The Husqvarna Svartpilen and Vitpilen were launched by the KTM-owned Swedish brand in 2016. While the Vitpilen had a more cafe racer style, the Svartpilen had a more upright, scrambler feel to it.

Both took the motorcycling world by storm for their ultra-modern styling which is certainly unlike anything else on the market. But, how much do you know about the Husqvarna Svartpilen? Here are ten must-know fast facts:

The original Husqvarna company made muskets (old-fashioned guns) in a new factory outside the village of Husqvarna in Sweden in 1689. By the late 1870s, Husqvarna turned to making shotguns and hunting rifles. They also started manufacturing stoves, sewing machines, and bicycles. The first Husqvarna motorcycle was built in 1903, making Husqvarna one of the oldest motorcycle companies in continuous production.

The Husqvarna brand was sold to Cagiva in 1987. Those engineers who didn’t want to move to Italy, to where production was moving, started the Husaberg brand. KTM bought Husaberg in 1995.

Meanwhile, BMW stepped in and bought Husqvarna from Cagiva in 2007. Then, in 2013, Pierer Industrie bought Husqvarna from BMW. At the time, Stefan Pierer was the CEO of Cross Industries, which was the major shareholder in KTM, as well as being the CEO of KTM. Pierer soon sold Husqvarna to the KTM Group. 


In partnership with Indian manufacturer, Bajaj, KTM started producing a motorcycle with a single cylinder engine of 373cc in 2013. The resulting ‘390’ was produced in naked ‘Duke’, faired ‘RC’, and Adventure styles.

The Svartpilen is a re-styled KTM 390 Duke and was launched in 2016 using the exact same engine and running gear but with a radical new gas tank and seat style.

Since the 1960s, Husqvarna concentrated solely on motocross and enduro motorcycles, at which they were exceptionally successful. The company won 14 motocross world championships in the 125cc, 250cc, and 500cc classes, as well as 24 enduro world championships and 11 Baja 1000 victories.

Actor and petrolhead Steve McQueen raced Triumph motorcycles until he watched Swedish racer Bengt Aberg win a race in Southern California with his Viking 360 model. McQueen bought the bike there and then off Aberg and, from that point on, raced Husqvarna motorcycles himself. One of his Husqvarna’s recently sold for over $200,000 at auction.

Out and out sportiness wasn’t the goal for KTM with the Husqvarna Svartpilen. Top-end power was reduced slightly and low- and mid-range torque increased to make it more suitable for urban riding, where KTM saw the Svartpilen being used most often. Still, 43 horsepower in a motorcycle weighing in at 347 pounds is enough to give it some decent performance.

Husqvarna is adamant that, despite the chunky Pirelli Scorpion tires, dirt-bike style crossbar handlebars, and narrow seat, the Svartpilen is most definitely not for off-road use. The scrambler style is just that: style!

Husqvarna aimed the Svartpilen squarely at enticing young riders to the brand: riders who would be riding on poorly-maintained city roads, with potholes, speed humps, bad patching repairs, and so on. To that end, the suspension was kept deliberately soft.

The brake calipers are ByBre, which is a low-cost subsidiary of Brembo, and were deliberately chosen for the Svartpilen as they are much softer in feel than full Brembo calipers and therefore suitable for riders not used to the power of disc brakes, such as the Indian and Asian markets. Bosch ABS is active on both front and rear wheels.

Both the Svartpilen (Swedish for ‘Black Arrow’) and Witpilen (‘White Arrow’) 401 models have larger-engined siblings, called Svartpilen 701 and Witpilen 701. These use the single-cylinder engine from the KTM 690.

Yes! It looks like nothing else on the road, has punchy performance and a great-handling chassis.

Husqvarna have configured the Svartpilen 401 to be the perfect beginner’s bike, with supple suspension and disc brakes that aren’t too sharp to catch out the novice rider.

Husqvarna is the manufacturer and the Svartpilen 401 is the model name. The Svartpilen is styled as a scrambler and the Vitpilen 401 is styled as a cafe racer.