

The brand will be a more premium alternative to KTM and will have the Vitpilen 701 and 401, and Svartpilen 401 on offer

[Update: Husqvarna Vitpilen 250, Svartpilen 250 Launched In India]

After Bajaj announced its plans to manufacture Husqvarna motorcycles along with KTM bikes in the country earlier this year, some more good news has come our way. KTM, the Austrian bike maker, has officially announced that it plans to retail Husqvarna bikes in India by 2020. Husqvarna bikes are built around the same framework as KTM motorcycles and will be manufactured at Bajaj’s Chakan plant.

At EICMA 2017, Stefan Pierer, KTM CEO, said, "It has been agreed upon and they (Husqvarna bikes) should be launched in India by 2020. That means by the end of 2019 the manufacturing should begin at Chakan."

The Austrian company acquired the license to manufacture Husqvarna motorcycles from BMW in 2013. Ever since, the company has been on its path to resurgence and recently showcased the Vitpilen 701 and 401, Svartpilen 401 and the Svartpilen 701 concept. While the Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 share the same framework as the KTM 390 Duke, the bigger Vitpilen 701 and Svartpilen 701 get the KTM-sourced 693cc single-cylinder engine. Bajaj will expand the capacity by another 1 lakh units to accommodate Husqvarna bikes.

As far as mechanicals are concerned, the Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401 are absolutely identical. Both bikes are powered by the KTM-sourced 375cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that produces 44PS of power and 37Nm of torque lower down in the rev range, housed inside a trellis frame. The engines on both the bikes are mated to 6-speed gearboxes. Both the bikes also get ride-by-wire for a more refined power delivery.

43mm WP-sourced USD forks handle suspension up front and a progressive damping monoshock does the same at the rear. While the USD forks have a travel of 142mm, the monoshocks have a travel of 150mm. Both the bikes get Bybre four-piston radially-mounted caliper on a 320mm disc up front and a 240mm disc with a single-pot at the rear. The seat height for both the bikes is 835mm. They also share the same two-channel Bosch ABS setup and get 9.5-litre fuel tanks.

The bigger Vitpilen 701, on the other hand, houses a 693cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that produces 75PS of power and 72Nm of torque at 6750rpm, mated to a 6-speed transmission, inside a trellis frame. The bike also gets ride-by-wire tech for refined power delivery and a hydraulically-actuated slipper clutch for easy gearshifts. Suspension duties are handled by WP-sourced 43mm USD forks up front and a monoshock at the rear with a travel of 135mm each. Braking is done by a four-piston radially-mounted Brembo caliper on a 320mm disc up front and a single-pot 240mm disc at the rear. The bike has 830mm high seat and gets a two-channel ABS along with a 12-litre fuel tank.

While the three bikes mentioned above are production-ready models, the Svartpilen 701 was displayed as a concept at the 2017 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy. By 2020, with motorcycles like the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701, Vitpilen 401 and Svartpilen 401, Indian buyers will have a more premium alternative to their respective KTM siblings.