SWM back in business

Reborn Italian brand SWM – Speedy Working Motors – last week restarted production with the first of six new models, which will go on sale in September.

SWM emerged from the shadows at the 2014 Milan Motorcycle Show, now under Chinese ownership, but with an Italian engineer heading up the mechanical side of the business.

Production began last week at the newly-built production facility in Varese, Northern Italy, with the RS650R. SWM are aiming to get all of the models into production within weeks, with deliveries starting in Europe, then spreading out globally.

SWM was founded in 1971 but, as with many small European manufacturers of that era, it was a short-lived existence and the firm finally collapsed in 1984.

Now enjoying a new lease of life with Chinese funding, Italian engineer Ampelio Macchi is heading the comeback. He has previously worked with Aprilia, Cagiva and Husqvarna and is working on the engineering side of the bikes along with parent company Shineray, which already builds a number of motorcycles and quads.

The model range includes the retro-inspired Gran Milano 440, RS 300R, RS500R, Silver Vase 440, SM500R and the RS650R, which use a mix of air/oil-cooled and liquid-cooled engines.

Macchi said: “I’m glad to celebrate once again a great achievement. In just eight months we have been able to re-establish a company from scratch, thanks to Shineray Group. At SWM we don’t speak too much but we work lots, because we are used to demonstrating the facts with the result of our work.”

After the debut of the RS650R, the production plan foresees the arrival of the SM650R at the end of July, followed at the end of September by the RS300R, RS500R and SM500R models. Then, in the second half of October, production of the retro-styled bikes called the Silver Vase 440 and Gran Milano 440 will commence.

Details of pricing and a UK distributor have not yet been released, but there is a company website with more details at www.swm-motorcycles.it