- Clews Competition Motorcycles
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CCM Motorcycles Ltd 
Type Private Industry Motorcycle Founded 1971 Founder(s) Alan Clews Headquarters Bolton, United Kingdom Key people Alan Clews Products Motorcycle Website ccmmotorcyclesuk.com 
CCM R45 (2007 NEC Show)
Clews Competition Motorcycles or CCM for short, is a British motorcycle manufacturer based in Bolton, England.
Contents
History
CCM was born out of the collapse of BSA's Competition Department in 1971.
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 LogoIn 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]
- BSA B50
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]
See also
References
- ^ "History". CCM. Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20061004235339/http://www.ccm-motorcycles.net/history.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
- ^ a b "Armstrong Military Motorcycles". Dropbears.com. http://www.dropbears.com/m/models/harley/armstrong.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
- ^ "Harley-Davidson MT350E Army Bike". RealClassic.co.uk. http://www.realclassic.co.uk/snarley.html. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
- ^ "Two new bikes from CCM". Motorcycle News. 28 October 2005. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/archive/86493/86705/86808/86813/?&R=EPI-86813. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ^ CCM Motorcycles.com
External links
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- Military vehicle manufacturers
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