Husqvarna 701 Enduro 2,000 mile update

 

I have now gone past 2,000 miles on the Husky and still loving it.  I bought this bike new last fall from a local dealer, Carter Powersports.  I made a few upgrades and rode it over 1,000 miles before having an accident on it in January which preventing me riding it for several months.  I started riding it again in June and now have 2,076 miles on it, mostly off-road.  

Here are some upgrades I have made so far:

• Rear luggage rack.
• Rear bag that I bolted to the luggage rack. I also have Velcro straps bolted in to keep any luggage from moving around.
• Front bag that I custom mounted between the seat and key switch area.
• Doubletake mirrors.
• Cycra hand guards and mounts.
• I tried 2 different windshields.  First a small Puig. Later I installed a large Madstad (22" size). I would get the 18" instead.  I also drilled a second set of hose so I can drop it way down out of the way when off-road.
• NiceCNC gas cap.
• Upgraded the headlight bulb to LASFIT high power LED.
• LED marker lights and driving lights to improve visibility.
• Upgraded the turn signal bulbs to brighter LED.
• K&N air filter.
• Rear brake master cylinder guard.
• Custom made a kickstand sensor guard and also bought a Vanasche side stand dongle I keep with me just in case. 
• T-Rex skid plate and crash bars. 
• USB charger.
• I bought a cheap 1.3G gas can with center mount.  I had to modify the mount that came with it since it broke off quickly. I cover this at the end of my 1,000 mile review. 
• I also added a cheap dash camera mostly for insurance reasons.  It records all the time. I may upgrade to a proper dual camera motorcycle recording system later.  With so many poor inattentive drivers out there I think it is important to record everything.  

I keep a small 12V air compressor and a pump-in tire slime kit, zip ties, extra tie down straps, basic tools, etc., in the rear bag. I also added a 12V connector under the seat to connect the compressor.

The license plate holder and part of the rear fender broke off on my last ride (a rough rocky gravel road).  It appears that the metal frame holding the side reflectors caught the knobby tire over a bump, breaking it off.  I always thought that looked a bit flimsy.  I cut the rear fender off square and just mounted the license place to the rear of my bag.  

Taken just after my license plate mount and chunk of rear fender broke off

This bike has no problem cruising down the highway.  The issues is the wind is noisy and fatiguing after a while. I tried 2 different windshields on the bike. The first was the small Puig.

It just mounts to the plastic around the headlight.  It had some effect in reducing the wind pressure on your check but almost no improvement at the helmet.  After a ride that included many miles of freeway, and into a headwind, I decided I wanted more wind protection so I ordered the Madstad windshield in the 22" model.  Here is what that looks like installed.

Enormous, right.  It is adjustable and it does cut the wind from the helmet area as advertised.  I did a long highway segment with this and found myself cruising along at high speed in more comfort. However, off-road it is bulky and you can hit your helmet on it over the rough stuff. To address this, I drilled another set of mounting holes in it and use thumb screws so I can switch it easily with no tools.  Here is what it looks like in the off-road position.

  The Madstad mounting system also has a significant amount of adjustment.  In hindsight, I should have ordered the 18" windshield instead of this 22" one.  I may trim several inches off the top later.  I can also just remove it completely with the 4 thumbscrews depending on the type of riding I am doing. It takes about 2 minutes to switch the mounting position. I also added a Ram camera mount for my Insta360 action camera (photo above that last one).  

Here is a video playlist from one of my more recent rides (before the Madstad windshield): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4ONVypz2fbh594JYO5ftFDV-qHEImyT  

After 2,000 miles and all kinds of dual sport riding, I continue to love this bike.  I still have the original tires on it but the rear is getting fairly worn at this point. Here are a few thoughts on pros and cons from my perspective:

Pros:

• Excellent flexibility.  Does both on and off road very well.
• Good fuel range.  Can go about 165 miles on a tank with mixed riding, more if on-road.
• Excellent electronics.  The traction control and ABS work well and can both be switched off for more aggressive off-road riding.  I do turn OFF the ABS off-road.
• Rear fuel tank leaves the front seat area wide open.  The more flat seat make it easy to move around as needed.
• Love the motor power! No need for any power upgrades in my opinion.   
• Great having 6 speeds in the transmission.
• Love the clutch.  Easy and smooth hydraulic operation and a very long engagement range.
• Love throttle by wire too.  Easy and smooth.
• EFI is fantastic.  Even after you drop the bike (which I have done plenty) it starts up immediately every time.  I average about 50mpg with mostly off-road riding. The rev limit is also great especially since there is no tachometer.
• Great maintenance schedule for a bike like this.  Oil changes are 10x longer than many dual sports.

