Wonderful, thoughtful piece! Lots of important questions presented!
You're literacy and skill in English is better than most native speakers!

You're a brave man to take the Husky. I don't know if your Husky has the revised 690 Engine (done to KTM's in 2016) but I would not go on that bike unless it has that new, revised engine.

The rocker arm issues on 701's here in USA are starting to pop up quite frequently, and not with racers. Just regular riders. The fact is ... on earlier engines ... they fail, often in under 10K miles.

I just sold a near new 2017 KTM 690 Duke, which DOES have the new engine and it was WONDERFUL! I did not fit that tiny KTM so sold it. Word is the new motor is more trouble free.

On new Engine KTM "fixed" rocker arm issues and upgraded other things. Hopefully the Huskies got this revised engine ??

I've never ridden the Husky 701 but I'm sure it will be fantastic ... moreso, OFF ROAD.

But on your ride, how much Off Road will you do? And how will that Husky be riding 10 hours on highway at 130 km? "Comfort"?

In some places finding good off road routes can be challenging. But go for it!

I hope you have a quality, WIDE seat on that bike, something you can sit on ALL DAY. You spoke of "Comforts" ...being comfortable on the bike is key, IMO.

Luggage choice is easy. Has to be soft luggage, hopefully smaller, lighter panniers. With no sub frame, hard bags and racks could overwhelm contact points ... things will break riding rough road, wash board and rocky tracks.

Been there, seen this happen in person in Baja. Low weight is key (as you know) panniers, racks and hardware add roughly 15 kg. over soft bags.

I ran GIVI bags on my DR650, switched to soft, saved 30 lbs. net. I use lightweight racks for soft bags. No breakage in 10 years.

You could go with a Giant loop (rack less system) or find light, minimalist rack to keep soft bags off pipe/out of wheel.

You mentioned "inner bags". Only way to go ... and guess what? You can use them with Soft bags too. I never remove my soft bags from the bike, just grab soft inner bags and go. Easy. Less than 2 minutes to put soft bags back into panniers.

If you use small panniers you may need a top duffel bag. I use a 20L Wolfman bag. Can hold a TON of stuff, straps to rear rack and soft panniers. Takes about 3 minutes to load it on bike. I use mine for camping gear mostly.

Will you carry camping gear? NOTE: it takes up A LOT of space! On my Mexico rides I don't bring it ... but I'm not going RTW for a year or more like you!

One thing don't think you mentioned was crashing with Hard bags on. Off road it's likely you will fall over. I've been on the road with BMW guys who's expensive hard bags got so bent up in a simple fall that they would not longer open or close easily ... and not waterproof!

You did mention possible injury, seen that too, in fact happened to me, hurt but no broken leg. Lucky.

Also, it's common for rack attach point to crack or break riding wash board type
roads with heavy Alu panniers and racks.

I think many here only use Hard panniers so they can display stickers, have a camp table. Serious? Not for me, thanks.

Can you show pics of your bike with racks mounted for your soft panniers?

My former bike with GIVI hard bags:

2009 in Baja.


9 years later, same bike, different luggage.

I could feel the difference riding off road with soft bags vs. hard. In deep sand it was much easier to manage, also tracked straighter and safer on super steep and loose down hill terrain. Weight matters!