SWM Superdual T first ride review: This 600 cc Italian dual-sport is a compelling offering at Rs 5.5 lakh

By Shubhabrata Marmar

SWM. Ring a bell? In Italy it does. SWM was a dirt bike maker of some renown in Italy between 1971 and into the early 80s, after which it closed its doors. What SWM stands for, whether it’s SVVM — the names of its founders, or Speedy Working Motors isn’t clear, but three years ago, Chinese motorcycle brand Shineray funded the resurrection of SWM. Three years after they re-started operations, SWM Motorcycles decided that they were ready to meet the public, as it were.

We went to the SWM Media Day to experience this resurrected SWM first hand, and among the motorcycles we rode was the SWM Superdual T, which is coming to India shortly.

The factory we were visiting is in Biandronno on the outskirts of Varese, a little town that is also home to MV Agusta. In fact, motorcycle history runs deep here. Cagiva, the old and current dormant Italian brand made itself a home here and at one point, it called Ducati, Husqvarna and MV Agusta its own. And the SWM factory, in fact, is the Husqvarna factory. The factory was where Huskies were made under BMW Motorrad ownership and product development as well as regular production was underway here.

Then BMW decided that it wanted to focus on its own-brand motorcycles and Husqvarna was sold to KTM. The men in orange decided that they didn’t want any part of the factory and took nothing but the brand, more or less, to their Mattighofen, Austria headquarters, leaving an 80,000 units a year capable factory, product lines, R&D activity and all behind. During this time, the SWM brand had disappeared. But backed by Chinese money, SWM rose out of its sleep by acquiring the factory as well as the product lines. In there is the frame and motor that underpin the Superdual. History lesson over, let’s move on to the actual bike.

So what we have here is a steel frame that hosts a 600 cc single cylinder engine. You will see references to an SWM 650, and it confused me too, but it seems that the 600 cc ‘platform’ is referred to as the SWM 650, it’s a naming quirk. Anyway, so SWM, which started operations just three years ago, took the old engine and updated it. In came fuel injection and other details, all aimed to ensure that the engine could meet current emissions norms.

The motorcycle in the photographs is the new Euro IV model that is just entering production, in fact. In this guise, this liquid cooled and fuel-injected oversquare 600 cc single makes 54 PS at 7,500 rpm as well as 53.5 Nm at 6,500 rpm. Those are reasonable power figures from a big single, but it isn’t the cutting edge – the KTM 690s boast of a 50 cc larger engine that makes over 70 PS and is considered to be one of the most powerful singles in production at the moment. But as you will see, not everything is about the latest technology. The wet sump engine is completed by a slick-shifting 6-speed gearbox and chain final drive.

The engine is mounted in a steel single-downtube double cradle frame and it’s a proper dirt bike frame. The minimum ground clearance is over 200 mm and the seat height is a lofty 890 mm. This sounds silly-tall, but remember it also has a narrow and near-flat dirt bike seat so more people will reach the ground than you think. The other reason why the bike won’t feel that tall is the suspension: The SWM has adjustable suspension front and rear with 210 and 270 mm of travel. When you sit, the ride height lowers completely as the suspenders take your weight. It is still, all things considered, a tall motorcycle. Rounding out the equipment is a 300 mm single disc and 22 mm disc at the rear, ABS is standard.

In all of these ways, the Superdual T sounds like a full-on dirt bike, yes? Well, this feeling isn’t so far from the truth because that is the origin of the machine. SWM intended for the Superdual T to be an on-off roader. And to that end, they’ve given it 19-inch and 17-inch rims and the Metzeler Tourance tyres are on-off road tyres with a road bias.

And riding it underlined both the off-road history as well as the road-going nature of the machine. The age of the engine peeks out now and then, for example, the engine can be hard to start despite the electric starter and the fuel injection. But it is a good one. Torque arrives easy and quick and bombing along at a reasonably quick pace up the mountain roads in the vicinity of the factory, there never seemed to be a need to rev the engine up, even on the steep inclines. I saw nearly 150 kmph at one point, and the motorcycle was still pulling happily.

The thing to watch will be vibration – which is more to do with our expectations of smoothness than actual shaking, though. Big singles cannot fully hide their rocking motions and the SWM lets a little bit slip. I think I can make my peace with the level of vibration I felt with ease, but I know Indian customers can be demanding.

On the flip side, I loved how the chassis felt. Hitting potholes and manhole covers is almost a game because the SWM’s suspension is on the ball. The general chassis attitude is very stable and that leads you to think that it’s stiff. But it allows the wheels to move quite easily so that the hits are isolated and absorbed easily. I really liked the poise of the setup and the sense that you almost would not ever be able to cause any rim damage with this level of suspension.

What will take getting used to, though, is the diminished sense of feedback that comes from the tall suspension and a 19-inch front wheel. The tyres are grippy and extremely trustworthy, and in the short time I rode the Superdual, I had no problem committing to lines and then changing them as I charged up an unknown road.

When I clambered off the bikes having clipped my ankles on the Givi panniers, I was smiling. Because the one person in the country who has the KTM 690 SM right now knows how good and apt a 50-70 PS big-engined, dirtbike-based motorcycle can feel in Indian conditions. The Superdual ticked many boxes for me on this short ride and left me waiting to ride it a lot more.

And you can be sure that you and I will get to see a lot of the SWM Superdual T. Motoroyale is a Pune-based venture that currently represents MV Agusta in India and have an SKD line on which they assemble the machines. The same firm has also signed with SWM to exclusively distribute their bikes in India. The current product plan for SWM, though, is just about the Superdual T and shortly the X. As soon as the Euro IV kits for the Superdual T become available, Motoroyale will pursue homologation, while modifying the SKD line to handle CKD assembly for the SWM. This should allow, Motoroyale believes, a price point in the Rs 5.5 lakh region, ex-showroom. Motoroyale has always planned as a multi-brand initiative and SWM is the second brand they are adding to their kitty.

So, who is ready for an Italian, 600 cc dual-sport making 55PS at an asking price of Rs 5.5 lakh? Let us know in the comments below!