Cons:

• Weight. Although for what it is it is very light actually.  Off-road we just always want lighter.  This bike weighs about 350lbs full of fuel and gear.
• Engine noise.  As many articles also mention the LC4 engine sounds like a rock tumbler.  I have a friend with an earlier version of this bike but with an aftermarket exhaust which is loud.  That really helps because the exhaust sound is great and covers over the engine noise.  
• Seat height.  It is a bit high but this is of course a trade-off.  There are lowering kits but I don't want the downsides of that either.  
• Seat firmness.  It is to the firm side and the padding is very thin.  Again, a bunch of trade-offs here because thicker padding would make the seat even higher. You can get aftermarket seats.  I just added a cushion on top and that worked pretty well.
• Key and gas cap.  The chipped key is great for anti-theft.  However, I broke mine very easily and had to get it replaced, which is expensive.  To make this worse, the key is needed for the factory gas cap and in that cap the key turns very hard.  This is why I installed an aftermarket non-locking gas cap.
• There is no fuel level indicator and you cannot see into the tank.  There is a low fuel light at least. I had it come on only 1 time after 154 miles of riding.  I put 2.6 gallons in it to fill it after 154 miles.    
• Very basic display with no actual gear indicator (only a neutral indicator) and no fuel level indicator (only a low fuel light).

Many summarize this bike like this.  If you want to have just one motorcycle for all your on-road and off-road riding, this is it. There are lighter more off-road capable dual sports, but they are not as good on the road.  There are more comfortable dual sport motorcycles for longer adventures, but they weight much more and/or don't have nearly as good of off-road suspension.  Motorcycles are all trade-offs, especially dual sport and adventure bikes.  The Husqvarna 701 Enduro (and KTM 690 Enduro or GasGas 700) is an excellent choice for the 70% off-road, 30% on-road crowd (those percentages based on time, not miles). You can ride from your house without hauling a bike, and having to have something to haul it with. Just hop on and go right from your house.  I love that about this bike.  You can also use it as an adventure bike.      

Here is a video playlist with many other reviews of this bike: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ4ONVypz2fZjtowskb2w3vPZASbti7Hn

2023 Husqvarna 701 Enduro T-Rex skid plate and crash bars install

After searching the internet for the options on skid plate and crash bars for my 2023 Husqvarna 701 Enduro I decided to go with the T-Rex kit (Part Number: N167-16EG + N167-16SP). This kit did not claim to fit my bike exactly but rather KTM 690 Enduro/Supermoto and Husqvarna 701 Supermoto of years prior to mine.  I contacted the company and asked about it fitting my bike.  I worked out a deal to try it out.  

Before installing it I weighed the components so I could later compare to what I removed.

• Skid plate - 53.5oz
• Left crash bar - 32.5oz
• Right crash bar - 34.7oz
• Attaching hardware - 22.2oz

142.9oz or 8.93lbs.  I also weighed the factory plastic skid plate assembly and it came in at 25.4oz and 8.7oz of removed mounting hardware for a net weight gain of 6.8lbs.  The added weight is fairly low on the bike, the skid plate being the heaviest single component and also the lowest. 

The install was very easy and straightforward.  It took less than 20 minutes I would guess.  Here is a video of the install.

It fit the bike well and offers the protection I was looking for. The crash bars are simple and don't go as high as others but will likely take most of the hit if I drop the bike on either side, protecting the radiators. 

The skid plate has extensions on both sides that help protect the side cases from objects from the front.  They even offer some protection from dropping the bike on the side depending on the surface.

While it would have been convenient to use the original sockets to catch the back of the skid plate, the T-Rex design is much more robust.

Between the skip plate and crash bars, the water pump looks well protected now.

I like the lower position of the crash bars, both to keep the weight down low, and since this is a much stronger design than other bars.

I like the design of these crash bars compared to many others I have seen.  The cross bar is positioned well to prevent branches and other things from getting captured by the bars when riding.  It will tend to deflect them away.