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I would really like a simple, road oriented single for my forever bike.Light with reasonable clearance and a minimum of for want of a better word 'fluff'.

What about the Kawasaki KL650? I owned a Yamaha XT600 years ago and it was just a fantastic all-around bike!

Regards,
Peter  

The MuZ Skorpion! Now there's a blast from the past!

I ride our demonstrator regularly and the suspension is ok on the road or for light off-road work down a gravel road. It's a pretty sturdy built fork overall but a bit soft for my taste like most bikes are (the Superdual is even softer by the way, but has more suspension travel). It's doing a good job for me with the occasional gravel & sand track but if I would use it offroad regularly I would eventually look into something aftermarket. For the front maybe heavier fork oil and redoing of the seals might already do the job, for the rear there are heaps of options available in the aftermarket world if you want to go down this track. 

In general you get a lot of bike for the money on the Silver Vase, but they are built to a budget like almost any bike. They are fun to ride and have a great "old school" feeling to it and the engine likes to rev and is very torquey. For the price you get them you can easily spend a little bit and make it suitable for what you need it for and you will have a great bike that is light and does everything well.

Take one of them for a test ride if you have the chance. The Gran Milano is a totally different ride btw with its 17inch front wheel and upgraded suspension. The Gran Turismo would be very similar to the Silver Vase (same setup with different tyres). Pity you are over East you could test ride both back to back with us here in Perth

Hope this helps you, good luck!

Hi pja

I restored a 1981 XT500 a few years ago and if yiu had an XT600 you would feel very much at home on the Silver Vase. Smaller engine but much lighter and the fuel injection adds loads fo torque. In general a good balance between power and weight I think. 

I also owned an XT660 Tenere. Much more bike but also much more expensive (12k + a few thousands for customising suspension etc).

Thanks for that info Fredy - much appreciated. Have you thought about opening a shop over here?? In a perfect world I could do a fly/drive. Fly over there, buy a bike and run it in by riding it back home. What a great trip that would be! And it would be the most expensive bike I've ever bought (inc airfare!!!).

As you describe it, the SV sounds like a good bike and the suspension would suit as I like soft suspension (with decent damping) and as you say, all bikes are built to a price ie they are compromised in some way. Instead of 'dirtifying' a road bike my other option is to 'roadify' a dirt bike which I have previously done to a DRZ400. Worked ok. Usually the choice of which bike to buy is decided by the test ride - you get the one that feels right.

I do feel a test ride coming on.

Lol... I actually bought a rare BMW R1100R on Gold Coast once and rode it back to Perth via Melbourne. What an awesome trip and definietly worth every cent The trip cost me almost as much as the bike, but I wouldn't want to miss it! 

Have fun test riding!!

Fredy:

Just a bit eye candy...

Our shop ride, the SWM Silver Vase 440 with custom paint. What do you guys think?

Hey Fredy,

Is that little peak over the headlight a custom piece or an optional accessory from SWM?

Cheers, Gav.

Hi there Gav

It's a Rizoma accessory windshield + headlight fairing adapter, normally fitting on a BMW RnineT. It fits straight on with a few tweaks but is not cheap. However, you might find alternatives if you search for a bit... the headlight is a 7" diameter pretty much standard. 

Cheers

Fredy

https://www.motovationusa.com/low-height-aluminum-windscreen-by-rizoma-CF011.html

https://www.motovationusa.com/rizoma-cf011-headlight-fairing-adapter-ZBW052B.html

I use a Dart flyscreen on the Yamaha SR 400 nice and easy fit good price to say there sent from the uk

Stopped to chat to a guy in the process of kitting up to ride away on his Gran Milano. Told me that he purchased it about three months ago, but his was the only SWM he had seen on the road. He enjoyed the fact that I had stopped and that I knew a little about them. He also informed me that he was very happy with it, having test ridden a number of bikes in the 400 category: SR 400 (too expensive), Ducati Scrambler 400 ( same power, but way too expensive). I asked about the aggressive riding position and comfort; he did confess that it was hard on the wrists after about 45mins. This is from a youngish guy around early thirties. It was nice to chat to him. 

The bike had a sweet sounding burble as he rode away, looking good. What a nice fella he was.

The GM is kitted out so nicely for only $500 extra, it's just such a shame about the riding posture compared to the SV and GT.

I think I would be pretty happy with a Silver Vase compared to say a Sol Invictus Nemesis, with the others being too expensive...

Is SWM supporting their bikes with spares? If you drop the bike and need a new tank or exhaust, are we sorted or out of luck?

GM in a name puts me right off

My SR400 was $7,400 otr

My pick would be the GM with dual seat (less retro chrome). But I would want to undertake a handlebar swap, if possible, but not the scrambler style bars: small risers, not too wide. But that's me, always somewhere in the middle of what's available. Either colour.

I swung back to investigate a white Sol Invictus Nemesis parked in Paddington several months ago as I cycled past. The sign taped to the back of the bike said: Don't book me. Broken down. Back to collect in the morning. Hmm

These SWMs are priced so that you could toss a few more dollars at your ride to personalize it similar to Fredys shop ride.

The SWM owner to whom I spoke said that he was quoted just over $10k for the Yammy. But really, he thought he would get over the novelty of a kick start very quickly.

We have a comparison table on our website between the SR400, a few others & SWM just scroll down a bit:

www.acescooters.com.au/swm

Also the Yammi is discontinued due to Euro4 regulations. Once dealer stock here in AU is gone that would be it. And that's probably the reason why you can snatch up a bargain... dealers clearing out stock. It's a pity the SR400 is a very nice bike to ride and the engine is a beauty, although nowhere near the power to the SWM especially factoring in the weight as well.