IS IT A CHINESE BIKE? All SWM models are manufactured in Italy. However, in 2014 SWM was bought by a huge Chinese company called Shineray. As of 2015, the sales manager, Ennio Marchesin, said 20 to 25% of non-critical parts are sourced from China to keep prices down. Other parts are manufactured, assembled and produced internally. Components also come from Brembo, Akropovic, Kayaba, Marzocchi, and Sachs. This info is five years old now and may have changed though! DETAILED OWNER FEEDBACK @andymacey4673 I've converted both an swm rs500r and a rs300r [for adv riding]. Yes, both very capable, especially for the price.... the negatives, the hot start issue is persistent even after map and pipe and is an absolute PITA if you get stuck on a hill. They run real hot under the safari tank, it doesn't take much to boil them in slow stuff, the plastics are absolute trash they rack if you look at them wrong, definitely cactus if you strap luggage on. The gearing is terrible for ADV as you point out. So far, I've sourced the old 510 seat and gone back to husky te plastics, it looks better and they are more robust, bigger capacity radiator and higher capacity fan, you have to go to a bigger front sprocket or several teeth smaller on the back if you intend to do any road work at all. The oil capacity is good though. Does it do its job, yes could I have bought a second hand low k something else that does a better job for about the same money after the mods..... possibly. Would I buy another one, nope you can't sell them on unless you give them away, the money you save in purchase over say a kato/husky you lose when you sell...may as well just buy the husky and be able to get aftermarket gear like racks, towels etc. Which are sorely lacking for SWM ANOTHER LONG TERM REPORT An SWM owner who also ran an SWM Facebook owners page for years gave us this info... "On early models, the oil screen filters fell apart in the engine causing lots of problems for some owners. And rear subframe bolts were snapping, just like the old Husky TE 630 days. These were both fixed in recalls and thankfully have been the only two major issues. Smaller stuff? The bolts strip on the airbox when over tightening-also a carry over problem from the TE630. ABS from 2018 onwards on the rear ( on dirt was over sensitive) if you didn’t switch it off - rear only front stayed on , some owners made a toggle switch on the bars to switch front off as well . Unfortunately SWM May not be making the Superdual anymore due to euro 5 and the engine not being able to meet this." GOOGLE FOR LONG-TERM COMMENTS You don't really get the full picture on a bike until plenty of owners have been riding them over time and you can google for things like "SWM known issues", "RS300R long term review" and "SWM problems". I've just done this three years after making this video and generally everyone seems to be very happy with their bikes. If you own an SWM please let us know your impressions of the bike here.
This how a video should be done. Good content and no music during the riding so we can hear the bikes. Only missed the first person footage. Great work.
I have the 2010 TE250, so same everything except the engine, and I love it. It’s light, agile and capable. The only thing I would recommend is trying to find an IMS tank for it, which I have on mine and gives me a range of 200-300km, depending on the how much I twist the fun handle. The gearing is also limited on mine with a tall 1st, and short 6th, but minor issues really. Also mine is road legal with turn signals and such, so I would think this could be too, as I don’t think they would alter the wiring harness too much. My .02 cents.
It would be nice if you do an other clip when you have information about the longevity of the motors. I am interested in the RS 500R but according to the manual you have to rebuild the engine at 10.000km, what is very little for dual sport standards and even compared to the crf 450l (at 32000km).
It's not a big enough topic to warrant a vid. However, as with all our reviews we will add further long term comments in the pinned first comment for each TH-cam vid. There's almost no point looking at suggested engine rebuilds for enduro oriented bikes, they always assume you are racing. E.g. European brands often recommend a complete top end two stroke rebuild at maybe 30 hours when we everyday riders often leave it safely to 200 hours.
I’ve had my 300 for about 4 years and I love it. It’s a great trail bike. I would like a bigger tank and higher top gear, but otherwise it’s great. Not sure why you think it’s heavy though. Claimed 107kg with the single Arrow pipe isn’t particularly heavy compared to the more expensive rivals.
