CCM MOTORCYCLES Today, Britain Tomorrow, The World

It seems to be knowledge known only to the select few, but Britain’s second largest motorcycle manufacturer isn’t from the Midlands

- Alan Cathcart

Whisper it anywhere near the Norton factory in south Birmingham, but until Britain's 120-year old brand begins producing W more than a handful of neo-Classic air-cooled twins and V4 superbikes, Britain's current second largest two-wheeled manufacturer is presently none other than CCM Motorcycles, purveyors of products which are proudly extreme. And CCM isn't owned by a foreign parent company either...

Operating out of a disparate collection of buildings on a trading estate outside Bolton, Lancashire, the former producer of the last four-strokes standing in top-level motocross competition 50 years ago has been transformed into a niche manufacturer of hotrods and hooligan bikes, still powered by a meaty big single cylinder motor.

Around 500 such bikes leave the CCM factory each year primarily for customers in the UK, each of whom has had to order his or her purchase direct from the factory for the simple reason that, until now, there has been no CCM dealer network, even in the UK. Foreign distribution has been confined to a handful of enthusiasts in just a few countries.

However, that's in the process of changing with the advent of a new owner, local businessman Anil Pitalia, 56, a qualified eye surgeon who established the SpaMedica chain of around 30 different locations throughout Britain as the largest supplier of cataract surgery to the NHS. Since selling this for £300 million in March 2020, Pitalia has concentrated on running the investment fund he established 15 years ago, with a special emphasis on nurturing employment in his home town of Bolton, leading him to acquire a 'significant majority shareholding' in CCM Motorcycles in September 2022, since when he's laid plans to greatly expand the company's production from its present 500 bikes annually, by means of providing the necessary investment to construct a new factory in the Bolton area, bringing with it the extra jobs this would entail for the local workforce.