Svartpilen 401 - Can You Ride It on the Highway and What about Fuel Economy? 

Congratulations and happy riding!!!

Enjoy!

hows it going with it?

@@ramr7051 Thanks for asking! It's been a flawless bike. I've rarely made big purchases in my life that were "perfect wins". This bike is one. And it was barely more than $6k. I put it on a credit card. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every time I walk through my garage and look at it, I grin. I've kept everything stock but the mirrors, and I love the way it looks. I can't really comment on performance, I drive like a grandma. I like smooth rides. But, even yesterday, I guy getting in his car in a parking lot told me how cool it looks. It's glances and nods all the time... I put "ethanol free" gas in it and it's a $6 gas tank. The small tank IS the only downside. But, if you Amazon "Motorcycle 5L 1.3 Gallon Black Fuel Can", there's a container that easily fastens to the side of the bike ( when you want it ) and it looks like it was made for the Svartpilen. If my ride is more than 1.5 hrs, I put it on. Lastly, the bike is light. I got a cheap trailer-hitch mounted bike rack, so the bike rests sideways, behind the tailgate. When you drive, you don't even know it's there. More than 45 min on the bike is a bit much for my girl, so we truck it to a beautiful place and take it off the truck from there. I'm not gonna understate it, that bike might be one of my favorite things... Do you ride one?

nice. would you recommend the svartpilen 401 for like a cross country tour including off-road rides? considering the price/budget.

I wouldn’t. There are other bikes that would be a better fit. Could you do it? Yes. But tank is really small, for example so I’d be worried all the time about gas. KTM 390 Adventure might be worth looking at.

thanks! I'll check it out@@ridingwithgravity401

if you adjust the suspension properly it wont wobble as bad if at all.

Thank you, @P-DUB! Gas Mileage: I'm sure my range is largely because most of my riding is below 6000 RPMs on city streets. That said, I still wish I could stretch it further. If I did the 16 tooth front sprocket as @dantediss1 had suggested, I could lower the RPMs at higher speeds and that would help. I'm still annoyed by the tank size, particularly when I go on longer rides, but that's probably because I need a second motorcycle (LOL); I got the Svart for city riding, not heading out for long country rides. Highway Speeds: 401 definitely more suited to pounding concrete on city roads and navigating the streets. However, it's surprisingly good at hitting highway speeds quickly and holding the speed. Very comfortable around 80 MPH. Today I did a speed run to see how fast I could get her to go. I'll share that in a separate video. I did that speed run so that all of you out there don't have to do it yourselves. Adrenaline. Windscreen: I don't think I'll get a windscreen either. I am getting more used to the wind, except when I turn my head and it feels like I'm going to get pulled off my motorcycle. I'm ready for that now too though. If I rode on the highway often enough, I'd consider it. I'm guessing I'd need a big one to avoid the "helmet in the wind" and I don't want that. Maybe someone out there can comment if they've got a great windscreen???

That's a tough one. I don't really think of it that way, but I had the same reaction at the dealership looking at all the really large bikes. It just depends on the type of motorcycle. Obviously bigger engines need bigger frames, so some of that is the type of bike and some of that is the engine size and appropriate frame/parts to maximize performance for the spec sheet they are going after. I know that's not a great answer. It's designed to be compact as a city bike and a scrambler capable of light off-roading. Not an exhaustive list, but if you think of alternatives in the sub-500cc class, they would be bikes like these: Yamaha MT-03, Honda CBR300R, BMW G310R, Yamaha R3, KTM Duke 200, KTM Duke 390 (same engine as the Svartpilen), Vitpilen 401 (obviously very similar to the Svartpilen), Honda Rebel 300, Honda Rebel 500, Kawasaki Ninja 400, Yamaha V-Star 250, CFMoto 300 (SS or NK). Think "entry level sub 500." Many of those are smaller (generally speaking) and of course they also have smaller engines. Light, nimble, maximize the smaller engine and design a frame for good maneuverability and performance. On that note, some of the main mods for the Svartpilen are for saving weight to get more kick from the engine.

P.S. What is deceptive about the Svartpilen is that it has a high seat height (32.9 inches) compared to some of those alternatives. I'm good with that because the seat height, riding ergos, and flickability make it great for city riding.

Mmm...that's a great question. I would suggest posting on Reddit to the "Suggest a Motorcycle" thread (link below in this comment). You'll get a lot more responses and hopefully some useful suggestions and tips. www.reddit.com/r/SuggestAMotorcycle/ If you have the chance, also worth going to sit on one (and test ride if they will let you; some places don't allow test rides).

Absolutely, hoping to keep it when I eventually get bike #2. I just moved to Minnesota but had a blast riding around DFW for about a year.

Is it that bad?

@@Trunions11 mine is pretty bad. we do have concrete highways in australia too so that may have something to do with it but flattening is pretty bad on mine

During the break-in period Husky doesn’t want people to push the engine so the shift light comes on sooner; they want minimal strain on the engine during break-in. First service is 620 miles (1000km) so after that they will adjust that shift light indicator and it’s okay to ride at higher revs, at which point you should find hitting 70 a 80 MPH not a problem.

My 2022 Svartpilen 401 is about 32.9 inches high or 835 mm. I am only 5’6” tall (168 cm). I cannot flat foot the bike. I could tip toe it on both sides if I wanted but I always do left foot down (flat) and right foot on the brake. I did a video on it. Link below. It’s fine for short riders. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aK_c2eMwMYE.html

Unfortunately, I don’t have a great sense of purely highway riding. All of my riding is mixed city/highway, and with the mods I’ve done I’m averaging about 55 MPG. I do spend over half that time on highway or country roads between 60 and 70 MPH. (Performance Mods: FuelX Lite, K&N High Performance Air Filter, DNA High Performance Air Filter stage 2) The tank is so small that I pretty much get gas every 100 miles.

I’m now at about 140-150 range with the mods, FYI.

You need a bigger bike, big boi

@@chazdomingo475 oh yes! Blessed to have a 2022 BMWR18 bagger and two VTX’s 1800

She is just so much fun to zip around in Miami Beach .

I use 93 octane

I could certainly hit that in 5th but for fuel economy I try to keep my RPMs low. I didn’t really specify that when I was riding and talking. The ranges in the video are just my personal “fuel economy” based shifting targets.

💯

I will say that to keep up with Dallas traffic I had to push it beyond the ideal rev range sometimes and it tanked my fuel economy. Not horribly, but very different from city vs highway in a car. That’s just crazy Dallas traffic. Now I can cruise comfortably around Minneapolis-Saint Paul without having that problem.

Mostly I feel it when I head check, but over longer stretches or super windy days you'll notice it more. Be prepared when doing a head check on the highway that the wind will try to rip your head off. Even with a small windscreen you'll probably still get that effect. I generally tuck in and have gotten pretty used to it by now. Also depends on if you're going 60 MPH or 85 MPH. 😃 Just a difference in how much you'll feel it.

@@ridingwithgravity401 thanks mate!!