SWM (Speedy Working Motors) showcased its first offering for the Indian market at an adventure motorcycle event held recently in Pune, thus signalling that it will be launched soon. According to company officials, the SWM motorcycle is currently undergoing homologation and is expected to be launched in our market by June or July, 2018.
SWM was founded in 1971 in Italy and focused its attention on enduro, trials and motocross motorcycles. Facing financial troubles, SWM was withdrawn from the market in 1983 before it was given a new lease of life by Chinese two-wheeler manufacturer Shineray in 2014.
In India, SWM will be sold by Kinetic Group under the Motoroyale brand, which currently sells MV Agusta in India and will soon bring in iconic British brand Norton to our shores. The Superdual T will be brought to India as a CKD from SWM’s plant in Italy and will be assembled at Kinetic’s plant in Maharashtra. The Superdual is offered in two variants – the Superdual T, which is more road-focused, and the Superdual X, an off-road version. The Superdual T will be launched first, as Motoroyale feels it has a wider customer base.
In terms of styling, the Superdual T has the conventional elements of an adventure motorcycle, like a tall windscreen, a long travel suspension, a knuckle guard, a bash plate and spoke wheels to complete the rugged look. There’s also a provision to attach panniers and the side-slung exhausts do look attractive. Powering the Superdual T is a 600cc, single-cylinder, four-valve DOHC liquid-cooled motor that delivers 57hp and 53.5Nm of peak torque. The motor is mated to a six-speed manual transmission and has been tuned to offer good low-end and mid-range performance. The engine is nestled inside a dual cradle frame. It features a chunky 45mm upside-down fork at front, which is rebound adjustable. At the rear, the bike gets Sachs monoshock, which is fully adjustable for preload, compression and rebound. There’s ample suspension travel to take on the rough roads – 210mm at the front and 270mm at the rear.
Braking duties on the Superdual T are carried out by a single 300mm disc at the front and a 220mm disc at the back; and ABS is standard. The bike also sports a generous 19-litre fuel tank, which will be beneficial while touring. It tips the scale at 169kg (dry weight). It rides on 19-inch wheels up front and 17-inch wheel at the rear; both come wrapped with Metzeler Tourance tyres. One feature that might work against the SWM Superdual T is its rather steep 898mm saddle height (840mm on the Kawasaki Versys 650). Nevertheless, it will be one of the first big single-cylinder-powered Enduro bikes India has received, so far.
SWM is likely to price the upcoming Superdual T at around Rs 6 lakh (ex-showroom) and it will rival the Kawasaki Versys 650.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
