CCM Motorcycles hopes new bike will drive sales

A BOLTON motorbike manufacturer which used to supply stunt rider Eddie Kidd, has developed a new bike with backing from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS).

CCM Motorcycles has been working on a lightweight “adventure bike” that can handle off road terrain and long distances on road.

The GP 450 was designed in-house with MAS funding the tooling required to manufacture the foam seat, the seat mould, the vanity case and the windscreen.

CCM hopes the bike, which retails at £7,995, will boost revenues by £7m over the next three years.

Former trials rider Alan Clews, who founded the firm in 1971, said: “The GP 450 Adventure is the result of five years hard work and investment and we drew on all of our racing and manufacturing experience to design and manufacture this bike.  

“We knew the kind of bike we wanted to bring to market but the design was just the beginning. We then had to buy new tooling – which MAS enabled us to do – and to then put our prototypes to the test in Motocross, the world’s toughest motorsport. The launch of this new model will now give us a solid platform from which we can launch a whole new range of motorcycles.”