Husqvarna recently revealed the Svartpilen 250 and Vitpilen 250 at India Bike Week, and with it marked its entry into our market. There’s also rumours that the duo will be followed by a smaller-capacity Husqvarna 200 later next year. These bikes are all-new and when there was talk of Husqvarna entering India, it was expected to be with its 401 series that has been on sale internationally for a while now. We now have word that they will indeed be making their way to India, however, it will be a considerable wait before they do – the bikes are rumoured to launch here only in mid-2021.
While both the bikes are based on the KTM 390 Duke platform, they have been positioned differently. The Vitpilen 401 gets neo-retro café-racer styling, while the Svartpilen 401 is styled like a scrambler. Both bikes get an LED headlamp and DRLs, while the single-pod instrument console is an all-digital unit with Bluetooth connectivity.
Currently, the Husqvarna duo features the same engine as the KTM 390 Duke that produces 44hp and 37Nm of torque. However, considering that this until will undergo a revamp to comply with the BS6 (Euro5) norms, we will have to wait to see what the figures on the new bikes will be like.
The Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401 were recently updated for 2020, receiving minor updates in the form of new colour schemes and a 40mm longer subframe, and co-incidentally, a longer seat. The prototype sported grab rails as well, which have been mandatory for motorcycles sold in India. Internationally, both the bikes ride on 17-inch wire-spoke wheels, with the Vitpilen getting road-focused rubber, while the Svartpilen features off-road-oriented tyres. Whether this configuration will be the same in India is something we will know only as we near the launch date in 2021.
Azaman Chothia
