W
HUSQVARNA NORDEN 901
hile there is no doubt that KTM’s 790
Adventure R is the current King of the
mid-sized adventure crop, stablemate
Husqvarna clearly has ambitions to challenge
KTM for the throne.
Making its debut at EICMA at the Husqvarna
stand was the Swedish brand’s first serious
attempt at the Adventure class, the Norden 901
Concept.
While we’ve long assumed that Husqvarna
would offer its own adventure machine based on
the 790 Adventure, nobody would have assumed
Husqvarna would outgun the tangerine machine
with its eventual contender.
While much of the bike is still in concept form,
and thus could change before a production
version is announced, the Norden 901 is not
only well specced but addresses one of the main
complaints riders have of the 790 Adventures
from KTM – doesn’t the Husky look good?
Based around the updated 889cc LC8c parallel
twin which debuted in the new KTM 890 Duke R,
the Norden packs plenty of adventure specs to,
as the tagline goes, “Broaden your horizon”.
While detailed specs are yet to be made public,
we can see the Norden isn’t a light off-roader,
94 KIWI RIDER
with Husqvarna including a 21-inch and 18-inch
set of wheels wrapped in adventure rubber.
The low-mounted armoured fuel tanks of the
790 Adventure appear to have been retained,
although with a slight redesign to allow for the
Husqvarna’s Scandanavian looks.
Up front is a large circular LED headlight
encased in a combination of large fairing and
decent sized windscreen. Behind the screen
things get interesting, with a stacked TFT dash
with two screens with USB socket set below for
plugging your gear in.
One aspect of the design we’re not too sure
about is the tank rack, which looks like it could
whip your old fellow off in the event of an over-
the-bars excursion.
While Husqvarna has made it clear that the
Norden 901 is just a concept at this stage, the
bike looks remarkably ready for production.
With the larger displacement engine and
Scandanavian design setting the Norden well
apart from the KTM 790 duo, the boffins at
Mattighofen would be mad not to set the Norden
loose on the middleweight adventure segment.
The sooner the better we say!