If you want a fast and agile bike for blasting around tight city streets or swooping country roads, you can?t go wrong with a machine powered by KTM’s ?LC4? single-cylinder engine. That includes not only the 690 Duke, but also the Vitpilen and Svartpilen 701s from KTM sister company Husqvarna.
The Kiska-designed Huskies have a small but passionate following. They weigh less than 160 kg (350 pounds) dry, have a lusty 75 hp on tap, and are blessed with pinpoint handling. I?m a fan, and when it came to shelling out my cash on a bike, put a Svartpilen 701 in my garage.

?iga Petek, the man behind the Slovenian workshop Gas&Retro, is also a fan of the middleweight Huskies. He?s just finished this custom Vitpilen 701, which makes him one of the few people who dare to mess with Kiska?s design. ?I bought this bike from local dealer MotoxGeneration for my girlfriend,? ?iga tells us. ?She?d sold the Sportster I built for her, because we were building a house. Then she wanted something to ride to her job, and I saw the potential in the Husqvarna.?

?iga has given the Vitpilen (??White Arrow? in Swedish) an even sportier vibe, and the finish is factory-level good. It looks like the work of a well-established shop, but ?iga has only been operating as a professional builder for two years.
He?s been messing around with bikes for 11 years though, inspired by his grandfather. ?Ever since I left high school, I wanted to do something that makes others happy and is handcrafted,? ...