Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 motorcycles have begun to arrive at showrooms with a different set of tyres than was originally promised, but it appears that this is out of Bajaj’s hands.
When we first rode the bike in January, it was running Pirelli Scorpion Rally STRs which proved to be very impressive on the road, despite their blocky look. However, the bike is now being sold with locally manufactured Apollo Tramplr XR tyres.
As it turns out, the issue comes in the form of fresh government regulation which has banned the import of tyres in this particular size. We are given to understand that the reasoning for the ban is that there are locally made alternatives in the same size. Imports are still possible for individuals who wish to purchase these tyres in the aftermarket, but the ban has been put into place for the use of imported tyres in this size on an OEM two wheeler.
With this logic, it remains to be seen what happens with other imported tyres sold on Indian bikes, like the Metzeler M5 Sportecs on the KTM 390s and the Michelin Road 5s on the TVS 310s. Nevertheless, as things stand, you can only get the Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 with Apollo tyres.
That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as our limited experience with these tyres has been quite positive. However, while the Apollos will probably have just as good highway performance in terms of stability, it remains to be seen if they will have the same superb edge grip which made the Pirelli’s so impressive on a winding road.
The only issue that will leave some buyers irked is that there is no reduction in the price of the bike despite the shift to locally manufactured tyres.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
