British pride
CCM? Who?
Clews Competition Machines was set up in 1971 by Alan Clews, a successful trials rider, after the competition department of BSA closed its doors and he couldn’t get competitive lightweight bikes. He bought tooling and machines, then started making his own scramblers and trials bikes with single-cylinder engines – with great success.
After supplying the armed forces and police worldwide with specially adapted bikes, in 2014 the family firm based in Bolton, Lancashire, launched the GP450 Adventure, a bike mimicking the Dakar Rally machines. The innovative and high-spec GP450 weighs just 135kg fully fuelled and is powered by a lightweight, 450cc Bmw-designed engine, now built by Kymco.
So what on Earth is this?
The Spitfire is a bike born from the inevitable conversations about the perfect bike that will happen in a factory full of motorcycle enthusiasts, “Over bacon butties,” admits CCM spokesman John Drogan. The difference here is that the people daydreaming about the ideal bike have the skills, experience and machinery to turn their back-of-a-fagpacket scribbles into reality – and the bosses, Austin Clews and brother-inlaw Gary, have the imagination and confidence to let them build it.
Inspired by the trend for café racers and custom bikes, the Spitfire went through many stages as it evolved. CCM designer Chris Ratcliffe explains: “This type of bike divides opinion, but we all agreed it should be a classic design but not a classic bike. So it has modern suspension, was designed with modern techniques, but still has to feel British.”
Ted Unwin, who has been making frames for CCM since the 1970s, worked with Ratcliffe to create the frame and swingarm. It is deliberately left so you can see the isotherms (or ‘blueing’) of the TIG welds on every joint, to make each bike unique. These are then lacquered.