Would this be a good pick if I wanted it as a do it all bike for commuting, shorter trips, easier trails etc.? I was considering the CRF or KLX as those are the only ones of the bigger names they sell here. This one's cheaper but it seems to me to be a bit too dirt centered. Anyone?
I would love to but the national distributor and local dealer have failed to respond to several emails over the past two years. I figure if they aren't interested in promoting their bike then I'm not interested either lol.
I know these bikes have been available in Australia for a few years now. Wondering if anyone out there has had one for a couple of years and what their thoughts are?
Hey adventure Aus, love your videos. Was wondering your thoughts on the SWM RS500R. I was looking at something between a DRZ400 and DR650. Some long rides on roads, ability to go off-road and less weight than a dr650 with reliability (I.e mythical adventure bike!). Would love to see a review from you guys
That's the whole point of a review...it really is as simple as looking up his enduro channel and the bike is listed on his video playlist where he gives his opinion...probably why he didn't answer - cause nobody wants to respond to a million people's questions that can easily be answered on their review! It's a complete waste of time. Just thought I'd inform you of his video if you've never looked for it - which it sounds like you did not since you are still asking...
I saw this and the x training channel review and at First thought it was going to be double posted but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was different. I'm waiting to see the first update from the beta 480 adventure series. wonder if the rs500r would be a contender for the mythical bike. as well as the upcoming ccm gp600 or the KTM 390 adventure. the rs300r looks to be a great bike for those of us not 70kg and above sea level, a good short range dualsport .
unfortunately i had to give the RR480 back matthew but it looks as though FFRC will continue with it as an adventure bike so hopefully i'll get to do updates.
Great review, thanks for sharing your thoughts on your ride. Does the bike come trail ready or, like the big names, do you have to buy bash-plate, guards etc?
It's definitely meant to be a dirt bike but it's an old design. So by today's standards it's pretty heavy which actually makes it feel a bit better on the road. The close ratio gearbox would be annoying for anything approaching highway speeds.
I don't understand why your saying it;s heavy the specs say it weighs 107 kg which is lighter than a wr250, and now they are offering a single arrow system for free which would make it even lighter, my husky 2015 te 300 weighs 104 kg so it would around the same weight
some manufacturers are extremely deceptive when it comes to their claimed weights, greg. often they will weigh the bike without fork and shock fluid, engine oil and radiator coolant. ktm/husky are usually accurate... your 104kg is ready to ride but no fuel. the SWM will probably be around 120kg in that state.
HI, I'm in the North West of Sydney would you know of a bike dealer for this bike. watching this video got me very interested. I just got my "p" and now i need a bike
@@crosstrainingadventure When you had this bike for review, for how many days you had it? How many hours you spent riding it and how many kms aproximately? I'm interested because I talked to one enduro guy (local) who said that they had rented RS300R for a day or two and they had quite many small problems with it that time. It may be of course the particular bike and how it had been taken care of, although I"m not sure it should've been a problem, cause as I understood it was rented from the local SWM dealer... So far that has been the only negative review I've heard about SWM from local guys.
I have looked at SWM and it already looks heavier than other similar bikes. What scares me most is that it uses the older BMW / Husqvarna design and if you look at the competition history of this model it isn't good. Most BMW/Husqvarna bikes had DNF's due to mechanical failures. Different seals blowing out or timing chain skipped some teeth. But on those the chain was at a constant tension the sprocket was installed on the swing arm pivot point. Since there was no give - mud, branches, rocks broke chains and seals behind the sprocket.
Helavatar sorry to desagree with you, but that what you are saying, it's not true at all. I have a TE 449 (BMW engine), 15000kms on it, mostly on rocky stuff and have had 0 issues. The TE 310 (wich is the model like the SWM RS300R) had a very reliable engine and no problems at all...
this bike is not a budget bike at all its a top bike Suzuki drz 400 is not even in the same class at all swm is a street legal dirt bike and the drz 400 is not to good off road or on road if you know about bikes the swm will require more wrenching then a drz will but will out do it in every way
PLEASE use BASIC punctuation PLEASE Joe. WHAT are you trying to say??? This makes NO sense. No offence, how old are you? Did you not go to primary skool?
