Scrambled up: Fantic Caballero takes on SWM’s Ace of Spades but can either really deliver?
Are these stylish retro scramblers endearingly athletic hares – or complete hounds?
As I prepared to tackle the MCN250 on a pair of single-cylinder scramblers built by non-mainstream brands, I feared the worst.
I assumed that the MCN250 would be an MCN100 at best with at least one bike returning in the back of a van. I shouldn’t have these prejudices, but I can’t be alone in thinking the chances of an SWM and Fantic making it all the way around a very tough, 250mile test route in torrential rain, were pretty slim. And when I was greeted in the MCN office by “the Fantic’s headlight has a fault and when the fuel warning light comes
on find fuel… fast” my confidence took another dip. But while both are relatively cheap, in this modern world a low price shouldn’t equate to unreliability. And SWM and Fantic aren’t exactly new to making bikes, especially off-roaders.
Fantic are an Italian motorcycle manufacturer who started life in 1968 but built a solid reputation in the UK in the 1970s when, alongside their off-roaders, they released some very quick 50cc learner bikes. Up against the likes of the Yamaha FS1-E and Suzuki AP50, the Fantic was fast and exotic, but also fragile and a bit temperamental. The company are still based in Italy, but now use engines built by Chinese giant Zongshen for their road bikes. Speedy Working Motors (SWM) are also Italian and have been going on and off since 1971. They went into liquidation in 1984 only to reemerge in 2014 with the backing of Chinese manufacturer Shineray Group’s owner Daxing Gong, which is where it gets a bit weird. When BMW sold Husqvarna to KTM, SWM took over the Italian Husky factory and in that deal gained the company’s engine designs and tooling, which they use to build their motors. So yes, both companies can lay claim to proper off-road heritage and both are still Italian manufacturers. But history is one thing, reliability is something completely different.
Up and running on the MCN250 and it takes just 18 miles for my worries to be realised as the SWM develops a misfire on the A605. Later traced back to a faulty sidestand cut-out switch, on a bike with less than 500 miles on its clocks that’s a poor show. Aside from limiting overtakes on the grounds of safety, as it was an intermittent fault, the misfire didn’t affect performance and so fellow tester Bruce and I took the view to just push on and hope for the best and by the time we reached Northampton, it seemed to have gone away. For the time being, at least.
They may both be singles of roughly 450cc, but even after this short stretch of riding it was remarkable just how different in character the Fantic and SWM’s motors felt. The Fantic’s Chinesebuilt water-cooled single is smooth and refined with a slick gearbox and minimal vibrations, while the SWM’s air-cooled single is noisy,
‘Twisty roads and a 60 limit are the ideal hunting ground’ ‘The joy of the Fantic is that it’s light, nippy and affordable’
vibey and a bit rough around the edges. Can these traits be chalked down as character? By the time we reached the M40 both myself and Bruce agreed the SWM just feels unrefined where the more subdued Fantic’s motor still retains the spirit of a single, just without the associated irritations. And it is a similar story with the chassis. With the M40 out of the way, which was surprisingly pain-free (provided you didn’t want to see what was behind you as both bikes’ mirrors were rubbish), the run through the Cotswolds had both machines in their element. Small villages, twisty roads and a 60mph speed limit are the ideal hunting ground for machines such as these. Blatting along at a steady pace due to the rain, both bikes proved far more fun than they had any right to be considering the conditions. But once again, the SWM was certainly less engaging than its Fantic rival. When you ride a scrambler you expect its suspension to be able to deal with uneven surfaces, but where the Fantic pleasantly cushioned the ride, the SWM’s units felt unforgiving and harsh. It was interesting to note that on the SWM Ace of Spades – whoever thought this would be a good name needs a good dressing down – that the mirrors were fairly clear at 50mph, but as soon as the road became uneven they blurred up, hinting at suspension that wasn’t doing its job. The SWM does have more adjustability than the Fantic but, as Bruce pointed out: “when the suspension works properly you don’t need to adjust it!” And on the Fantic it works, in fact, the whole bike works, aside from its headlight.
All too often a scrambler’s handling is compromised by its styling, but throughout the day the Fantic never made us feel like that. The Pirelli Scorpion Rally tyres look the part and have more than enough grip in both the wet and dry. The single has adequate punch for road riding and Fantic have been smart enough not to give it an ‘authentic’ air-cooled motor that would introduce an unnecessary element of unrefinement for the sake of fashion. Even its stacked exhausts look cool without trying to set fire to your leg, which isn’t the case on all scrambler-style bikes. In short, there is little to criticise. The joy of the Fantic is that it’s light, nippy, fun and affordable.
The SWM is around £1000 cheaper than the Fantic, but lacks the fun factor as well as its cool looks. A retro bike can get away with being a bit basic, but the SWM is positioned on the wrong side of this line and ends up feeling just too much like a cheap bike that’s been given a restyle. So, with both bikes having survived the whole MCN250, will I reassess my preconceived views on such machines? Let’s be honest here, neither made it unscathed and on brand new bikes that remains a bit of a poor show. You shouldn’t really be surprised if two brandnew bikes manage 250 miles, it should be taken for granted they will, irrespective of the weather. But that’s the chance you take when you buy a more machine that isn’t from a mainstream manufacturer.