Can the New 2026 Husqvarna 701 Enduro Do It All?

Cycle World

The 2025 Husqvarna 701 Enduro proves why this platform still matters. After days of mixed terrain riding, this updated and upgraded  all-rounder shows itself as a capable, balanced, and genuinely fun one-bike solution for riders who want power, range, and real off-road performance. Here is what this bike is really about.  Check out the story at https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/husqvarna-701-enduro-first-ride/  Become a Channel Partner: https://octanemedia.co/home/become-an-advertiser/  Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/ Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld

Transcript

00:00This is the 2026 Husqvarna 701 Enduro and I spent an entire day crashing this bike in the highest

00:18altitudes of Portugal. At the end of the day I'm a little confused about what this bike is all

00:23about but I got two more days on this bike to really figure it out. We're at the Husqvarna

00:27Trek in Portugal with a bunch of Husqvarna fans and we're gonna thrash this bike and find out what

00:33it's really about. Stay tuned. This is supposed to be the hardest part of the whole ride. This would

00:39be a good enduro test for this 701 Enduro. So we're gonna find out right now how it goes. And away we go.

00:48Whoo. It is rocky. Well. First gear is pretty tall on this thing with that kind of work.

01:18It's time for some dirt. The first thing you have to do when you hit the dirt is hold down that ABS

01:33button. Make sure it's off. Otherwise it's gonna be rodeo. Which I found out yesterday.

01:41Whoa. This way.

01:46So when the key goes off the ABS goes back to off-road ABS which leaves the rear off but the front will be on.

01:57That's no fun because you get too fast in a corner. There's a lot of braking power left.

02:05The ABS intervenes a little too early on this bike and you're pushing it at a high level.

02:15So 2026 has ride modes which technically the other models did but it was a you know a one-two button on

02:25the left side of the handlebars. It did have traction control on or off and it did have ABS

02:32on or off. Now you have three ride modes. You have got rally, off-road, street and you have got

02:45three modes of ABS. Both ends on which is street, off-road with one with the rear off and then fully off.

02:56So you have three choices there and then you have with the rally mode you have an option of multiple slip modes.

03:06That being said it has a new optional package called dynamic slip adjust which say you're in mode six

03:18and the terrain is very soft or you have a big uphill and trash control is not going to allow you to move

03:27forward and you keep adding throttle and it's slowing you down. It'll figure out if you want to keep moving

03:35and it'll dial back the trash control very subtly and get you it'll just keep you moving and it's a

03:43really interesting system because I did a big hill climb yesterday put it in five and you could feel

03:50feel that it was working because it was basically it kept moving you're not accelerating it's not

04:00the back ends not getting loose it's just kind of tractoring forward which is a nice feature and I think

04:05would be good for people that are maybe a little bit more worried about climbing hills or something like that

04:13you have a bit of a safety net there which is nice

04:20so let's talk about off-road handling it is a bit of a compromise while it's excellent on the street it is

04:30well we'll classify it as okay in the dirt it's highly capable it'll do anything you need it to do

04:38but ergonomics make it a little tough to stand and really get the

04:44the front tire pressure down dig the front tire in

04:52and the suspension is is also a compromise

04:58it ends up being a little harsh off-road but also too soft if that makes sense big bumps it's too soft

05:06it's a little choppy stuff it's a little harsh with that being said you could do everything you're

05:13just not going to enjoy it maybe in the dirt as much as you would a single a smaller single cylinder

05:20do support like a 501 instead of a 701

05:25off-road you do notice the weight a little bit especially coming into slippery tight corners such

05:35as that you notice the weight moves around quite a bit and the power delivery in the dirt in rally mode

05:46is pretty abrupt and i have it on trash control zero right now uh in that mode there's no trash control

05:54and the back end is constantly fighting for to find traction granted we are at street pressures

06:00so 30 something pounds of air in the tires probably a little bit different at 20 but we're at a press

06:09launch we're running the stock setup i did add to preload to the rear for my weight and size

06:21it actually made the handling much sharper almost maybe a little too sharp

06:27i do i did like it the first day it wasn't set and it was a little choppery

06:33you know the front the back which sat a little low just a little easier to slide around

06:38now it's kind of tough day three on the 701 enduro let's talk about the engine the engine is really

06:46fun it's probably the best part about this bike i've always loved the lc4 but this is probably the

06:51best version so far because it's got like five more horsepower it's got a tiny bit less torque

06:55but the torque comes on lower so it has a real nice torquey character off the bottom and then at the

07:00top it just screams like it has this insane power ramp up it's really nice still a little

07:07tiny bit of vibration but not like it used to be back in the day it's slowly gotten better and

07:12this one is is a little bit less because they have rubber mounts for the engine so that makes a big

07:18difference yeah overall really really fun engine this throttle they have a very short turn throttle which

07:27adds to the responsiveness feeling of the bike rally mode really sharp really aggressive

07:33off-road mute it makes a little bit better it's probably a better one for most people and uh rain

07:39obviously is whatever or street i should say is a little bit more muted overall really fun engine

07:45probably the best part about this motorcycle back onto the road

07:51let's talk about ergonomics on this bike

07:53it has got this very wide flat seat on it that overall pretty comfy kind of stiff but not too not too

08:06bad uh the bars though are really low and the seats high so it feels that the bars are in your lap which

08:15makes it tough for um off-road riding uh when you're standing it's a long way down to the bars

08:30on-road handling this thing is awesome it's like a big super motobike it's insane

08:37it's really really easy to tip into the corner and with that low front end that i complain about

08:48on the off-road on-road it gives it a really super moto-ish feeling for the cockpit

08:54which helps you really stuff the front end down into the corner and these tkc80 tires

09:02are really consistent and predictable even on the street they're knobby-ish tire but they stick

09:09really well and uh yeah you feel like a super moto hero on this bike you can back her in a little bit

09:18lean the bike over super moto style he leads out of the corner really easily just push her down

09:27next corner push her down into the next corner then you wheel into the next corner and then you're back

09:35into the next corner and you back her in and then back on the gas it's one of the best parts about

09:42this bike because this engine is so lively and fun and torquey and the chassis is so so good on the road

09:51it really is a great handling street bike i really enjoy it on the street brakes are nice and strong

10:02abs works on the road pretty well there's a lot of nice lever feel it has a it has an excellent bite

10:11initial bite um and it's got really strong power even though it is you know uh only a single disc on the

10:18road this bike is you know over 300 pounds it handles it no problem no problem at all

10:34end of day three done and dusted using 701 enduro all over the highs and lows of portugal

10:43so now i understand this motorcycle beginning it was it was like what is this motorcycle about

10:49how does it work why why do they have it it's still a big motorcycle it's like why not just get

10:54an enduro or why not just get an adventure bike but this is the compromise and it's a it's a very

11:00solid compromise it is fully capable it'll go anywhere you need it to go on the road it is amazing it is

11:08it's darn near a supermoto with a 21 inch front wheel 18 inch rear wheel and knobbies it handles

11:15like a supermoto and then you can ride hard hard enduro riding on it it's a really really fun motorcycle

11:24and it is probably the sweet spot for somebody that wants one motorcycle in their garage not three

11:31it's perfect that's what this bike is about and that's what i figured out it's definitely improved from

11:36the models that i rode before i've always loved this engine i still love this thing i think it's one

11:41of the greatest single cylinder engines ever made overall it's improved and it's one hell of a good

11:48compromise

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