KIWI RIDER DECEMBER 2017 VOL.2 | Page 75

The SWM’s stability and balance inspires confident riding your total bike price well over the very respectable $12,000 of the fully-dressed Superdual. Sure, there are other mid-capacity adventure bikes that come with a reasonable package of gear, but they are also priced a fair bit north of the SWM’s shop-floor tag. To my eyes, the Superdual looks the business, with nice styling touches and the red frame with black and silver livery for the rest of the bike all looks great. The tank’s a generous 18 litres and will provide a decent range. There’s no ABS or traction control here, the recipe reading more like a classic mix of reliable thumper engine, rugged frame, decent brakes and compliant seat and suspension. It’s what you might call ‘old school’ Kiwi. This may change, however, as I understand an ABS-switchable model may be on the cards. The Superdual joins its RS enduro-styled stablemate, which was released here in NZ last year. With it’s 19-inch front and 17-inch rear spoked wheels the Superdual is clearly targeted at adventure and back-road touring as opposed to the RS’ 21inch front and its more off road-biased intentions. SWM is a reincarnation of an Italian manufacturer most prominent in the 70s, which then disappeared in the mid-80s. Now, with a new owner the manufacturing plant is based in Italy, in the old Husqvarna HQ facility. The beating heart of these new SWM bikes is the Husky-derived TE610 engine, but with modern updates such as fuel injection, Euro-4 exhaust, electric start, new valves, clutch, oil pump and electronics. The water-cooled unit puts out a claimed 54hp and is matched to a six- speed gearbox. It’s not crazy power, but perfectly adequate for what the bike’s designed for. On the road the smoothness of this engine really shines. It’s nicely balanced with very little vibration across the rev range. The gearbox works well too, with a good spread of ratios for this bike’s intended use. The Superdual has a more sculpted seat than the enduro seat of the RS, and after a 150km stint I can confirm it passes KIWI RIDER 75