Husqvarna, a KTM-owned motorcycle manufacturer known for its beautiful cafe racers, roadsters and motocross bikes, has often borrowed technology from the KTM streetfighters and sprinkled their own design language, from scratch up, leaving only the frame and other mechanicals such as engine, gearbox and brakes etc.
The Vitpilien 801 is no different it, shares its entire DNA with its cousin; The KTM Duke 790. The Husqvarna Vitpilien 801, borrows the parallel-twin engine which makes 103.5bhp at 9,250rpm and 87Nm of peak torque at 8,000rpm, mated to a 6-speed gearbox which comes with a bi-directional quick shifter.
The Chassis is the same tubular frame suspended by an adjustable WP Apex upside-down fork at the front and adjustable 150mm WP rear mono shock. Braking duties are handled by JJ. Juan sourced dual 300mm discs with radially mounted four-piston callipers at the front and a single 240mm disc with a two-piston calliper at the rear.
Stylewise; the Husqvarna Vitplien 801 is a ravishingly styled naked roadster which comes with a unique bi-directional oval-shaped headlight, setting it apart from most of the competition – but that has always been the case with the Husqvarna’s.
The Vitplien 801 Custom
As the name itself alludes to the concept or as Husqvarna calls it the 801 Custom; gets a wide range of aerodynamic upgrades added to its arsenal of performance along with a slight change in the number of ponies extracted from the KTM-sourced engine. Probably an aggressive state of tune to match the raw aggression the Motorcycle exudes. In other words, it is a more race-focused and aggressive version of the regular Husqvarna Vitplien 801.
The new upgrades include heavy use of some very high-end composite materials and equipment which further alleviates the exquisiteness of the 801 custom. But, before stacking the motorcycle with improved components; the Husqvarna’s engineers got on with stripping the regular Vitlplien 801 off the parts it didn’t need to shed weight.
After stripping off the parts that weigh on the 801, the bike got the new Aerodynamically enhanced Carbon fibre Body panels and another host of parts and equipment on the bike. One of the upgrades that are quite obvious is the newly routed hand-crafted exhaust system that goes under the rear seat and exits out from the rear section of the motorcycle; an attribute, unique to the Husqvarna Vitplien 801 Custom – which I may add is done to better improve the flow of air around the bike.
Also, the aforementioned WP APEX suspension units on the standard Husqvarna Vitplien 801 are swapped for better and more aggressive high-end WP APEX suspension for both ends, preferably aiding the aero performance of the newly upgraded body parts. Along with the performance and aesthetic advancements – Husqvarna made some alterations to the ergonomics; a more aggressive rider triangle with lowered handlebars along with offset footpegs, all in the name of aiding aerodynamic efficiency.
But as Husqvarna explains; everything that’s been done to the bike is not done purely to enhance the aerodynamic prowess of the bike, but also, one of the ultimate end goals was to achieve aesthetic showcase as well which is profoundly highlighted by the paint scheme which works in tandem with the new aesthetics of the motorcycle; highlighting all the new goodies it carries over the standard Vitplien 801 model. Hence despite all the performance upgrades the artistic side of things was not all lost on the engineers at Husqvarna.
