2023 Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition First Ride

[Hugh Janus]

The Expedition’s engine and electronics package invite you to open the throttle and get it sliding. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

What makes an adventure bike an adventure bike? That opens a can of worms, right? As this class continues to evolve, motorcycle companies have been trying to answer that question for years. For one, there are more options on the market than ever, while that growth has also meant that the class has been shattered into a variety of subgroups, with manufacturers trying to fine-tune their offerings for anyone and everyone. In our opinion, an ADV bike has to have certain attributes to be considered legit. It has to be comfortable eating up a lot more miles than an enduro, needs to be capable of carrying luggage, and has to easily outperform streetbikes in the dirt. That’s the stripped-down version.

That criteria could generate a mind-dizzying list of matches. But what if you change that last requirement to read: must perform like a big dirt bike off-road? Ahhh, now we’ve narrowed down the field substantially. Husqvarna’s kissing cousin KTM definitely didn’t invent the ADV bike, that credit will always go to BMW and its original R80G/S back in 1980, but injecting dirt bike DNA into big-engine ADVs is something the Austrian company has mastered.

Fortunately for Husky, stablemate KTM was willing to share its middleweight platform, and therefore immediately put the Norden 901 on a really high pedestal. Kind of like getting a factory deal your first time at the track.

Husqvarna’s Norden 901 Expedition is basically an accessorized version of the base model. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

For those shopping for an adventure model, it really is a question of what you intend to do with it. Are you looking for a mall crawler, a long-distance tourer, a single-track slayer, or something in between?

For the sake of simplicity, let’s talk about the bikes underneath the KTM umbrella. Those seeking an open class/adventure-tourer need look no further than KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure S, or the more dirtworthy Super Adventure R. Want something that can slay single-track, look to KTM’s 690 Enduro R or GasGas’ ES 700. But in our opinion, it’s the middle ground that starts getting really interesting. KTM’s 890 Adventure R, 890 Adventure, Husky’s Norden 901, and now the brand-new Norden 901 Expedition fill that gap. In theory, these are the bikes that can do it all.

The 901 Expedition basically has the suspension of the 890 R with a ton of touring amenities thrown into the mix. If you want to get into the weeds on the Expedition you can read our First Look here. In this review we’re going to talk more about how it all works out in the real world.

We were lucky enough to spend two full days riding the Husky Norden 901 Expedition in South Africa. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Riding Impression

The international press launch for the Expedition took place outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Why, you ask, was the event at the tip of Africa? Well for one, it happens to be a country packed to the rafters with dirt roads, and some awesome paved ones as well. Total ADV territory. It’s not very often that press launches include two full days of riding, but that was the case here. Not only did that give us an opportunity to put in some decent miles (around 250), with a majority of that off highway, but also meant that we worked up to more difficult terrain as the two days progressed. What’s more useful, is that after two days of riding, understanding the ins and outs of the electronics, and then having the time to try a lot of different combinations and tweak suspension if needed, was possible.

South Africa is an adventure rider’s dream. (Blake Conner/)

In an effort to make the event a bit more realistic, akin to what the end user will likely do, we’d be camping overnight after the first day and departing for the next from there. We loaded up the pair of standard soft bags with just the essentials for a night in the wild. That’s a bit of a stretch, we slept at a pretty fancy “glamping” spot, but hey, there were zebras and ostriches wandering around our tents, so it felt like a bit of a safari.

Day 1 began with some mellow dirt roads, allowing time to get familiar with the bike, the Pirelli tires, and cycling through some mode settings. The Norden comes with four ride modes including Street, Rain, Offroad, and Explorer. The latter comes standard on the Expedition and is a customizable mode that quickly becomes a trusted friend. When the road turned to dirt early on, then back to street, then back to dirt, it was obvious that finding a mode that was happy everywhere was in order.

Setting up Explorer mode with Offroad ABS (allowing the rear brake to be locked) and throttle response to Rally (there is also Offroad and Street) is a good compromise. You can adjust the traction control on the fly very easily so unless you really don’t want any intervention at all, it isn’t necessary to turn the MTC off completely. Besides, if you cycle the key or ignition, MTC defaults back on and to at least TC 1.

The Expedition is very competent on the road. Lambrechts Road south of Franschhoek is an amazing stretch (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Our first photo location was on the absolutely fantastic Lambrechts Road between Villiersdorp and Franschhoek. A road very similar to great American roads like those in Malibu, the Tail of the Dragon, or Blue Ridge Parkway. Apparently we weren’t alone in our admiration for this stretch of tarmac as we spent the morning dodging sportbikes, Porsches, Ferraris, and McLarens by the droves. Perfect pavement and fun curves should be sportbike territory, but the Expedition thinks it’s a big supermoto bike, easily hounding R1s and S 1000 RRs in the tight stuff. The real heroes here are the Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires, which despite being knobbies, put a ton of rubber to the road and provide very predictable on-road grip.

