Choosing between two bikes has never been this easy, right? Same engine, same chassis and cycle parts, different designs and a price difference of almost ` 20,000. Clearly, the Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 is the easy pick over the KTM 390 Duke… or so I thought. More than a chalk-and-cheese case, this one’s like chalk and… a marker?
Except when it comes to the aesthetics of these two motorcycles. One thing that I have learnt from the Council of Chakan is that the more parts you share, the lower the production costs, better the pricing (and sometimes higher the confusion, too). Yet, almost none of the design elements are shared between the Duke and its Swedish origin counterpart, down to the mirrors and even the LED indicators.
The Duke has this in-your-face styling and an intimidating look that will keep the traffic around at bay, and that’s even if you don’t opt for this look-at-me orange. But the Husqvarna? It’ll get lost in that traffic. Yes, it is quite a handsome motorcycle to look at… only when there are no bikes around. With its subtle design and the black colour, it will easily get lost in the sea of commuters. While the Duke’s long tank extensions hide all the wiring, it is exposed on the Husky. Not only does it look unpleasant but in a country like ours, it is an open invitation for people to fiddle around. Plus, that big, round headlight doesn’t really flow well with the rest of the ‘minimal’ design. And that flat flyscreen? It looks half done, but thankfully though, the front number plate is its saving grace (never thought I’d say that). Oh, and that grab rail looks straight off the KTM RC16 MotoGP bike.
But once astride, none of that really bothered me. Unlike the Duke, where I had limited saddle space, the Svartpilen let me find my sweet spot. I could scoot ahead, get my elbows out and just slice my way through the traffic or move a little behind, tuck down and throttle my way through some corners. Well, I could do all of that with the Duke, too, but I felt locked in and cramped, especially after the Husky. That’s because the KTM has its weird stopper kind of thing at the back of the rider seat, which coupled with the short saddle space left me with no room to move around.
Seems like the Husky nailed the ergonomics, right? Well, to me, the Svartpilen doesn’t feel like a Svartpilen anymore. The flatter handlebar compared to the Svartpilen 250 (and the older model of the 401) and the rearset footpegs translate into a posture that’s somewhere between the Vitpilen and the previous Svartpilen. Plus the footpegs are inclined, too, so forget standing up on those. While these changes make the bike an absolute riot on the tarmac, the ergos feel awkward once you venture beyond that. And why wouldn’t one? The spoked rims, adjustable suspension and the Pirelli Scorpion Rally Street tyres always tempt you to.
And those dual-purpose tyres on the Husky do a far better job than the H-rated Metzeler M5s on the Duke. Maybe it’s the ergos of that crazy orange machine that make me want to flirt with the limits of the bike (and of course, mine) or the tyres are simply that bad. That said, while on the Husky, every time I hit bad roads, I prayed that the tyres wouldn’t puncture. And If I ever pick up the Svartpilen, I am swapping those wire-spoked rims for alloy wheels and enjoying the tubeless life with that maniac of an engine.
There’s almost no difference in the performance of the two bikes; they have the same engine after all that makes 45 bhp and almost 4 kgm. But the Duke felt more primal than the Husky. Both the bikes do feel somewhat comfortable at lower speeds, but the Austrian devil always whispered in my ear to go faster. A 3-kg weight difference shouldn’t make the Duke feel quicker… or should it? The ’pilen, too, feels fun at triple digits and just like the Duke, the vibes calm down the faster you go, but somewhere I felt it lacked that animalistic nature associated with the 390 Duke.
Perhaps that primal energy of the Duke was down to the fact that I could go hard on the brakes. Not that the Husky’s were shabby, but the block-pattern tyres don’t grip the road well under hard braking, and even made the ABS react too hastily quite a few times. However, I was told that the brakes on this particular bike were a bit off, and I believed it since whenever they worked fine, I could get the rear wheel off the ground quite gracefully, without fiddling much with the electronics.
Of course, there isn’t much to fiddle with in the first place. While the Duke brags of stuff like launch control, ride modes and cornering traction control, the Svartpilen is so minimalist that upon going to the ‘ride mode’ option, you’ll just find ‘road’. That said, the lack of electronic nannies means there’s not much holding you (and the bike) back, which to me is the best. Both the consoles are physically the same TFT units, with different user interfaces and there’s almost nothing that these can’t do, except adjust the user interface as per the ambient light. The dark background isn’t the best to look at under sunlight. An ambient light sensor, or a simple manual ‘day’ and ‘night’ mode would have made a huge difference.
At the end of it, I was still clobbering my head about which one to pick. The Husky is lighter on the pocket, comparatively basic and for anyone who’s looking for a do-it-all motorcycle, this should be fine. After all, it can do just about everything that the KTM can and more. But the Duke? Yes, it is expensive, has electronics that are best enjoyed when turned off, but it kept me on my toes all the time. I was always always hunting for the next corner, the next gap… the next ride. I guess, just like a marker, the Duke left a more lasting impression.
