2019 SWM RS 500 R
FIRST REVIEW
P94
I saw him a few more times af-
ter that, riding around the neigh-
borhood on it, and we promised
each other that one day we'd go
for a ride together. Unfortunately,
that day never came, at least not
yet, because he got rid of the
Husky after about month, saying
he enjoyed the bike but couldn't
justify the money that he paid for
it. I haven't seen him since.
However, I get it. He's in
no-mans land when it comes to
dual sport bikes. His full frame is
much too large for an "affordable"
dual sport bike, and he can't
come to terms spending over five
figures for a full-size dual-sport
bike with the performance and
power that he requires. I hope
I run into him again so I can tell
him about the new SMW RS
500 R that we just finished test-
ing. This high performance, big-
bore dirt-focused dual-sport bike
is designed for him.
I say that because the RS 500
R is that ideal "in-between" dual
sport bike. It has performance,
power and, here is the key, a
small $7795 price tag. Small
against comparable dual sport
bikes like the $11,099 FE501,
the $11,199 KTM EXC 450, the
$10,399 Honda CRF450L, and
the $10,499 Beta 430 RR-S.
So, what's the SWM RS 500
R, you ask? Simple—a Husqvar-
na.
When KTM bought Husqvarna
from BMW in 2013, it bought
just the Husqvarna name and
left behind a perfectly good
factory standing dormant in
Varese, Italy. Ampelio Macchi,
an engineer from Cagiva (which
also owned Husqvarna at one
time), acquired the factory with
funding from an investment firm
in China. Macchi picked up
where Husqvarna left off, but he
couldn't call his new company
Husqvarna, of course, so he
came up with SWM, which had
identity value in Europe. SWM,
you might recall, was also the
This SWM is not
related to the
original SWM
manufacturer that
closed its doors
in 1984 but is
closely related to
last Italian-made
Husqvarnas.
