Don’t Buy a Used Svartpilen 401 Until You Watch This

This motorcycle has been stolen, crashed, and recovered by police. It’s a 2023 Husqvarna Svartpilen 40 an it’s lived outside in Canada for over two years.

We’re going to look at how it’s holding up, the pros and cons of whether or not you should buy a used Husqvarna 401 in 2026.

I’m Adrian. I’ve worked in the industry for 15 years, been riding for almost 20. I’m always on the lookout for the perfect motorcycle, or at least, my next motorcycle. Let’s look at some pros and cons and see if a used Husqvarna Svartpilen, or Vitpilen 401, makes sense for you or me.

The Story

The first time I saw this exact bike, I was with a cop in the gated parking lot behind a police station. And it’s just rows of crashed and stolen cars and a few motorcycles. If you’ve never been to one of these places, they always look like if you took vehicles out of where a bomb went off, and then you arranged them neatly in a police parking lot. It’s wild.

The Looks

Before I get any deeper in my story with this motorcycle, let me start with its most divisive attribute: the looks. There isn’t much that looks like a Husqvarna 401. Maaaybe, a CB300R, but that’s a little more vanilla. Husqvarna styled this thing to be unique, and you’re either going to love that or hate it.

For me, as someone who makes a living looking at motorcycles every day, I like that the 401s dared to look different. So I like it, but I definitely wouldn’t hold it against you if you don’t.

BUT, no matter how you feel, the one thing about the looks that you should know is that, while this thing might come equipped, with some, “dual-sport” looking tires, and dual channel ABS, this is not a motorcycle you’ll be taking on anything more than a gravel road, it just doesn’t have the ground clearance for that.

I’m sure there’s one guy, probably named Mike, who’s going to put down the Red Bull just long enough to comment that he takes his 401 off-roading on gnarly trails.

If you want to go proper off-roading, don’t be like Mike, get another bike.

The Price

Anyway, when I saw this one at the police station all crashed with the gas cap all mangled and the ignition switch all destroyed, I thought… what are these things worth anyway?

It turns out, where I live, you can get a used one for like $2,500 to $3,000 US, or $3,500 to $4,000 Canadian.

Now, I was just looking for something small to zip around the city on as a secondary bike, or maybe as a winter beater, and a used 401 was starting to look like a bargain.

The Family

So again, the question is, should you buy one, and if you’re a Svartpilen, you should know she has a sister bike, the slightly more sporty Vitpilen 401, and also a ginger cousin, the KTM 390 Duke.

All three bikes share the same:

• Engine, giving them about 44ish horsepower and 27 foot pounds of torque
• Trellis Frame, giving them both lightweight flickable handling
• Brakes, ByBre parts with Bosch Dual-Channel ABS
• Suspension, best in class WP Apex open cartridge forks

They even weigh within 5-10 lbs of each other.

The differences are in both form, and function. The KTM is more aggressive in setup, designed for the wannabe fastboys. The Svartpilen is more upright and utilitarian, designed the inner city or local commuter.

And one more difference that we’ll talk about later.

I’ve noticed that in parts of the world, used 390 Dukes are cheaper. In other parts, used 401s are cheaper. It seems to really depend on where you live. Which one of these motorcycles are you leaning towards, and, is one of them significantly cheaper than the other where you live? Let me know.

The Downsides

Now, I’ve known for years that YouTubers like YammieNoob and Chaseontwowheels always complimented the quality of this motorcycle, so after leaving the police station and checking the used Svartpilen prices, I was feeling pretty confident about one.

So at this point I’m like, okay, what are the downsides though? It turns out, there are a few.

CON #1: The Electrical System

The biggest documented concern I found, was the electrical system.

Multiple first-gen owners across multiple countries have reported a pattern: headlight failures, radiator fan failures, and in some cases, complete wiring system failures.

One owner reported a year’s worth of downtime over his five years of ownership. Now, we have to assume that’s only his half of the story, his dealer might see things differently, but even if we cut his story in half, six months of downtime over 5 years. That’s rough.

If you’re planning on buying a first gen Husqvarna 401, check out all of the wires you can see, especially on earlier years, especially behind the headlight, and look for any signs of wear or wires starting to rub or fray. By 2023, a lot of issues were sorted out, either in manufacturing, or through a recall.

So in theory, this 2023 401 should have been just fine, if a thief didn’t start hacking away at it.

