VERDICT

Unless you have a kart track, or you happen to live in the Alps, extracting the best from the SMC R will be tricky. There’s very little to moan about, except the gearbox, which is nothing new to these LC4s. We experienced plenty of false neutrals and not even the excellent Quickshifter+ system could mask this. Oh, and the cockpit area. Yes, the SMC R is a focused supermoto, but it’d be nice to peruse a dash that doesn’t look like it’s been hiding in a parts bin. ALASTAIR FAGAN, ROAD TESTER