Swinger? Huh? What? Uh, nope, sorry, I'll keep my keys to myself thank you." There used to be a time when you heard the word "swinger," and next thing you knew your car keys went into an empty fishbowl only to be pulled out by, hopefully some buxom brunette, and not Bruce your hirsute neighbor. Now, you utter the word swinger around the Sucker Punch Sallys (SPS) office and you'll get tossed a set of keys alright, but not for some torrid sexcapade, but for a ride aboard the company's sole bike that offers rear suspension.
Building on the popularity of its BIY rollers and kit bikes, SPS decided to make things even easier for its customers by offering turnkey bikes. A quick look at the SPS website will reveal that the company offers up nine models and all but one are based on a rigid frame. Wanting to offer something with rear suspension that would be more comfortable for long trips and look good when outfitted with a windshield, saddlebags, and highway bars, SPS kept true to its stripped-down and traditional roots and went with an old FL look with some modern cues.
The Swinger features Fatbob tanks, a 41mm telescopic frontend, stubby 11-inch adjustable rear shocks, full swept fenders covering chunked-up 16-inch tires, a 130 front and 180 rear, powdercoated spoked wheels, a low-profile two-up seat, an 88ci RevTech engine and six-speed transmission coupled to a BDL 3-inch open belt primary, chain final drive, and a two-into-one exhaust. Up front is a set of 12 inch apes with H-D-stlye hand controls and ribbed rubber grips. Down below, your kickers rest on a set of billet forward controls. Lighting consists of a 7 headlight up front and a set of mini LED front and rear turn signals and a left side-mount license bracket/brakelight in the rear.
Overall the bike looks great, and even though it does have a swingarm, stylistically it fits with the rest of the SPS lineup. We do think SPS missed on some of the styling points however and could have taken the traditional FL elements a bit further. For example, the frontend definitely could have benefitted from a stouter look with full tins, the beefy headlight just looks lonely hanging in the breeze. Also, the forwards are comfortable, but if this is really going to be a long-haul bike, floorboards offer up more area and room to adjust.
On the road, at just about 500 pounds, the bike really moves. The 88ci RevTech has plenty of juice to get you up and out ahead in a hurry, and clicking into Sixth gear at freeway speed dropped the revs down enough to make for smooth highway cruising while still leaving enough power to accelerate when needed. Zipping around, the bike is nimble and steady. Push it into a corner, and it stays right with you; whip it around an unexpected hazard and it reacts quickly. And with four-piston brakes front and rear, we found the braking to be pretty decent. As for a long-haul bike, hmm...yea it could be, but with its chopped rear suspension you better pack light and/or leave the little miss behind, because we found with no gear on the bike and riding solo we were getting a pretty hard jolt even on average-size bumps.
While we did like the looks of the bike and it was fun to ride, as we mentioned above, it did have some misses. The biggest of which has to be the price. At $24,995, that's quite a bit of coin to be shelling out, especially when several other manufactures are targeting that under-20Gs goal. But the $24,995 price tag does include delivery to you anywhere in the continental US, a one-year factory warranty, and the paintjob of your choice, even a custom paintjob from esteemed artist Sara Ray-which we would recommend taking full advantage of to get the most bang for your buck.