Clews Competition Motorcycles

CCM Motorcycles Ltd
Private
Industry Motorcycle
Founded 1971
Founder Alan Clews
Headquarters Bolton, United Kingdom
Key people
 Alan Clews Austin Clews
Products Motorcycle
Slogan Every New Adventure Begins With a Single Step
Website
CCM R45 (2007 NEC Show)

Clews Competition Machines or CCM for short, is a British motorcycle manufacturer based in Bolton, England. CCM was born out of the collapse of BSA's Competition Department in 1971.

History

Alan Clews, founder of CCM, was a successful Trials and Scrambles rider in the late 1960s. He wanted a lighter, more nimble and modern motocross bike, like the BSA factory engined 500 cc works specials. When the BSA Competition Department went out of business, he saw his opportunity and bought all the works parts that were available. Clews started building motocross bikes in his garage. Not having works engines just made Clews develop his own extensive improvements to the standard BSA B50 500 cc engine which could be had by breaking up existing B50 MX bikes. His reputation grew as a builder of four-stroke motocross bikes that were capable of competing with the dominant two-stroke bikes. In the mid-1970s, the CCM racing team achieved respectable results in the 500 cc Motocross World Championship, with rider John Banks placing in the top five several times.

Initially powered by BSA engines, the firm used Rotax engines during the 1980s and 1990s when production reached a peak of 3,500 annually. Between 1983 and 1985, over 4,000 CCM motorcycles were licensed to export bikes to North America badged as Can-Am motorcycles.[1]

Alternate Logo

In 1984, the firm secured a contract to produce the Rotax-engined Armstrong MT500 bikes for the British Army,[2] and through overseas sales won a Queen's Export Award. The MT500 began as the Italian SWM XN Tornado, which Armstrong acquired the rights to in 1984 when SWM liquidated, and Armstrong modified it for military use. Harley-Davidson bought the production rights to the MT-500 in 1987 when NATO chose the machine,[2] and created a 350 cc version that reduced weight, added an electric start, and upgrading pollution standards, which was named the Harley-Davidson MT350E.[3]

Return to Clews ownership

The CCM company was acquired by the Robson family in 1998 who procured Suzuki DR-Z400 engines. In 2004, the company ceased operations and its assets were bought by the original owner, Alan Clews. In 2005 the company launched two new bikes, the R35 Supermoto and the FT35 flat tracker.[4] The firm returned to world champion competition, fielding a team in the 2009 FIM Motocross World Championship with riders Tom Church, Jason Dougan and Ray Rowson.[5] 2010 saw CCM working with the military once again, with a contract of 1500 motorcycles, however CCM weren't just content with military sales, they went on to secure their first ACU British Indoor Motocross Championship with Tom Church on board a CCM.

2013

With the launch of the new GP 450 Adventure Bike, CCM believed there was a market wide open for an entry level 450cc Adventure sport bike with capability on and off road. The new GP450 aimed to meet all these requirements. CCM revealed the very reason why it invested heavily into CCM Racing in 2007-2011 was to develop a unique technically innovative “Bond-Lite” aluminium chassis. The production will begin in November 2013 at CCM’s facility in Bolton.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History". CCM. Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Armstrong Military Motorcycles". Dropbears.com. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  3. ↑ "Harley-Davidson MT350E Army Bike". RealClassic.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  4. ↑ "Two new bikes from CCM". Motorcycle News. 28 October 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  5. ↑ CCM Motorcycles.com

External links