The price of the MY23 Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition has been welded into my brain: $27,840 ride-away. Adversity does this to you. In the pursuit of aspirational imagery, Clubby and I hatched a harebrained scheme to wrestle this brand-new bike to the edge of what can only be described as a precipice. As the pictures will attest, it wasn’t just your standard cliff face. One clumsy move either way and the bike could have toppled over the edge, and we would have needed a helicopter to recover the wreckage.
This was our final long day in the saddle after exposing the bike to a wide range of riding conditions, from freeway right through to gnarly dirt tracks and even a dirt quarry for some play. We were determined to find out if this new Husqvarna lived up to its ‘Expedition’ label.
FULLY LOADED?
The Norden is a premium mid-sized adventure riding package that’s at the upper end of the price wars, but you get a lot of bang for your buck. I’d imagine many owners will use this bike as a true dual-sporter: commuting during the week before regularly heading out on the weekends and then taking on longer trips. But a word of caution: don’t lane split with those pannier racks on!
This new Expedition model of the Norden 901 range carries screen; and connectivity unit. The Expedition also comes with rear side racks and soft bags, but they’re just not up to the task, as we quickly discovered — more on that later.
