Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

http://www.adbmag.com.au JUNE 201 7 | 137

T’S NOT EVERYdaythe

Editor ofADBmagazine calls

youupandsays:“Hey,mate,

howwouldyouliketotake

custody of our next long-term

est bike? You get to ride it,

setitupandlivewithitforthe

rest of the year, and we’ll set

youupwithplentyof

consumables andsomefresh

ridinggear. Are you keen?”

Keen?I’m keenerthanKen

Roczen signingabig,fatHRC

contract. Bringit on. And

boom, simpleasthat,Ihad

joinedtheranksofthe

privileged few to receive an

ADBlong-termer.

Two we ekslater Editor

MitchLees wasbackinghis

shiny new MitsubishiTriton

downthedriveway with‘my’

precious cargo inthetray.

Andwhatagleaming red,

white and black piece of

Italianoff-roadhardwareit

was:noneotherthana

thundering new SWM

RS500R thumper.

Asweunloadeditand I

rolled the bike into myshed,

an overwhelming sense of

deja vu descended upon me:

canyousay2010Husqvarna

TE510? If so,you’ll be all over

this budget, big-bore Italian.

Myregular rides of recent

timeshave beenaYamaha

XT660Z Ténérélong-distance

loungechair,fortheannual

TénéréTragics Run, and a

WR250F forbushsurgery.

QUALITY TIME

Noprize for figuringthe

RS500R isgoingtosplitthem

fairdownthemiddle.

SWM ispromotingthe

RS500Rasaserious

trailridingtool,ratherthan an

enduro weapon, whichis just

finebymewith thetype of

ridingIplantodo. Andpriced

at$8990 plus on-roads,

plentyoftrailriders will be

givingtheSWMmorethan a

cursory glance, so it’s goingto

beinterestingtoseejusthow

manySWM riders I cross trails

with during the year.

Myplanistohitsome

weekend trailrides with myold

mates from the Sydneybranch

oftheDSMRA,give the SWM

an airingat the Kowen Forest

Ride and at the Watagans

Trailbike Rally in August, as

well as headingfor some

longer rides, includinga

session in the vast BigDesert

countryout the back of

Hattah, where I hopethe

thunderingRS500R will be

rightin itselement.

Butall thatlies ahead;for

now I’vehadtheItalian

stallion for justover a week

• aweekthatcoincidedwitha
  filthylow-pressure system
  being parkedovertheNSW
  coastwhichdeliverednothing
  butstorms anddaily
  drenchings. I managedtoget
  theSWMoutfor anhour for a
  touchy-feely session, but
  other than that, this
  relationship has been filled
  with tentative glances across
  thegarage.
  Andrew Clubb

FACTORY RIDE / READERS RIDE / HERITAGE / ACTION / OAS / BUYERS GUIDE

MAIN:Adventurer Andrew Clubb.Lookat

how trick thatpanelgarage door is

1.Single Arrow muffler replaces stockpair

2.Chain is readyfor action

3. Keep rubbing hard and there’s a Husky
   emblemunderneaththere

1

2

3

SOFAR...

HOURS:

1

MODS THIS MONTH:

None, she’sbrandspankers!

MODSNEXTMONTH:

Barkbusters, Forcebashplate,

shorter rear guardextension

andmore

SWMRS500R

RRP:

$ 8990

WARRANTY:

Six months’ partsandlabour

DISTRIBUTOR:

SWM Motorcycles Australia

INTERNET:

http://www.swmmotorcycles.com.au

I E y h c t s r

TOUCH ME,

FEEL ME

Some of the thingsthatstand

outfor me nowthatIhavethe

RS500R parkedintheshedis

the easy access to the

sparkplug,theamountof room

around the motor’s top-end,

theBrembobrakes andclutch,

Kayabasuspension,beefy

front axle, fast SWMgraphics

andtastyArrow muffler (which

comes as a retailpromo).

Ontheflip side, stuffthatI

wanttofixontheSWMarethe

handshields,poorlyprotected

frametubes andcrankcase,

overly largefrontguard and

rear guardextension, and

limitedfuelrange with the

stock7.2litretank.

Sevenlitres justwon’tcutit

onabig-bore thumper for real

trailriding. Thewordisthat

VictorianbrandSafari already

has a larger tank on the way,

basedon a slightreworkofthe

16 -litrenumberthatfitted the

Husqvarna TE510 upto 2010.

ITALIAN

MEATBALLS

MEET

CHINESE

TAKE-AWAY

Launchedlastyear in Australia,

the SWM RS500R(and RS300R)

literallyarereborn Husqvarnas,

fromthedays after Huskywas

bought by BMW and the TE510

replacedbythethen radical

TE 511 in2 01 0.

TheSWMsareproducedin

Italyinoneofthesame

factories and by some of the

same staff asthe pre-BMW

Husqvarnas. A revered

manufacturer of competition

off-roadmachines inthe1970s

andearly’80s,SWMhasbeen

resurrectedbyformer

Husqvarna employees headed

byTechnicalManager Apelio

Macchiwithinvestmentfrom

leadingChinese brand Shineray.

Being closelybasedonthe

Husqvarna TE510 and TE310

models,theRSbikeshave given

SWManinstantentreeintothe

trailandenduro market,whilea

SWM RS650Rdualsport(above,

basedontheHuskyTE630)also

hasbeen released,along witha

fewretroroad bikes.Thereare

all-new SWMs settoroll down

theline inthe coming months

and years.

Whatwillmakealotof

prospective SWM owners stand

upandtakenotice isthe

pricing. The RS500R is just

$ 8990 plus ORC. That’s a whole

lotofbig-bore four-stroke

trailbike–withaserious

enduroheritage–fornotalot

of precious muller.

SWMRS 65 0R