As the day progressed, we found ourselves on quite a few fast secondary dirt roads. Rally mode is the ideal setting for this terrain allowing lots of power and wheelspin if desired. If stepping the rear end out around corners is desired, dialing the TC back to setting 1 of nine available is really fun, offering the smallest of safety nets, yet allowing aggressive spin. At speed, the stock suspension setup for every type of riding we’d be tackling (which were the base settings on the placard under the seat) was a good compromise, allowing the chassis to absorb unseen potholes, water bars, and erosion ruts. As a refresher, the WP Xplor suspension increases travel to 9.4 inches front and rear and increases ground clearance around 0.75 inch to 10.7. The beefier 48mm fork is fully adjustable with provisions for preload, rebound, and compression damping. The PDS shock has the same adjustability, but adds high- and low-speed compression damping to the mix. A few times, however, the bike’s dirt-bike-like feeling chassis would occasionally shake its head just a bit after hitting a series of potholes at high speed.

Old Houwhoek Pass on our first day, offered some sand, rocks, and scenery. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Later on, our route took us over the Old Houwhoek Pass, a rocky, rutted, eroded road with plenty of sand thrown into the mix to keep you on your toes. Logic would say that the Offroad mode would be ideal in this situation, with toned-down power delivery. That proved to be true for the most part, but deeper sections of sand were easier to tackle with the full claimed 105 hp chucking roost from the rear knobby and keeping the bike moving forward.

The TFT display is your portal to the Norden’s brain. Menus are well thought out and easy to navigate, while reading the display on the go is quite easy. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

With photo and video stops requiring multiple pauses in riding, the Norden’s key and or ignition were cycled repeatedly. This is where the mystery of how and when the bike decides to retain or not retain the selected mode enters the conversation. Sometimes the bike would stay in the custom Explorer mode (with all of the individualized options selected), sometimes it would suddenly decide that it should switch the ABS to Street, and one time it changed the mode entirely to Street mode. The default settings of that latter mode don’t play nice off-road. Traction control intervenes to the point that the bike will barely move forward in the sand. That mode also switches ABS to Street and therefore applies antilock to the rear wheel, which means heavily compromised braking in the dirt.

This isn’t the end of the world, just a bit annoying, as you need to either pull over and reselect your desired mode, or switch it on the fly, taking your attention off the road. Over the two days, this happened a few times despite trying to determine what caused the bike to make that decision. We never came up with a good answer, even after discussing it with the on-site product managers.

A tent with a bed in it can’t be considered camping, right? (Blake Conner/)

After pulling into our glamping spot near the town of Grabouw, we downed a few beers while removing the side cases with our belongings in them before heading to a South African braai (barbecue). Over the two days of riding the bags did their job just fine, and we are actually fond of soft luggage like the units fitted as standard to the Expedition. However, if you travel a lot, especially off highway, we don’t think these accessory bags will be a very good long-term solution. After just a few days there were obvious signs of wear and tear at the seams on some of the bags, while the rigid part of the bag that holds the attachment hardware isn’t stiff enough to keep them from deforming. There are other options in Husqvarna’s accessory catalog, but they don’t utilize the same mounting hardware, so you would have to invest in that as well. The best solution would be to wear them out, and then search the aftermarket for an alternative.

One of our few complaints about the bike are the included soft bags. They showed signs of wear after just a few days on the trail. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Day 2 of our journey really put the 901 Expedition to task with some rougher off-road sections (nothing too technical, but lots of rocks and sand) and delivered some longer pavement sections. After pulling out of camp, we headed for an off-road riding area near the Eikenhof Dam reservoir north of Grabouw. Recent rains meant there were some mudholes to navigate, but also that the dirt and sand were in prime shape. It was here that the most challenging sections of our two-day route would be found.

Some fun mudholes were added to the terrain on the second day. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

We quickly ducked into some forested double-track with plenty of erosion ruts, rocks, and soft sand. As discovered the previous day, the preferred mode was a custom Explorer setting with Rally throttle response, Offroad ABS, and TC set to 1. More importantly, this would be the definitive test of the Expedition’s WP Xplor suspension, which is the bike’s most significant upgrade over the standard Norden’s WP Apex units.

