Husqvarna Norden 901

Agreed. Generally better to have a bike which lends itself to the owner being able to strip it down and mod to their own liking. Which, going back to the LED's, seems less ideal due to the owner being tied to those dimensions, location etc.

The 790, in my view, is more of a zombie slayer while this 901 seems destined for every Starbucks along the way in the riders cross country, 5 star adventure. I can hardly wait for those photos to start 'cropping' up once it's on the market, where guys find a patch of dirt a foot or two off the asphalt and stage an epic 'adventure' photo

I tend to agree with that line of thinking as well. People say oh well rally bikes are expensive.. I mean yeah they are because they aren't mass produced. Tool up for it though on a big scale and all of a sudden the costs aren't far off if not even

@ TrailTrauma
I belive you are so right,
this bike will most certainly attract some of the GS crowd it has all the right attributes for that, which is very far off the KTM and Husky norm.

I have a present for all of you...

So what’s your point, if you have one?

It seems the 790R was designed and marketed to replace the Super Enduro and those who desire a "minimalist" type of Adv bike to ride more off road.. While the 901 seems to be a direct target to replace 950/990 Adventures.. Many of us still believe the 9*0 is the ultimate Adv bike.. The classic 9*0 definitely has a legendary look they recognize and have modeled the Norden to resemble. Personally.. I can dig it.

Wow. A lot of pigeonholing and stereotyping going on around here. I should take some notes so I don't buy a bike/ the wrong bike and/or use it incorrectly. Just to confirm I have this right: attractive bikes are the ultimate poser bikes, and only ugly ones are the real deal RTW weapons. Got it.

Yes.

And you should take my response as seriously as all the rest.

On further reflection, the 901 ain’t that homely. I’ve seen worse. But more importantly, who is the target rider? A 990 owner looking for a suitable replacement who didn’t find it in the xx90 series? I had a couple 990 Adventures. Great bikes but I have no interest in a modernized one. I sold a 2010 990 Adventure R to get a 790 Adventure R. Completely different bikes.

You’re catching on. This naturally leads to a garage full of bikes, each perfect for the job at hand, just as the manufacturer’s intended. Welcome to the machine.

I agree that the 990 and the 790 are different machines, but what happens if/when KTM boosts the 790 to 890 next year? Will it still be all that different from the 990?

I'm going to disagree on that second part.... I see plenty of all brands of adventure bikes including all displacement KTM's doing the Starbucks thing. I'm a Husky guy.... Swedish, Italian, and Austrian. I do wish that it was an 801 instead of a 901, but when it comes out..... I'll buy one and ride it in the dirt. I don't even drink coffee, so it will never see a Starbucks except driving past one. I also hate the KTM "Spy vs Spy" headlight fairing deal.... Ugly!

^^It’s been said numerous times the 790 is considered the 950 SE successor. I had an SE and would agree. If KTM added 100 cc to the 790 it wouldn’t morph into a 990 Adventure. Again, SE and Adventure are completely different.

I agree the SE and Adv are obviously different. However, the 790 with its large 20 litre tank, seems to be more adventure bike than "big dirt bike" like the SE. With an added 100cc it seems it would creep closer still to adv territory, and further from SE territory.

Look at it this way then - on the ride out to the trail, and a good ways into the ride you're on a great adventure, but on the way back (with only 10-12 litres of fuel left in that 20L tank, and returning over more familiar territory) it's all thuper enduro baby!

Again, it ain't the bike or the marketing of that bike but the rider him or herself which makes the bike bend to their whim, whether that be a simmering latte sort of whim or a simmering rage.

I wonder if posers scoff at seeing some of our dirty bikes parked out and about? Seeing how it's fun to bitch about a lovely bike being underutilized. Surely there must be some sparkling clean corner of the interwebs where perfectly groomed metros, in fashionably rich riding attire are decrying the horrors they've endured when some mofo on an orange and black demon cycle charged by them, right through a monster of a puddle, leaving them soaked to their tightie-whities; their once pristine mid life crisis dampening whip awash in road grime. Oh the horror...

PS: On a purely aesthetic note, I am attracted to the 901 graphics as a whole. Much of the KTM graphics I find a bit juvenile. Just gimme my 790 in a flat black with a light grey "790 ADV", and an orange "R" somewhere and I'd be happy.

The Norden would get my 1190 kicked out of bed. Build them.

I like the 901. Not as a better off road bike. Truthfully I don’t ride real off road much. Mostly FS roads. I bought the 790 because the 1200GS I had was a beast. My riding bud puts it well. The GS can be ridden off road but it’s a matter of survival. The 790 is fun. I’m thinking the 690 would be more fun. Maybe a 890 or 901 for more road work with an occasional dirt road.

My take is the 890/901 will keep everything good about the current 790 and add back in some of that low end grunt missing from the lc8. I think it might be incrementally more cumbersome at best, but likely just a CH, if at all.

Wait, it's being made in CH?!

All the 790/890/901 platforms are being built in cooperation with CF Moto (CH as in China, not CH as in Switzerland) :)

So CH isn't a unit of measure?

Lol.