IS IT A CHINESE BIKE? All SWM models are manufactured in Italy. However, in 2014 SWM was bought by a huge Chinese company called Shineray. As of 2015, the sales manager,
Ennio Marchesin, said 20 to 25% of non-critical parts are sourced from China to keep prices down. Other parts are manufactured, assembled and produced internally. Components also come from Brembo, Akropovic, Kayaba, Marzocchi, and Sachs. This info is five years old now and may have changed though!
DETAILED OWNER FEEDBACK @andymacey4673
I've converted both an swm rs500r and a rs300r [for adv riding]. Yes, both very capable, especially for the price.... the negatives, the hot start issue is persistent even after map and pipe and is an absolute PITA if you get stuck on a hill. They run real hot under the safari tank, it doesn't take much to boil them in slow stuff, the plastics are absolute trash they rack if you look at them wrong, definitely cactus if you strap luggage on. The gearing is terrible for ADV as you point out. So far, I've sourced the old 510 seat and gone back to husky te plastics, it looks better and they are more robust, bigger capacity radiator and higher capacity fan, you have to go to a bigger front sprocket or several teeth smaller on the back if you intend to do any road work at all. The oil capacity is good though. Does it do its job, yes could I have bought a second hand low k something else that does a better job for about the same money after the mods..... possibly. Would I buy another one, nope you can't sell them on unless you give them away, the money you save in purchase over say a kato/husky you lose when you sell...may as well just buy the husky and be able to get aftermarket gear like racks, towels etc. Which are sorely lacking for SWM
ANOTHER LONG TERM REPORT An SWM owner who also ran an SWM Facebook owners page for years gave us this info... "On early models, the oil screen filters fell apart in the engine causing lots of problems for some owners. And rear subframe bolts were snapping, just like the old Husky TE 630 days. These were both fixed in recalls and thankfully have been the only two major issues. Smaller stuff? The bolts strip on the airbox when over tightening-also a carry over problem from the TE630. ABS from 2018 onwards on the rear ( on dirt was over sensitive) if you didn’t switch it off - rear only front stayed on , some owners made a toggle switch on the bars to switch front off as well . Unfortunately SWM May not be making the Superdual anymore due to euro 5 and the engine not being able to meet this."
GOOGLE FOR LONG-TERM COMMENTS You don't really get the full picture on a bike until plenty of owners have been riding them over time and you can google for things like "SWM known issues", "RS300R long term review" and "SWM problems". I've just done this three years after making this video and generally everyone seems to be very happy with their bikes. If you own an SWM please let us know your impressions of the bike here.
i recently bought 2013 hushqvarna te310r (red head on top of the engine) and it seems to be same bike
This how a video should be done. Good content and no music during the riding so we can hear the bikes. Only missed the first person footage. Great work.
I have the 2010 TE250, so same everything except the engine, and I love it. It’s light, agile and capable. The only thing I would recommend is trying to find an IMS tank for it, which I have on mine and gives me a range of 200-300km, depending on the how much I twist the fun handle. The gearing is also limited on mine with a tall 1st, and short 6th, but minor issues really. Also mine is road legal with turn signals and such, so I would think this could be too, as I don’t think they would alter the wiring harness too much. My .02 cents.
It would be nice if you do an other clip when you have information about the longevity of the motors. I am interested in the RS 500R but according to the manual you have to rebuild the engine at 10.000km, what is very little for dual sport standards and even compared to the crf 450l (at 32000km).
It's not a big enough topic to warrant a vid. However, as with all our reviews we will add further long term comments in the pinned first comment for each TH-cam vid. There's almost no point looking at suggested engine rebuilds for enduro oriented bikes, they always assume you are racing. E.g. European brands often recommend a complete top end two stroke rebuild at maybe 30 hours when we everyday riders often leave it safely to 200 hours.
I’ve had my 300 for about 4 years and I love it.
It’s a great trail bike.
