Husqvarna 701 Enduro

After riding almost 1500 miles both on and off-road on Husqvarna’s 701 Enduro, at long last I’ve found my own favourite dual-purpose bike.

The Husky may be somewhat compromised on the road, but copes admirably on rougher routes. And, as I discovered, with the right attitude and altered expectation levels, the 701 can happily take you to more distant destinations. It’s by no means as able as a more focused touring or adventure bike, but I certainly didn’t mind tackling 150-mile road stints on it. Especially if there was some good trail riding at the end of them.

If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure about what the Husky would be ultimately capable of when I went to pick it up. Though I did suspect it would be fun finding out. That optimism was tested from the outset. With its lofty 950mm tall seat height, just getting on the bike was pretty challenging. Okay, I’m not the tallest bloke on the block, but more than a few times