Bolton-based CCM, one of Britain’s few motorcycle manufacturers, gave a glimpse of its future model plans at Motorcycle Live. The company, founded by Alan Clews in 1971 and run and owned by the Clews family for much of its existence, was taken over by Pitalia Capital in 2022, which until now has continued with the existing line-up of 600cc road bikes.

CCM’s Managing Director Jason Broome, who took over the top job in May 2024, has said that new engine platforms will be introduced over the next three years. The first new bike will be the Project X adventure machine, which was unveiled at Motorcycle Live and is due to go on sale in May 2025. With a distinctly retro look evoking the original BMW G/S, it uses the company’s existing 600cc DOHC single and tubular steel fame shared with the Spitfire road bikes. With wire wheels (21-inch front), knobbly tyres and what looks like a substantial fuel tank, Project X marks a return to CCM’s off-road roots.

CCM has had an eventful life since 1971, when Alan Clews started building BSA-based motocross bikes – it went on to diversify into trials and road racing, adding the adventure GP450 in 2013 and the Spitfire range four years later.

At the BMF, chair Jim Freeman welcomed this new era for one of Britain’s few indigenous bike makers. “CCM have had a surprisingly long history for a brand that was initially seen as a continuation of big single 4-stroke offroad competition BSA bikes, regarded at the time as a dead end under the overwhelming onslaught of 2-strokes from the likes of Yamaha. As it turned out the Dinosaurs were the 2-strokes.”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top image courtesy of CCM