Luckily in Toronto, Studio Cycle has been an awesome Husqvarna dealer for a number of years. But, good dealer support really depends on where you live.

CON #2: The Distribution

KTM made a series of stupid decisions leading up to 2024 and 2025. They kept over-producing motorcycles like the good times were never going to stop, to the point of almost bankrupting themselves. And because Husqvarna runs on parent company KTM’s dealer and parts network, that turbulence hit Svartpilen owners too.

First-gen owners were already documenting parts delays before KTM’s crisis. But now we’re in a bit of a supply chain hangover.

KTM stopped manufacturing for months. They laid off a ton of people, AND they also stopped paying their suppliers, so their suppliers stopped giving KTM what they needed to make motorcycles and parts. And we can’t get, what they can’t make. .

Long story short, Indian company Bajaj buys up a huge stake in KTM to save it from going under, moves production of a handful of small parts to India which helps to restore the supply chain of those particular items.

But body panels and gas tanks for an out-of-production first gen 401? You’re looking at 8 to 12 weeks because those are really low priority on the production schedule. If this is your only ride to work, that’s probably a deal-breaker for you.

The Good Stuff

That’s kind of a bleak outlook, so let’s talk about some of the pros:

We touched on the Adjustable WP Apex Suspension already, and not only are these quality components, but you won’t get this amount of adjustability on any other 300, 400, or even 500cc motorcycle sold in North America today. And check this out. Almost three years living out doors, and the fork seals have never been replaced. That’s quality.

This motorcycle weighs in at just 353 lbs dry making it an absolute featherweight of a motorcycle, which new or old riders will appreciate.

The seat height is 32.9” which might sound high for beginners, but the seat and body of the motorcycle are narrow, and the suspension compresses a couple inches down when you sit on it, so don’t let that number scare you.

The 401 is perfect for beginners, or guys like me who just enjoy good fun motorcycling in any shape or size. Are we starting to feel a little more optimistic about getting a 401 yet?

The Rest

Whether you said yes or no, there are a still a few more cons, so let’s hammer those out real quick:

1) Most motorcycles like the KTM 390 Duke and the new gen of Husky 401s have tubeless tires, unfortunately, the first gen Svartpilen 401 still has tubed tires, like a bicycle. That means if you get a puncture, boom, no slow leak, your ride is instantly over, and that sucks. Make sure you save the name and phone number of the best motorcycle towing company in the business, just in case.

2) The gearbox is infamously finicky at finding neutral if you’re already stopped. Your best bet is fresh oil and shifting into neutral, before, coming to a complete stop.

3) The fuel tank is only 2.5 gallons, or 9.5 liters, meaning you’ll be filling up about every 95 miles or 150 km. Also the fuel gage is notorious for lying about how much gas you have left, don’t trust it. Just reset your trip meter every time you fill up and keep an eye on that instead.

4) The bike comes fueled very lean from factory because of Greta Thunberg. It can give a slightly jerky throttle response, especially in low-speed situations. Community fixes include Fuel X, PowerTronic, TunerPro, that kind of stuff. If your seller says your bike has that, that’s awesome. If not, and you want your 401 to run as smooth as possible, budget an extra few extra hundred bucks to correct that. THANKS A LOT, GRETA!

The Decision

So, should you buy a used Svartpilen 401? It’s is a great, punchy, easy to ride, rev happy motorcycle, with great suspension and finish quality that, mostly can survive whatever hell you’ll put it through. And yeah it’s had a few sabotaged parts replaced, and sure it has exactly four rusty bolts that you could easily replace for cheap, but considering it lives outside, it looks amazing. If that sounds good to you, buy it.

But if you need to rely on this motorcycle to get you to work and back every day, and having to wait weeks or even months for a part could potentially ruin your whole life, don’t buy it.

I hope you’ll please let me know in the comments if you’d get this motorcycle, or if that parts availability, or something else, is scaring you away. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

As for me. Would I buy one? Yes. Because I also have other bikes I can count on. But have I found the perfect motorcycle, or even just my next bike, in the 401? No. It’s a great beginner motorcycle, but I only have it here to give it a quick start of the season shakedown test ride before it’s once again reunited with its rightful owner… who will continue to park it outside.

If you want to see what motorcycles I WOULD buy from each brand, click this video right over here. If you found this helpful, please help me by hitting the like button. And if you want more no-BS motorcycle content, subscribe! Your support really helps. As always, thanks for watching, ride safe, but have fun. Peace!