For such a large machine, weighing more than 500 pounds fully fueled, the Expedition carries the weight well. Like its cousin the 890 Adventure, the Norden’s saddle fuel tanks put the mass down low. This really pays off when snaking through the sand and makes the bike feel a lot lighter than the numbers would lead you to believe. Like everything about an adventure bike, finding a compromise between highway and chunky dirt is never going to be easy. On the road, you always want a stiffer ride, while in the baby heads, a softer forgiving ride is necessary.

Forging the edge of the Boskloof Dam. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

On the roughest terrain, soft and plush is the ticket. A few sections that morning included beat, ledgy, rock-strewn climbs, where momentum is key. Getting bounced off line by too-stiff suspension would have consequences, so the stock suspension setup on the bikes for the event proved to be really good. Picking a line through the biggest rocks isn’t a big deal as the Expedition tracks well as it sucks up the hits, and if you need to plow straight into some others to keep from losing that flow, so be it. After all, there’s no use in having that extra travel if you don’t utilize it, right?

Later on, while doing photo passes, there were some small roller jumps that definitely sucked up all of the travel available, confirming that it was tapped out with a solid thunk as the centerstand and skid plate kissed the ground. But once again, the compromise paid off almost everywhere else. Another note: As good as the Pirelli tires are for most conditions, if you know you’re going to be riding a lot of sand, a more aggressive knobby front tire is worth considering.

The Expedition gets WP’s Xplor suspension front and rear, which increases travel to 9.4 inches at each end. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Another area that Husky has done a great job finding balance is the riding position and ergonomics. With a bunch of time spent off the asphalt, there is a lot of standing on the pegs. Placement of the bars is really good (they can be adjusted to six different positions with 30mm of fore and aft adjustment), while the “tank” is comfortable between this 5-foot, 11-inch rider’s legs. While standing, getting a good view over the extra tall touring windscreen is not an issue, but in some other sections, when seated, seeing through that towering muddy screen is really difficult. We’d likely shop the accessory catalog for a lower screen if riding off-road on a regular basis was the plan. On the road, the windscreen provides excellent protection from the wind and the small air vent three-quarters of the way up does its job of reducing buffeting, even with an off-road helmet on.

Seated or standing, the latter of which we did a lot of off-road, the Husky 901 Norden Expedition was very comfortable. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Husky really delivered the touring comfort that the Expedition name promises. When seated, the reach to the bars is quite comfortable, and the seat is not only very supportive but quite comfy, and can be adjusted to two heights, either 34.4 inches in the low position or 35.2 inches in the high setting. Not that it was necessary at the end of summer in South Africa, but the Expedition comes standard with a heated rider seat (sorry, no passenger) and grips. With the seat in the lower position, knees were bent just a bit past 90 degrees, which basically means that long hours in the saddle are totally doable.

The LC8c that is shared with KTM’s 890 Adventure models, is an awesome ADV engine. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

The one thing that we’ve not addressed up to this point is the engine. We’ve saved the best for last.

The 889cc LC8c engine that the Norden shares with the orange bikes is, straight up, an awesome adventure-bike powerplant. Once again, it comes down to the balance between on-road and off. What do you intend to ride and where? If blasting around 90 percent of the time on asphalt is your reality, you might want to look at bigger bikes like the 1290 Super Adventure. But for the type of riding that we did around Cape Town, on and off the beaten path and then repeating that over and over, this engine is amazing. On the road, the Norden feels sporty and quick, easily lofting the front wheel in second gear and acting like a hooligan. When making a quick pass, a downshift from sixth to fifth (or maybe fourth) wakes it up nicely and allows you to blast past.

Not blowing across the centerline. South Africans ride on the “wrong” side of the road. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

Off-road, there is no denying that the LC8 is stout, not to the degree of the latest 1,200cc-plus monsters, but it doesn’t leave you wanting much more. In this era of awesome electronics, getting the most out of the engine is simply a matter of dialing in the intervention you’re comfortable with. That right there makes this bike a great choice for a huge range of riders. Expert riders will be totally happy letting it eat with big throttle openings and very little interference from the electronics, while others can find confidence through mellower delivery and more traction control.

What’s even more impressive is the engine’s flexibility and tractability. The best way to get a sense of this is to put it in full power mode and turn off the MTC. Hidden under the layers of intervention is a motor that delivers a broad spread of torque that allows the rider to choose a couple different gear options. Chugging up loose climbs rarely requires first gear and is usually better in second or even third, while the nature of the engine provides smooth throttle delivery, even in the most aggressive modes.

