Three-Time Dakar Finisher & RTW Rider ventures on the 901 to where it all began.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=pC0WT08EHpQ%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Husqvarna knew precisely what it was doing when it tapped Lyndon Poskitt to go on an adventurous trip on its brand-new Norden 901 and document his travels. The famous world traveler and three-time Dakar finisher knows exactly how to stir our inherent desire for exploration, something he says is a part of our basic DNA. 

A highly-accomplished aerospace engineer, Poskitt also knows how to get what he wants out of an adventure bike, having fashioned his own unique and versatile steed from the foundation of a 2007 KTM 690 Rally model. This bike, he named ‘Basil’ after his late grandfather, has carried him for 5 ½ years on the road.

During his travels, he has covered more than 342,000 kilometers (212,509 miles) in 74 countries, and competed in 13 rally races including 2 finishes in Dakar’s Malle Moto class (in addition to a 2013 run where he finished 46th overall) —  all of it captured in the nearly 200 episodes of his YouTube series: Races to Places.

For Lyndon, the most important quality in an adventure bike is versatility, saying if a bike is too focused in one area, it will lack in another. He says he found this balance in the Norden 901, the first full-size adventure model for the brand. A bike that is – yes – is in many ways a KTM 890 Adventure in more travel-sensible clothing, but those premium details, things like additional wind protection, a comfort-oriented touring saddle, more plushly-tuned suspension, standard fog lights and cruise control go a long way when you’re traveling. 

In this short documentary, Lyndon begins in the small namesake town of Huskvarna (formerly Husqvarna) at the brand’s museum and points his stately Norden north (of course) towards the Arctic Circle. In the voiceover he works in the concept that northward exploration has brought some of humankind’s most important progress and achievements, explaining Husky’s #TrustInTheNorth hashtag for the bike.

The scenic footage in this short documentary is super evocative: chilly, wet and gorgeous. Lyndon’s travels northward carry him over undulating tundra, through boreal forests and over vast and barren alpine mountains as he connects lakes and waterways like so many waypoints. 

But it’s not all perfect scenes playing with groovy background beats, as in the case of minute 5:24, which finds Lyndon on the Trans Euro Trail literally stuffing the pristine Norden nose first into a deep, muddy bog. It’s literally sunk to the fairing and stuck hard. After extraction and some dismantling to clean out the mud and water, he’s on his way again, advising “never assume you know how deep a puddle is, even if it looks like it’s fun to blast through it.”

There are additional reminders and tips the world traveler weaves into his storytelling. He wants riders to know that for him, his real adventures didn’t come alive until he put aside stringent planning, and that sometimes the most memorable journeys don’t result in reaching the intended destination. He also wants us to remember to take time to record our travels, insisting that much of what we think we will remember, will in fact be forgotten. 

And to really understand a new place, Lyndon advises you must truly immerse yourself in its culture and traditions, including its food. “If the locals here in Sweden eat fish, then so will I,” he says, digging in for an impromptu lesson in smoking fish straight off the hook.

Despite a surprise skinny dipping sesh, Lyndon seems to be in very cold climes the whole way, and happy to be showing off Husqvarna’s new line of Norden-Specific technical apparel, both on the bike, and as he enjoys some truly outstanding remote camp spots and requisite campfires. His Norden-specific luggage system also gets a workout. 

In sum, Lyndon says traveling on the Norden 901 in the land that literally inspired its name was an adventure he’ll never forget. 

Of the 901 itself, Lyndon says: “I pushed the bike and it always performed. It was the perfect companion for me, and will be for many others, I’m sure.” 

Photography by Rudi Schedl

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.