VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P99
BUT FIRST >>
You may be asking, what is
SWM? Basically, like the SWM
RS500R we tested in the past,
it's a Husqvarna from the era
before KTM bought the brand.
When KTM's parent company
Pierer Mobility Group bought
Husqvarna from BMW in 2013,
it bought just the Husqvarna
name and left behind a rela
-
tively new factory 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
was also the name of an Italian
motorcycle manufacturer that
made dirt and trials bikes in the
1970s and early '80s before
closing in 1984. Macchi revived
the SWM name, updated the old
Husqvarna models, and started
selling bikes. Texas-based
Central Powersports Distribu-
tion (CPD) took over the U.S.
distribution of SWM a couple
of years ago, and they have a
U.S. website where you can find
more information about the
company, including a dealer list.
The RS300R motor and
frame have roots back to the
Husqvarna dual sport mod
-
els from 2006 to 2010, but it
has received some significant
updates to the rest of the com
-
ponents. The 297.6cc double
overhead cam motor includes a
wet clutch with hydraulic actua
-
tion, a six-speed transmission
and an electric start. While you
may not recognize the SWM
brand name, you will likely
recognize component suppli
-
ers such as KYB suspension,
Brembo brakes, and Mikuni
fuel injection. Compared to the
original Husqvarna that the
SWM is based on, the RS300R
has updated styling and a twin
exhaust. The SWM RS300R is
also 50-state street legal, which
is not an easy certification
process, indicating just how
serious SWM and CPD are
taking the U.S. market.