I would like a bigger tank and higher top gear, but otherwise it’s great.
Not sure why you think it’s heavy though.
Claimed 107kg with the single Arrow pipe isn’t particularly heavy compared to the more expensive rivals.
Thanks for the review, Andrew. Interesting!
Great Review. Have you done anything on the 500 yet?
Would love to see you do a review of the SWM superdual or the RS650
Would this be a good pick if I wanted it as a do it all bike for commuting, shorter trips, easier trails etc.? I was considering the CRF or KLX as those are the only ones of the bigger names they sell here. This one's cheaper but it seems to me to be a bit too dirt centered. Anyone?
Thanks, great video. What's that track?
The new fantic 250e casa looks like a good budget option too. Any chance of getting a ride on one?
Yeah, this one now is called "Fantic XEF 250 Trail", I'm also quite interested in it.
Greetings from Portugal! Thanks for this usefull and honest review. Can you make a "highly suspect review" over the AJP PR7 or PR5? Thanks.
I would love to but the national distributor and local dealer have failed to respond to several emails over the past two years. I figure if they aren't interested in promoting their bike then I'm not interested either lol.
Also from Portugal here and also would love to hear you test those same bikes.
great video mate, it will be good to see how the reliability goes
I know these bikes have been available in Australia for a few years now. Wondering if anyone out there has had one for a couple of years and what their thoughts are?
And what can you say compare it to Beta RR-S 300 or 390 for beginer rajder?
all our bike selection advice is in this vid: th-cam.com/video/v0cUHPEp4eA/w-d-xo.html
you got any thoughts on the Africa twin?
Great Job Andrew.
Hey Barry, thoughts on the AJP PR7?
never ridden one or seen one in the flesh :(
Hey adventure Aus, love your videos. Was wondering your thoughts on the SWM RS500R. I was looking at something between a DRZ400 and DR650. Some long rides on roads, ability to go off-road and less weight than a dr650 with reliability (I.e mythical adventure bike!). Would love to see a review from you guys
No updates on the above?
That's the whole point of a review...it really is as simple as looking up his enduro channel and the bike is listed on his video playlist where he gives his opinion...probably why he didn't answer - cause nobody wants to respond to a million people's questions that can easily be answered on their review! It's a complete waste of time. Just thought I'd inform you of his video if you've never looked for it - which it sounds like you did not since you are still asking...
Jonathon Davis send me a link if you can because I can’t find it and couldn’t over a year ago when posting the comment...
Is it just the ECU mapping that derestrictes the bike or are there physical changes as well?
i think it's mainly that and the stock twin pipes probably slow it down a little too?
Thanks, might have to look into this bike, there are 2 dealers near me, unlike Beta......
I saw this and the x training channel review and at First thought it was going to be double posted but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was different.
I'm waiting to see the first update from the beta 480 adventure series. wonder if the rs500r would be a contender for the mythical bike. as well as the upcoming ccm gp600 or the KTM 390 adventure.
the rs300r looks to be a great bike for those of us not 70kg and above sea level, a good short range dualsport .
unfortunately i had to give the RR480 back matthew but it looks as though FFRC will continue with it as an adventure bike so hopefully i'll get to do updates.
well that sucks. hope everything over there is alright.
@@crosstrainingadventure bring back the BETA !!!
Thank you once again for the review 👍
Have you tested the SWM 650 Superdual?
I’m wondering how it compares to your upgraded DR 650 bush pig ?
if we test it we'll certainly post a vid, mark!
Great review, thanks for sharing your thoughts on your ride. Does the bike come trail ready or, like the big names, do you have to buy bash-plate, guards etc?
i don't know but i think it was bog standard in the vid? you'd need to check with a dealer though...
Is it good for daily commute and weekend off road? Or is it more offroad and barely on road?
It's definitely meant to be a dirt bike but it's an old design. So by today's standards it's pretty heavy which actually makes it feel a bit better on the road. The close ratio gearbox would be annoying for anything approaching highway speeds.
