Husqvarna 701 Enduro 10k mile update

 

My Husqvarna 701 Enduro just crossed 10,000 miles. I bought it new in the fall of 2023 and ride it most weekends. Here in the Southwest we ride all year. I had to take a couple breaks from riding due to injuries. I really love this bike and it fits my riding desires well. I am between dual sport riding and adventure riding. Maybe a bit more towards adventure riding but not into long pavement rides or camping.

Beyond maintenance and upgrades, here is the list of repairs I had to make:

• Radiator. One day it just started leaking in the middle of the core. It was a small leak. No apparent physical damage. The bike had about 9,000 miles on it when this happened in December 2025.
  
  
  
• Fuel tank mounts. The top fuel tank bolts loosened and one was completely disengaged. Then one of the lower mount bolts broke. The fuel tank is the rear subframe. There is a subframe reinforcement kit for this but at a minimum check your bolts regularly.
• Sidestand sensor. This is a common issue with these bikes. It sits low and it exposed. It was flakey from new, intermittently preventing start and setting DTCs. They replaced it under warranty but the issues persisted but very intermittently. Luckily I bought a sidestand sensor dongle that simulates the sidestand always up solving this problem. If you have one of these bikes this device is a must. 
  
  
  
• The shifter rubber part disappeared one day so I upgraded to a Tusk all-metal one. 

  

  
  

We have some very rocky terrain around here so this bike has taken a beating. Not to mention my questionable riding skills and numerous times I have dropped the bike. The crash bars have some miles on them for sure. My camera has great smoothing making this look much smoother than it is but here is an example of the rough trails.

There are certainly trails with larger rocks that I have ridden but what made this one bad was that it is not really steep and it was straight so the speed was higher and it was long. The beating just never stopped. There are many more great examples on my YouTube channel such as Wheeler Pass North side and Kingston Powerline Road.

The longer I have the bike, the shorter the rear tire life. My original TKC 80 rear tire lasted almost 3,000 miles. Then I switched to Anakee Wild tires, the first rear lasting only 1700 miles. The last Anakee Wild lasted only 1200 miles. I replace them at about 4mm remaining. I now have a nearly worn out TKC 80 with about 1300 miles on it. I have a TKC 80 gen 2 ready for installation soon. The front tires outlast the rears but about 5:1. 

I average somewhere in the high 40's for miles-per-gallon. That is a mix of on and off road but mostly off road. I have done as good as low 60's if riding smooth sections where I am in 6th gear often but below 55mph. I have had as low as mid-30's when blasting down the highway with the windshield on into a headwind. I now have a truck to haul the bike so long highway rides are much less common. 

Here are some prior updates:

I bought a Husqvarna 701 Enduro .

1,000 mile review of the Husky.

T-Rex skid plate and crash bars

2,000 mile review

5,000 mile review

Veridian cruise install

Biktrix Brake Upgrade

The 2-piston brakes on the Biktrix were not meeting my expectations. They were also real load on very low speed braking, like walking the bike down a steep hill. I decided I needed an upgrade so I bought so I bought Zoom 4-piston brakes off Amazon. I ended up just using the calipers. The tube ends were a bit different so I had to do some work there to adapt them for my lines. My front brake line had been damaged, and it is all exposed so I did use the front brake line that came in the kit. The rear brake line goes through the frame and motor area and it would be a much bigger job to replace that so I retained the line and modified the caliper end to fit the new caliper. The rear brake line is also in very good condition. I did not use the handle/cylinder ends from the new kit, instead retaining the Biktrix units. The switch in the handles was not directly compatible with my bike and my original handle/cylinders are in good condition. I have a nice firm brake feel even though the calipers are larger volume. 

I bled them and went for a road test. After breaking them in, they improved stopping power significantly. 

Biktrix offers a Magura MT5e with Bafang HiGo 2-Pin Connector upgrade for $320 ($20 more with the electrical adapters that are needed). The Zoom HB876E kit I bought cost $85.

I also upgraded the rotors a week later. My original rotors with over 2,000 miles on them were glazed. These are 180mm rotors and I considered upgrading to 203mm rotors but I was not real comfortable with the adapters that are needed for this. Bike rotors are inexpensive (<$10/each). The photo below shows the original rotor still installed, and the new rotor for comparison.