After making its debut in India with the quarter-litre twins– Svartpilen and Vitpillen– in early 2020, Husqvarna is now stepping up its game and gearing up to venture into the 350-400cc segment of motorcycles. As reported previously, the Swedish brand is planning to launch the Svartpilen 401 in India.
The current Svartpilen 401, available on sale in several international markets for almost four years, never made it to India despite it being manufactured in India at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan-based facility in Maharashtra. For the uninitiated, Husqvarna is a sister brand of KTM, both owned by Pierer Mobility, and hence its India operations are handled by Bajaj.
Husqvarna is expected to launch the new Svartpilen 401 in between 21 and 23 January. The upcoming Svartpilen 401 is most likely to be the new generation model based on the new-gen KTM 390 Duke platform. Test mules of the motorcycle have reportedly been spied testing on multiple occasions over the past few months.
Husqvarna Svartpilen 401: Expected styling, specs, features
The spy shots have confirmed that the Svartpilen 401’s design remains almost identical to its 250cc sibling with a familiar neo-scrambler styling highlights. This means it will flaunt visual highlights such as a circular headamp, a single-piece saddle with a floating tail section, a single-piece grab rail, black alloy wheels, and a chiselled fuel tank.
In terms of features, it is expected to offer LED headlamps and taillamps, a digital instrument console with smartphone connectivity, traction control, and riding modes. A quickshifter could be offered as an optional add-on.
Since it is expected to be underpinned by the new-gen Duke 390 platform, it is most likely to source its power from a 399cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine which is paired with a six-speed gearbox. This motor dishes out 45 bhp and 39 Nm of peak torque. As for hardware, the upcoming Svartpilen 401 will be suspended on upside-down front forks and a gullwing swingarm with an offset monoshock at the rear. Braking duties will comprise disc brakes at both ends with dual-channel ABS as standard.
