2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 Review – First Ride

Slingin’ arrows

It sounded like a nice break from the hostile news cycle and local devastation, the idea of a mid-week rip onboard Husqvarna’s newest ‘Pilen. The 2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 is the latest naked to use the 801/790 platform and given how much we’ve enjoyed riding the previous iterations, whether they were orange or black, we couldn’t help mustering up some excitement about the new Vit – and, of course, it’s always great to have a reason to get out from behind the desk. A jaunt around the backroads of San Diego county was just what the doctor ordered.

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801

As mentioned in our handy TL;DR box above, we’re not going to pretend the Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 isn’t a rehashing of a motorcycle that’s been around for over half a decade. The engine, chassis, and electronics are heavily lifted from the KTM 790 Duke and there are even subtler differences between Husqvarna’s own Vit and Svart Pilens (the headlight, handlebar risers, paint, and tires). All that said, when the shared aspects of these machines hit the scene back in ‘18, they quickly brought the 790 Duke to the top of the middleweight naked heap. What’s not to like with a punchy engine tucked into a spry chassis?

Despite all the shared componentry in reviews we’ve written before, we’d be doing you a disservice if we didn’t talk about them here and really, even if the naysayers are tired of Twins, they never get old around here.

KTM’s LC8c Twin

Er, Husqvarna’s compact DOHC Parallel-Twin engine features a 88mm by 65.7mm bore and stroke which puts us at 799cc for displacement. The lightweight bridged-box pistons squish the compression chamber to a 12.5:1 ratio while they get soothed from beneath by two cooling oil jets. The crankshaft was carefully designed for smooth engine behavior at low and constant throttle while also considering its effect on the bike’s handling. To smooth out vibration, dual counterbalancers can be found in front of the crankshaft and between the buttery soft… er, smooth camshafts up top. The high-pressure cast aluminum split crankcase helps to keep things compact within its thin walls. Throttle control is managed by two Dell’Orto 46mm throttle bodies and a ride-by-wire throttle.

The six-speed transmission features a Power Assist Slipper Clutch (PASC) which limits rear wheel hop during botched downshifts while providing a light clutch pull at the lever. Our bikes were equipped with Husqvarna’s Easy shift (or quickshift as it’s more commonly known as) is standard on the Vitpilen 801 and works off of a sensor relaying the movement of the lever to the ECU which in turn matches engine parameters to allow clutchless gear changes at any RPM or engine load. It can also be turned off if you should ever find a reason to do so.

Having sampled this mill in its various garb over the years, ADV or otherwise, it’s interesting to look back at our first dyno runs of the LC8c and to see where peak horsepower and peak torque falls in the rev-range. Back in 2019, our long-term 790 Duke spat out 96.6 hp at 9,400 rpm and 59.8 lb-ft of torque at 6,600 rpm. Fast forward to 2025 and we are now certifying to Euro5+ and using a different Dynojet dynamometer. That said, it’s not so much the peak figures that are interesting, but where they lay in the rpm range.

Blame ever-tightening emissions, or whatever you’d like, it’s still a hoot to pull the LC8c’s tail. The bountiful torque through the midrange is always trying to bring the front wheel skyward and you can even rev this Twin out as the hp sauce keeps pouring all the way up to about 9,400 rpm. Short shifting or singing, the Vitpilen is equally at home around town or strafing up the side of a mountain.

A chassis that won’t quit

While the main portion of the frame that uses the engine as a stressed member is again shared across multiple colors of the Pierer Mobility Group rainbow, the Vitpilen’s subframe is all its own. The three-piece cast aluminum subframe adds to the Vitpilen’s style and houses the easy-to-access airbox with fully-functional ducts sucking in air on each side.

WP’s latest Apex 43mm fork has 5.5 inches of travel with rebound adjustment on the right fork leg and compression on the left which can be easily tweaked sans tools with the clickers on the top. Gone are the days of 20+ clicks of damping adjustment for the Apex line. You now have five clicks on either side, which we’re told is to help riders make more meaningful adjustments to their ride, more easily. I can understand the logic. With the standard setting right in the middle, most of us motorcyclists can at least count to five, so when dialing things in one way or the other, not only will it be easy to find your way back to solid ground, you should be more likely to feel the difference. KTM/Husqvarna’s war against fork preload continues to rage on, as that feature continues to be curiously absent.