@@crosstrainingadventureI guess I should stick to the usual suspects for commute like crf klx and drz then
wow never heard about the smw
I don't understand why your saying it;s heavy the specs say it weighs 107 kg which is lighter than a wr250, and now they are offering a single arrow system for free which would make it even lighter, my husky 2015 te 300 weighs 104 kg so it would around the same weight
some manufacturers are extremely deceptive when it comes to their claimed weights, greg. often they will weigh the bike without fork and shock fluid, engine oil and radiator coolant. ktm/husky are usually accurate... your 104kg is ready to ride but no fuel. the SWM will probably be around 120kg in that state.
the 2010 husky 310 dry weight was 107 kg, do you think it weighs than the husky
as per previous comment greg for my guess on the SWM's weight.
Well that was interesting I wonder if they sell them here.
Mothership Videos they just got approved to be sold in the US
another great video, keep it going.
Checked these SWM bikes out just yesterday at a local bike shop $4000. U.S. price tag ......great price I was thinking !
Where are you finding one for $4,000? I would be interested in buying one at that price.
hi wandering if you have reviewed the swm 650 dual sport ?
offered to do a review but SWM australia never respond to emails or phone messages. gave up. 😥
@@crosstrainingadventure Apparently SWM just doesn't know who they're messing with.
Looks like a solid bike!
HI, I'm in the North West of Sydney would you know of a bike dealer for this bike. watching this video got me very interested. I just got my "p" and now i need a bike
that sort of info should be on the SWM website
Its not heavy and its 35kg lighter than my present Honda CRF250L and has 45% more power. I am ordering one
Bikes and bits!
Do you still have the bike?
just a loan bike for the review
@@crosstrainingadventure When you had this bike for review, for how many days you had it? How many hours you spent riding it and how many kms aproximately? I'm interested because I talked to one enduro guy (local) who said that they had rented RS300R for a day or two and they had quite many small problems with it that time. It may be of course the particular bike and how it had been taken care of, although I"m not sure it should've been a problem, cause as I understood it was rented from the local SWM dealer... So far that has been the only negative review I've heard about SWM from local guys.
I have looked at SWM and it already looks heavier than other similar bikes. What scares me most is that it uses the older BMW / Husqvarna design and if you look at the competition history of this model it isn't good. Most BMW/Husqvarna bikes had DNF's due to mechanical failures. Different seals blowing out or timing chain skipped some teeth. But on those the chain was at a constant tension the sprocket was installed on the swing arm pivot point. Since there was no give - mud, branches, rocks broke chains and seals behind the sprocket.
Helavatar sorry to desagree with you, but that what you are saying, it's not true at all. I have a TE 449 (BMW engine), 15000kms on it, mostly on rocky stuff and have had 0 issues. The TE 310 (wich is the model like the SWM RS300R) had a very reliable engine and no problems at all...
Total tosh. Those Husky lumps are bullet proof!
Agree. I have a Beta now but my old Italian Husqvarna (A TXC 250) was the most reliable bike I've owned....
interesting. thx
I want one
It's priced at 16 grand usd in Nepal isn't that just crazy
ouch. :(
The RS500 is a better adventure choice than the DR650 Baza!
That narrow range gearbox would drive me crazy lol. I don't understand why they didn't change the ratios...
its soft power but there's heaps there WTF? Try and sell it 2nd hand . They cant sell a demo with 800km on it for $3500
Idiot
swm 300r is $8000 in US... they're dead on arrival
Yep, too expensive. We always pay more in Australia but they are only about $7000 USD with reg and all duties etc.
this bike is not a budget bike at all its a top bike Suzuki drz 400 is not even in the same class at all swm is a street legal dirt bike and the drz 400 is not to good off road or on road if you know about bikes the swm will require more wrenching then a drz will but will out do it in every way
ah not quite sure what you are saying there, joe. i think a few full stops are needed for me to really get the point.
PLEASE use BASIC punctuation PLEASE Joe.
WHAT are you trying to say???
This makes NO sense.
No offence, how old are you?
Did you not go to primary skool?