Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 (2025) - Technical Review

Husqvarna’s Svartpilen and Vitpilen established a new language in retro-modern naked bike design when they first appeared as 399cc concept bikes back in 2014 – but a decade on how do you evolve that look to remain fresh without losing its appeal? The new Vitpilen 801 answers that question.

A decade ago, the Svartpilen and Vitpilen ideas were clearly distinguished. The Svartpilen was a street scrambler, all wide bars and knobbly tyres, while the Vitpilen was a café racer with low clip-ons and semi-slicks. Despite sharing the same chassis, engine and bodywork, there was a clear distinction between the two bikes. Today that demarcation is less clear. While the Svartpilen and Vitpilen ranges have expanded to include 125cc and 399cc singles as well as 799cc twins, they’ve also moved closer together in appearance and attitude. The original Vitpilen’s wrist-aching riding position has moved to a more upright stance, with taller and wider bars, and the Svartpilen has become more road-biased, narrowing the gap between the models.

With the introduction of the new Vitpilen 801, the sportiest model yet to wear the name, Husqvarna has addressed that convergence by introducing a sleeker new look with one of the most unusual headlights yet seen on a production bike.

Pros & Cons

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Price & PCP Deals

While Husqvarna has yet to confirm the Vitpilen 801’s final price for 2025, its close relationship to the existing Svartpilen 801 – the two models are largely identical under the skin – means it won’t stray too far from its sibling’s £10,499 tag. The smaller Svartpilen 125 and Vitpilen 125 carry identical prices, as do the mid-range Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401, so it’s not a huge leap of logic to suggest the Vitpilen 801 will have the same RRP as the Svartpilen 801.

It's a figure that puts it slap between KTM’s two parallel twin Duke models. The 790 Duke, now manufactured in China by KTM’s joint venture with CFMoto and featuring a 95hp version of the same 799cc LC8c parallel twin used in the Vitpilen 801, is a couple of grand cheaper at £7999, while the all-new 990 Duke, with a next-gen, 947cc LC8c and 120hp, is £12,999. Throwing a wildcard into the game is CFMoto itself with its 800NK Sport, based on the same 95hp LC8c as the 790 Duke but costing only £5999.

However, the Vitpilen will sell on its style as much as its technical merit and if you want to get your hands on one, they’re expected in dealers in early 2025.

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Engine & Performance

KTM’s LC8c (liquid-cooled, 8-valve, compact) parallel twin engine might have been launched only seven years ago with the original 790 Duke but it’s already appeared in a vast array of different machines spanning a variety of price-points, power levels, capacities and costs. The word ‘versatile’ springs to mind and if anything it’s a surprise that it’s taken until 2025 for the motor to find it’s way into a variant of Husqvarna’s Vitpilen.

That might well be down to preventing inter-brand rivalry: when the 790 Duke and later 890 Duke were KTM’s main players in that part of the market, a Husky-branded machine using the same motor and in the same street-sports segment might have muddied the waters. With the 990 Duke and its second-generation, 947cc LC8 now showing the way for KTM, there’s no reason not to let Husqvarna adopt its hand-me-downs.

The version adopted by the Vitpilen is the same 799cc derivative used in the Svartpilen, with 105hp (actually 77kW, which is 105 metric horsepower or 103 slightly beefier imperial horses). The ‘compact’ design that earns the engine the final ‘c’ in its name means it’s particularly lightweight, only 52kg for the engine alone, and uses a semi-dry sump to help fit into a smaller space. The design is a slightly unusual one, with a 285-degree crankshaft rather than the more common 180-degree or 270-degree layout – KTM’s version gives the same firing interval that you’d get from a 75-degree V-twin like KTM’s own full-size LC8 units, while a 270-degree crank mimics a 90-degree V-twin.

The power peak arrives at 9250rpm, while max torque is 87Nm, or 64lbft, and arrives at 8000rpm. Power goes through an assist/slipper clutch to the six-speed gearbox and chain final drive with a 16:41 ratio, optionally operated via an ‘Easy Shift’ quickshifter.

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Handling & Suspension (inc. Weight)

Like the engine, the chrome-molybdenum frame will be familiar to anyone who’s seen KTM’s 790 Duke – it’s essentially the same design, with a similar externally-braced cast alloy swingarm at the back.

