Leaving the Harz Forests after three epic days twisting and turning on the cosmic tarmac, our route to Munich took a detour through the town of Rauschenberg, the home of SW-Motech.
I can’t remember when I started buying their products or when it was that the ingenuity and flexibility of their luggage options hooked me into repeated purchases, but I’m a complete convert.
So bad is this addiction that I’m disappointed when they don’t make what I want. For example, the size and shape of the tail bag I have would make a perfect tank bag, but sadly they don’t do that.
Given that I was going to be in the general area, I led with my chin and asked SW-Motech’s Marketing Department if I might drop in for a coffee on the way through. I was expecting 20 minutes of marketing speak and to then be shown the door.
How wrong I was …
SW-Motech Tour
Failing to arrive on time is not how you make a good impression. The roads we had chosen from the Harz to SW-Motech were a delight to ride, but not the sort of roads that let you cover distances quickly. For that the German’s have Autobahns.
Apologising for our tardiness and blaming my lack of understanding that the ST2288 was not a faster road, our host Sebastian Lorenz let slip a wry smile. Here was someone who understood the fun we had been having.
After a quick drink, Sebastian suggested we best get started as the full factory tour was likely to take a couple of hours, and there was a lot to cover.
SW-Motech started in 1994 when the founders thought they would need additional fuel tanks on their tour of Lybia. Ultimately, they didn’t need them, but as they couldn’t find anyone that sold them before they departed, it highlighted a gap in the market.
Twenty-plus years later, SW-Motech, which was officially formed in 1999, has manufacturing facilities across Europe producing accessories for an extensive range of motorcycles.
Ironically long-range fuel tanks are no longer on the list.
As we are shown around the site at Rauschenberg, I keep noticing the reminders of the pride that SW-Motech has in its products and the quality the name represents.
The mail racks outside the corporate offices were manufactured in-house and have had the SW-Motech logo cut into them. They are beautifully finished with bevelled edges, and the stainless steel has been polished until it shines. Even the soap dispensers in the toilets are styled after panniers.
We walk through the area producing the hard luggage and arrive at the final inspection area. Every pannier and top case that leaves the SW-Motech factory is inspected. They don’t test one in ten or pick one at random. Instead, each and every case is individually inspected.
I treble-check this fact with our host, and we talk about how the inspection helps SW-Motech keep their prices down. As they have very little to do in dealing with returns, it is a department they don’t have to factor into their costs. You only pay once, and that is for the quality.
As we pass one of the six-axis CNC milling machines, I pick up a recently finished adjustable rear brake pedal. While I’m marvelling at the quality and finish, I’m handed a block of aluminium from which the CNC machine will cut the next pedal.
It would be so easy to make these cheaply, but how do you ensure the quality by doing it any other way than machining it from a solid block of aluminium and then giving it a HART-COAT® finish?
Never Ending Development
We continue to wander through the factory and the fantastic array of robots – one of which can be programmed to open beer bottles; after all, this is Germany – into the R&D area where a Honda XL750 Transalp and a Suzuki DE 800 are side-by-side on raised benches undergoing fit-out.
The Transalp is slightly in the lead, sporting a substantial bash plate, Pro Side carriers, crash bars and a top case rack.
The Suzuki 800DE isn’t far behind, with the spacing for the top case in the final stages of measurement. It is slightly strange to see a top case that has been split into two halves being positioned to ensure the perfect fit, but such is the process every model goes through.
In the far corner of the R&D area is a Triumph 1200 Rally. If you are looking for a German-registered 1200 Rally with a full range of SW-Motech accessories already fitted, then SW-Motech will shortly have one for sale.
I suspect someone with a keen eye for a bargain will close the deal at the SW-Motech Open House in early June. Sadly I don’t have the cash.
Marketing Department
Passing through yet another door in the Rauschenberg labyrinth, we walk into the showroom that most people will be familiar with from the SW-Motech YouTube videos.
While we are drooling at the array of products, the majority of which I could find an immediate use for, a photo shoot is underway for the new range of dry bags that will be available in the summer.
These are an evolution of the current dry bags with enhancements in the carrying handles and (of all things) the colour of the material; such is SW-Motech’s attention to detail.
The lighter grey of the current version shows the dirt too quickly, which I would have thought would have made an excellent badge of honour to be sported at every tea stop. Yet, it seems that the customers who use the SW-Motech dry bags preferred something they didn’t have to clean so often, which shows why I don’t work in the marketing department.
The Boss
We work our way through logistics and back to the staff canteen, where we chat about supply chain issues and the new products SW-Motech are releasing, but I get the sense that our late arrival is putting a dent in Sebastian’s family time.
We say our thank yous for an excellent – and unexpected – factory tour and head back to our bikes in the staff car park, where the CEO, Jürgen Swora, walks up to us and asks if we have everything we need. He didn’t know we were coming but wondered why two British number plates were parked in the car park.
We chat for a few minutes, and he reminds me that I should replace my Givi top case. No doubt that is more of my hard-earned cash I’ll be giving SW-Motech at some point in the future.
Clarity
Our thanks to Sebastian Lorenz and his colleagues at SW-Motech for putting up with two Brits wandering through their place of work, asking dumb questions.
Most of the SW-Motech products we use were purchased through MotoHaus Powersports, the SW-Motech UK distributor, and we paid the same price as everyone else. On the occasions we have undertaken testing for SW-Motech, they provided the products, and we have always made this clear in the articles.