Out back, the Apex shock is directly connected to the diecast “open-lattice” swingarm, offering up 5.9 inches of travel with five clicks of rebound adjustment in addition to stepped preload. The compact engine also allows for a longer swingarm while the angle of the shock is said to keep the seat height low at 32.2 inches. During our day-long ride, I ended up getting fairly tired of the seat, but it hasn’t bothered me at all when just bouncing around town.

When we first tested the Svartpilen 801 in France, there was an immediate feeling of front end heaviness while maneuvering the bike in the parking lot. Out on the road, it didn’t stop us from pushing the limit despite the tread pattern of the Pirelli MT 60 tires. I don’t get that heaviness with the Vitpilen, so perhaps it was up to the tires since the Vitpilen is shod in Michelin Road 6 rubber which did an equally admirable job of keeping traction despite our heavy-handed pace and the Santa Ana winds scattering the mountain roads with debris.

The Husqvarna-branded four-piston J.Juan calipers are radially mounted and provide commendable stopping power while squeezing the dual 300mm floating discs. Feel at the lever is equally adequate and there is a touch of brake fade during fast long descents. Out back, J.Juan’s two-pot floating caliper squeezes a 240mm rotor. If you opt for the Dynamic mode (more on that in a sec), you can switch the ABS to “supermoto” which allows you to lock up the rear like 2020 AMA Supermoto Open Pro Championship and KTM PR Man, Chris Fillmore. It was particularly fun following Chris during our ride as he backed the Vit into corner after corner, right up until we both nearly got blasted off of the mountain by the wind as we rounded an open curve.

About those electronics…

It should come as no surprise by now that, yes, you’ll have to pop for the $420 Dynamic Pack in order to get the Dynamic ride mode which allows for 10 levels of traction control (including off), 6 levels of wheelie control (including off), selectable throttle response, and Motor Slip Regulation (MSR). If you’re just fine making due with Rain, Street, and Sport along with their predetermined throttle settings as well as IMU-based TC and ABS, don’t worry about it! If you want Husqvarna’s Easy Shift quickshifter, that will run you $350. Interested in cruise control? That’s going to be $289 for the software and $238 for the new switchgear so you have the correct buttons. Assuming it’s the same as the Svartpilen, you’ll also gain an extra “favorites” button to quickly toggle through the menu. So, we’re talking about tacking on an extra $1,300 to the Vitpilen 801’s $10,500 MSRP. I wouldn’t call that a deal breaker, personally. That is of course, up to you to decide.

While I appreciate the granularity that Dynamic mode offers, I also like that there is an appreciable difference between the ride modes in terms of throttle response, and while you can’t adjust things minutely, you can still turn ABS to “supermoto” and turn off TC without the Dynamic pack. Bluetooth connectivity comes standard, which includes turn-by-turn navigation with the Husqvarna app.

After a day of hauling ass the mail, with a group of guys around the backside of San Diego county, I feel confident in saying this isn’t a bike you will get tired of – quite the opposite, really. The Vitpilen 801 feels a touch slower steering than its orange cousin, perhaps due to the tires, seating position, or extra 0.5 degrees of rake at 24.5º, but it’s not going to do much to slow you down. It feels perhaps a touch more stable, which was welcome as we found our tires sliding over constant road debris from the wind storms.

My biggest complaint during our day of spirited riding was that my boot kept getting caught under the exhaust shield’s leading edge (something I’ve now noticed with multiple boots). With the suspension set in its middle of the road “standard” setting, the bike is damped on the sporty end of the spectrum. Dialing the clickers on the fork back for riding around town took the harshness out when hitting broken asphalt and again, it’s easy to do, even while riding. Vibes from the LC8c engine start to sneak into the bar and footpegs after 7,000 rpm, but once I’m up there, I don’t really mind.

After testing the bike at a good clip with a group of friends, not having to breathe in ash or listen to the news for a few days, and then getting to live with the Vitpilen for a few weeks, there’s been nothing unexpected and the bike has been adept at any situation. Commutes, canyon rips, and grocery runs. Of course, looks are in the eye of the beholder, but this one does cause me to turn my head for a second glance when walking away.

Scorecard

In Gear

2025 Husqvarna Vitpilen 801 – First Ride Gallery

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