The suspension is, of course, from WP, which is also part of the Pierer Mobility Group that owns KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas and a big chunk of MV Agusta. The forks are WP APEX upside-downers, 43mm in diameter and adjustable for compression and rebound, with an adjuster on either fork top for ease of use. At the back, there’s an APEX monoshock, again adjustable but only for rebound damping and preload.

While the Svartpilen 801 is positioned as a scrambler-style machine and the Vitpilen 801 as a street bike, both models have identical suspension travel – 140mm at the front and 150mm rear – and nearly the same ground clearance, with 170mm for the Vitpilen and 174mm for the Svartpilen, which probably cones down to the more extensive bellypan that the Vitpilen uses rather than any difference in ride height.

The brakes are, once again, familiar. These are J. Juan four-pot calipers, albeit Husqvarna-branded, on 300mm discs at the front, with a single-pot gripping a 240mm disc at the back. As we’ve become accustomed to from KTM and its sister brands, there’s cornering ABS as standard with the option of a ‘supermoto mode’ that disengages the anti-lock on the rear when you absolutely need to be able to back the bike into a corner.

A major change from the Svartpilen 801 is the tyres, with the Vitpilen 801 adopting Michelin Road 6 instead of the Svartpilen’s Pirelli MT 60 RS rubber.

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Comfort & Economy

Husqvarna’s decision to move its Vitpilen models away from the original café racer stance to something more akin to a traditional roadster was driven by customer demands for a tad more comfort. Those low, clip-on bars of the original Vitpilen 401 concept a decade ago and the production model that followed might have looked good but owners’ forums are filled with tales of buyers who have since swapped them for the taller, wider bars of the Svartpilen after their backs and wrists cried enough.

There’s still a difference between the models, though. The Vitpilen’s bars might be much wider and taller than previous machines to wear the badge, but they’re still a bit lower and further forward than the Svartpilen’s. It’s with small differences like this that Husqvarna has previously managed to build a clear distinction between its machines and mechanically-similar KTM models, so the Vitpilen should still feel noticeably sportier than the Svartpilen, just without such sacrifices on the comfort front.

Economy-wise, Husqvarna claims exactly the same 68.8mpg from the Vitpilen as from the Svartpilen, and with the same fuel tank (13.7 litres) the range should also be unchanged at a theoretical 189 miles.

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Equipment

The electronics package of the Vitpilen 801 is as comprehensive as we’ve come to expect from Pierer Group machines, with cornering traction control and ABS as standard and a 5-inch TFT dash that incorporates smartphone-connected functions like turn-by-turn navigation, call control and music selection, although you need to have downloaded the Husqvarna app to get them to work.

There are also three riding modes as standard – Street, Sport and Rain – plus an optional ‘Dynamic’ mode that’s rider-customisable, letting you choose from 10 levels of rear wheel slip from the traction control. The same package also enables the ‘Supermoto’ setting for the ABS, disengaging the anti-lock from the rear brake. The Easy Shift quickshifter is also an option, as cosmetics like low-slung bar-end mirrors that help give a more aggressive, nose-down look to the front of the bike.

That distinctive headlight is a Bi-LED projector unit and sits within a halo of LED running lights to give a futuristic update to the oversized lamp unit seen on other Svartpilen and Vitpilen models. Expect to see it on more Husqvarna models in the future.

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Rivals

As we’ve mentioned, the closest rivals to the Vitpilen come from within its own wider Pierer Mobility Group family – KTM’s 790 or 990 Duke, CFMoto’s 800NK or even the Husqvarna Svartpilen 801 are likely to be the models you’ll be considering as alternatives. Look further afield, and machines like Honda’s bargain-priced CB750 Hornet or Suzuki’s GSX-8S might also be on the list, and how about BMW’s F900R, which matches the Vitpilen’s 105hp output?

KTM 790 Duke 2024 | Price: £7999

Read more

Power/Torque

95bhp / 64lb-ft

Weight

174kg (no fuel)

Suzuki GSX-8S 2024 | Price: £8299

Read more

Power/Torque

82bhp / 57.5lb-ft

Weight

202kg (kerb)

BMW F900R 2024 | Price: £9090

Read more

Power/Torque

105bhp / 67.9lb-ft

Weight

211kg (kerb)

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Verdict

We’ll give a verdict once we’ve ridden the Vitpilen 801.

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2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 - Technical Specification

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