KIWI RIDER DECEMBER 2017 VOL.2 | Page 76

muster . Seat height is 890 + mm , so it ’ s not a shorty , but the compliant suspension sinks a little on mounting so it ’ ll also be OK for shorter riders . Handling is good too , with a stable , balanced ride on all road surfaces . The Fast Ace forks and Sachs shock provide a plush and compliant ride , making it easy to travel long distances in comfort . Brakes are decent Brembo units and are a good match to the bikes performance , weight and handling . Metzler Tourance tyres work well on this bike and give great grip when pushing on through tight and twisty roads . They ’ re not bad on gravel either and only got a bit ‘ swimmy ’ on a section of deep , freshly laid metal I encountered . The SWM ’ s stability and balance inspires confident riding on gravel and the bar to peg set-up is perfect for a bit of stand-up work without hunching over . Whilst the bike is no lightweight dirt at 169kg ( that ’ s wet but with no fuel , so should be around 182kg with a full tank of gas - Ed ), for long haul riding it means it ’ s nicely planted and comfortably chews up the kilometres . The screen assists here and I found the height perfect for some weather protection and to keep buffeting to a minimum , even when riding a blustery SH16 back from Wellsford . Those two riding lights are also excellent , putting out a bright path ahead and making you all the more obvious to other traffic . If I owned a Superdual I ’ d likely move the lights inward a bit on the crash bars in case of an unplanned lie down . For me , the only real foible was the ignition key position , stuck way down between the bar topmount and throttle and brake cable routing . My top hint is to turn the key on before gloving up ! However , I think this issue could be greatly improved by rerouting the cables into another part of the bracket . So , there it is , a capable adventure mount without a stack of electronic rider-aid wizardry . Just good old-fashioned thumper magic with a bunch of goodies to help you get there in comfort and style . And at the price position it ’ s great value for money . You may just want to add a pair of heated grips for winter longhauls and the package would be complete .
Great value ; capable adventurer ; fully-spec ’ d
Ignition key tricky to turn
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