SWM SUPERDUAL X
R I D E R E V I E W
P72
You might not be familiar
with the SWM brand yet, but
you are probably already fa-
miliar with this motorcycle and
didn't know it—it's a Husqvarna
at heart. When KTM bought
Husqvarna from BMW in 2013,
the Austrians left behind a
perfectly good motorcycle
manufacturing plant in Italy,
where BMW-owned Husqvarnas were
last built. Using the name of a defunct
but popular Italian motorcycle manu-
facturer of the 1970s and 1980s, SWM
resurfaced after having acquired the
Varese, Italy factory, rights and tooling
to make what used to be Husqvarna
motorcycles again. One of them what
you see here, the SMW Superdual
X, which started life in 2011 as the
Husqvarna TE630 (but its lineage
goes back much further).
The Superdual X is heavily based
on that bike, a dual-sport motorcycle
that didn't really shine on either the
dirt or the pavement. The TE630
wasn't really meant to be ridden much
on the pavement, yet it was too big to
be a very effective dual-sport bike on
the trail. The TE630 kind of floated
around in no-man's land.
However, SWM saw that the TE630
had potential and that without much
effort could be turned into an ideal
lightweight budget ADV bike and in-
vented the Superdual X. Much of the
Superdual X comes straight from the
TE630, including the TE's dual-exhaust
fuel-injected 600cc DOHC four-valve
motor with electric starting. Transmis-
sion is a six-speed, and lubrication
is handled via a wet-sump oil circula-
tion system.
The frame is all Husqvarna, too.
Close-up inspection reveals a famil-
iar old-school Husqvarna double-
cradle central backbone frame
configuration that's been around
in some form or another since the
1980s. Suspension components,
however, have changed. The SWM
is fitted with a fully adjustable
43mm, USD, Fastace-made fork,
and, in the back, a single Sachs
A modest windscreen is
a nice touch. A must for
adventure riding.
At the heart of the
SMW Superdual
X is a 2011
Husqvarna TE630.
The SMW's motor is fuel injected
and features dual exhausts.