One feature that was hit or miss is the standard up-and-down quickshifter. On the road, there is very little to complain about; the shifter making clean—if just a little bit snatchy—shifts most of the time. Off-road, the shifts can be a bit more finicky, or perhaps the very nature of off-road riding contributed to making it seem so. Big clunky off-road boots are likely partially to blame, not allowing you to feel the lever hanging up and returning after the shift. But for that same reason, turning the system off during technical riding might be a preferred option.

The view south from Hanskop Peak looking at False Bay. (Blake Conner/)

Conclusion

So where does all of this place the Norden 901 Expedition in the current world of adventure bikes? Well, for one, Husky clearly understands ADV bikes and gets the customers who are shopping for one. As we discovered, straight out of the box, the Expedition can hit the road and deliver performance on the tarmac and off. If our two-day simulation is accurate at all, the bike is totally capable of handling every type of ADV riding with very few modifications. For those hardcore riders there are a few things that they’d likely want to change, but that really comes down to preference and long-term usability. If you want to hit a Backcountry Discovery Route tomorrow, we can assure you the Norden 901 Expedition can handle it, as is.

One of the key additions to the Expedition is this stout skid plate. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)

So why buy a $15,799 Expedition instead of the standard Norden? It really does offer quite a bit of value for the additional $1,300 that the bike costs compared to the base model. If the Xplor suspension alone was the only addition, we’d still make that assessment. But you also get a bunch of other items that sweeten the deal. An aluminum skid plate, centerstand, heated seat and grips, and Bluetooth connectivity unit are super welcome, while the luggage is adequate in the short term. We can’t imagine that you could upgrade a standard Norden’s suspension for anywhere near that nominal extra cost, let alone getting all of the other accessories.

At the end of the day, the Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition delivers on the promise that the name implies, and then some. Now it’s up to you to decide if that’s what you’re looking for in an adventure bike. Bikes are shipping to dealers now, and should be available in the next few weeks. From our two days with the bike we walked away impressed, the Norden 901 Expedition definitely checks all the boxes on our list to be called a super legit adventure bike.

Wrestling the Expedition through the sand. We’d prefer a more aggressive knobby for sand riding. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)
The Expedition gets a taller touring windscreen than the base Norden. On the road it was great. Off-road, we’d prefer a shorter unit. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)
LED lighting includes the fog lamps and slim LED turn indicators front and rear. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)
WP’s 48mm Xplor fork is plush when you want it to be, and yet has really good bottoming resistance. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)
Pirelli’s Scorpion Rally STR tires were really good on road and off. (Marco Campelli/Sebas Romero/)
Day one route. (REVER/)
Day two route. (REVER/)

2023 Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition Specs

MSRP:	$15,799
Engine:	Liquid-cooled, DOHC, parallel twin; 4 valves/cyl
Displacement:	889cc
Bore x Stroke:	90.7 x 68.8mm
Compression Ratio:	13.5:1
Transmission/Final Drive:	6-speed, chain
Claimed Horsepower:	105.0 hp @ 8,000 rpm
Claimed Torque:	74.0 lb.-ft. @ 6,500 rpm
Fuel System:	EFI w/ twin 46mm Dell’Orto throttle bodies
Clutch:	PASC slipper clutch; cable actuation
Engine Management/Ignition:	Bosch EMS w/ RBW
Frame:	Chromoly-steel
Front Suspension:	WP Xplor 48mm inverted fork, fully adjustable; 9.4 in. travel
Rear Suspension:	WP Xplor PDS shock, fully adjustable; 9.4 in. travel
Front Brake:	Radial-mount 4-piston calipers, 320mm disc w/ Bosch ABS
Rear Brake:	2-piston caliper, 240mm disc w/ Bosch ABS
Wheels, Front/Rear:	Tubeless aluminum spoked wheels; 21 x 2.5 in. / 18 x 4.5 in.
Tires, Front/Rear:	Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR; 90/90-21 / 150/70-18
Rake/Trail:	25.8°/4.2 in.
Wheelbase:	60.1 in.
Ground Clearance:	10.6 in.
Seat Height:	34.4–35.3 in.
Fuel Capacity:	5.0 gal.
Claimed Dry Weight:	473 lb.
Contact:	husqvarna-motorcycles.com

GEARBOX

Helmet: Alpinestars Supertech M10

Jacket: Alpinestars AMT-10R Drystar XF

Jersey: Alpinestars Venture-R

Pant: Alpinestars Monteira Drystar XF

Gloves: Alpinestars Halo Leather

Boots: Alpinestars Tech 7

Goggles: 100% Racecraft 2

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