Recently we got a letter at the office asking why we always publish photos of bikes looking like they are going fast, rather than just pottering around town. It seemed a trifle question—who wants to see photos of a rider who looks like he’s going to the shops? Bikes are meant to induce face-splitting laughter, fear, adrenaline—all the stuff that makes you feel alive. Photos displaying these emotions are what makes us want to go out and ride. So you’ll forgive me if this article displays images portraying such feelings—riding a Husqvarna 701 SM will do that to a man.
You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE
Photography by Kit Palmer
This is possibly the silliest motorcycle I’ve ridden in a very, very long time. Its practicality level is close to zero. It doesn’t ride freeways well at all, doesn’t feel that great going to the shops for the milk run, and doesn’t take two people. If buying for these reasons alone, a Husqvarna 701 SM would be about as far from the top of your to-do list as a hot tub rendezvous with Kathy Bates and Donald Trump.
But, if buying for the reasons we, certainly I, ride—that aforementioned face-splitting laughter, fear and adrenaline—a Husqvarna 701 SM would be about as close to the top of your to-do list as a hot-tub rendezvous with Miranda Kerr and, if you’re that way inclined, Ryan Gosling.
A few years back, when the first sketches of the 701 Enduro and this 701 SM, the bike world went comparatively gaga over what would turn out to be one of the largest capacity dirt bikes of all time. Under new KTM management, the “inventors of motocross” as it says on the side of their van, would get access to the 2012-15 KTM Duke 690 powerplant, thus allowing this hooligan homewrecker to take shape and bring supermoto sliding back into our collective subconscious.
Rennie contemplates his next destination.
Kit Palmer’s initial thoughts and tech review on the 701 range can be read HERE, but I wasn’t going to miss out on a date with the white-and-blue demon, so I twisted Husky’s Andy Jefferson’s arm into giving me a quick two-week blast around the places that make up my motorcycling life: work commuting, weekend twisties, date nights, y’know, the usual stuff. Suffice to say, my license is thankful I gave the Husky back to its owners.
The 690cc KTM Duke engine nestled in the 701 SM’s 18-pound chrome-moly-steel trellis frame is a great little motor for zipping around town. But the Duke chassis doesn’t make you want to rev the ass off the engine at any given opportunity. This is not the case with a 701 SM. The 701 demands to be ridden like it was stolen. Half-throttle riding has that massive 102mm-wide piston feeling like it wants to escape out the sides of the bore; it’s far more comfortable either accelerating hard or stopping. No in-between pussyfooting is allowed.
The 701 SM is powered by same motor found in the KTM 690 Duke. It’ll be a while before you wear out the front tire.
This is precisely why this bike is no good for highway touring. On my 23-mile commute to the Cycle News office, the Husqvarna is nothing short of horrible. The vibrations sent through the chassis by that big ol’ piston are, shall we say, rather unpleasant. The plank dirt-bike seat doesn’t do the situation much good at all, and there’s no escaping the fact that this is a drawback of the machine, considering many will buy a 701 SM for commuting and thus a bit of freeway work.
Your body acts like a massive sail on the freeway, but this is not a criticism of the 701, just a characteristic of any dirt bike out of its comfort zone.
However, doing the donkeywork around town and between traffic lights, the nimble nature of the 701 SM quickly makes you forget about the foibles of the freeway and the bike begins to make sense. There’s far more than ample grunt on offer to get you out of any sticky situations, and at slower speeds the 701 isn’t nearly as vibey as it is a 70+ mph.
Brake test: The 701 passes with ease.
Below this speed, the suspension works better to give you a slightly gentler ride. At freeway speeds the 701’s ride is harsh and far from fun, below them and the 701 is in its happy zone, allowing full range of travel from the WP suspension and most importantly, the allowing the damping to work to its full potential.
This is where you start to realize what this bike is good for. Hey, it’s a supermoto, after all, not a superbike or a supercross bike. And when you go hunting for the kind of corners associated with this sensational form of bike sport, the 701 SM will reward you in spades.
Give the engine what it’s for and the 701 responds with the eagerness of a 21-year-old going clubbing for the first time. The motor scorches up the rev range, power is available everywhere, and as long as you don’t stay in one spot in the rev range too long, the vibes almost disappear. Get physical, get in tune with that chassis, throw it around and soon your cheeks will be hurting from the smile smeared all over your face. Everything on the 701 SM works better when you’re giving it to it. The front dives more under heavy braking, allowing the front tire to mash into the ground and do its job, the suspension is working in its required range, the engine and gearbox are being worked and therefore happy—and soon enough the face-splitting laughter, fear, adrenaline, all those feelings we love about bikes, they become tangible, and you won’t want to get off.
The braking power on a 701 SM is exceptional. There’s not a lot of weight to slow down and if you disengage the ABS, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice your stoppies because the 701 SM will halt you on a dime. And wheelies? Ha! There is nary a better bike on the planet for the one-wheel salute. Just be careful: once you start playing with a 701 SM like it indeed was stolen, you’d better grow eyes in the back on your head for the sheriff who seems to just magically appear when the fun starts.
The 701 SM will appeal to a very narrow band of motorcycle riders because, to be honest, there’s plenty of other bikes out there that do everything that 701 does, only better. It’s about as narrow minded a machine as you can get, but those that try one at a dealer and actually ride the thing as it was designed to will likely be slapping the deposit down quick sticks, because they are ungodly fun to ride when ridden hard. If you don’t ride the 701 SM like it was intended, you won’t get what makes it a great bike.
The Husqvarna 701 SM is definitely a case of, those who know, just know. CN
