RIDE WITH CCM
Exclusive interview with CCM boss Austin Clews and first ride of Spitfire.
SHY AND RETIRING types, looking for anonymity and a quiet life, shouldn’t buy a CCM Spitfire. They attract a lot of attention. Within minutes of leaving CCM’S factory, on an unassuming industrial estate in Bolton, we’re filling up with petrol at the Shell station on the Bury Road. And already the questions are starting. ‘That’s a really beautiful bike,’ says the bloke refuelling his van. ‘What is it?’ He can’t comprehend that it’s been built just around the corner. ‘What? In Bolton?’ He’s incredulous. Blattering through urban Lancashire attracts more attention. We’ve got two Spitfire’s. I’m riding No.1 of the 150 bike first batch. The other is a test rig for the Scrambler variant. It’s fitted with the Scrambler’s wheels, tyres and suspension, but has the Spitfire’s rear subframe. They’re both barking (in every sense) and they don’t encourage you to adopt a discrete riding style. They’re slim enough to hustle to the front of every queue of traffic as we bustle through Bolton’s lunchtime traffic, and the noise, a combination of induction suck and exhaust bellow, brings out the inner hooligan, encouraging joyful misdemeanours at every traffic light. My bike is showing 1629 miles on the odometer (an Acewell digital dash in a machined aluminium surround) so this is a well used, and well proven example, but there still aren’t many in the hands of customers. Back at the factory I counted 129 bikes on the shop floor and in the store
area. All but seven were missing their fuel tanks. It’s the final piece in the jigsaw, and it’s massively frustrating for customers, and for the company. But at least some of the first batch of 150 bikes have gone to eager owners after a frustrating 15 month wait. More will follow as the tanks arrive from Italy over the next few weeks. We break out of Bolton onto the traffic heavy A675 heading north. And then, at Belmont, turn left across the moors on the wriggling, bouncing, bucking and weaving Rivington Road. Light, immediate and agile the Spitfire is in its element. I suspect that this is a piece of tarmac familiar to CCM test riders. I also suspect that the team is a bit heavier than I am. For me the bike feels oversprung at the rear and the seat has precious little give to soak up the bumps. Back off? No chance, this is far too much fun. The bare bones bike turns instantly, diving for the apex and encouraging you to get straight back onto the gas. There’s no ABS, no modes and no traction control. Mass market requirements are by-passed thanks to registration via the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval scheme. It’s a visceral, high cholesterol motorcycling experience. In a world of conformity that’s a refreshing thing. But you’ve got to suffer for your art. It’s been raining this morning, and though the roads are partially dry there are still big puddles. The Spitfire’s mudguards are marginal and I arrive at the Yew Tree Inn at Anglezarke with my visor covered in spray from the front wheel. The back of the engine looks pretty grubby too. ‘Well?’ asks CCM boss Austin Clews once we’re inside the pub. His tone is guarded. Bike is the first magazine to ride the production-ready bike, and he wants the verdict. And I say pretty much what I’ve just said. ‘Immediate, engaging, unique. Nice engine, compelling soundtrack and hilarious on the type of roads we’ve just ridden.’ ‘It’s form over function really,’ admits Austin, still poker faced. ‘Most people are buying it because of the way it looks, but we’ve brought some of our pedigree to the way it’s made and the way it performs. But you wouldn’t want to ride it in the rain.’ Then he breaks out a big grin, ‘but we do offer proper mudguards as an option.’ CCM launched the bike at the London Motorcycle Show in February 2017 and were almost instantly inundated with orders. Has it taken you by surprise? ‘Course it has,’ he says. ‘In December ’16 we started on the concept, we had a mock-up at the London Motorcycle Show in February ’17. We were hoping for 20-30 orders, but it went crazy.’ They’ve now got 850 orders for five variants, all based on the same frame and engine platform but with limited runs of each model. But that success has led to problems turning prototype into reality. 18 months isn’t long to take a bike from concept to reality, but it’s more than CCM and their customers would have liked. ‘We had 11 or 12 people on the payroll. Now we’re up to 35 people, with another five still to start. We couldn’t have done it without the customers.’
‘It’s a visceral, full-fat, high cholesterol motorcycling experience. In a world of conformity that’s refreshing’
The final stumbling block (‘A bloody nightmare’ according to Head of Customer Experience John Drogan) is the fuel tank. They are finally starting to arrive at the factory in sensible numbers, but in composite material, rather than metal. ‘All Spitfires should be delivered by the end of June. They’re sold out. Scramblers by the end of summer, and they’re all sold out. We’ll start making Flat Trackers and Cafe Racers in the summer. Order a Bobber now and you’ll get it March 2019,’ says Austin. ‘We’ve had cancellations from people who haven’t been willing to wait.’ He admits. ‘That’s understandable. Hopefully, once we get into the swing, maybe in a couple of years we can get waiting times down to 2-3 months. We want to deliver the best possible service to the customer. We’re not there yet.’
‘There’s nothing else on the market that looks like a Spitfire. Practical, no. But they make the world a better place’
With the fuel tank supply sorted Austin reckons they can make 25 bikes a week with the current factory set-up. But their challenge has been made greater because as well as making a new motorcycle they are also engaging with customers in a different way. There are no dealers, you order direct from the factory and you’re welcome to go and collect it in person. So what about servicing? While we were there a GP450 owner was having his bike fettled at the factory, but with the first of the Spitfires now heading to customers they can’t service them all in house. ‘We’ve just appointed a mobile technician to do servicing,’ says Austin. ‘He can also deliver bikes to customers and do the handover. The customer books the service through the factory. The technician goes to the customer’s house, or to their place of work, and does the service in the van. As we need to we will appoint more service technicians.’ But those customers who want to come to the factory will be welcomed. ‘A lot of customers want to come to see their bike being serviced, or to see it being built,’ says Austin. ‘We’re going to increase space and we want to create a café. We want to get really involved with the customer.’ There’s another goal too. The current range is only possible because of the MSVA (motorcycle single vehicle approval) system that allows small manufacturers to homologate limited production runs. But it makes it hard to sell the bikes in Europe. However, the 600cc engine that comes from Italian brand SWM can be made Euro5 compatible. A 2020 version of the Spitfire will need ABS and an airbox, as well as the Euro5 engine. But that will allow sales into new markets. ‘The idea is to roll-out the same thing in Italy, France, Germany and Spain, with a similar approach to how we’re operating in the UK. Direct sales from a single, central sales point, mobile servicing technicians and limited edition bikes that are market specific.’ And Euro5 homologation will also allow an updated version of CCM’S highly regarded GP adventure bike too, and it’ll address one of the key shortcomings of the previous model. Lack of grunt. ‘It’ll be a 600 using the same engine as the Spitfire,’ says Austin. Lightness was one of the selling points for the GP450. Its chassis was an innovative bonded alloy structure that was developed as part of CCM’S motocross programme. A new version may go further. ‘We’ve done a six month project working on forged carbon fibre as the frame sections.’ That’s another target for 2020. Outside the pub the sun’s come out again, and the two bikes continue to attract attention. There’s nothing else that looks like a Spitfire. The details in machined alloy and carbon fibre, the clear coated frame that shows off its welds, the stitched leather covered seat. Practical, no. But they make the world a better place. CCM have had their ups and downs since Austin’s dad, Alan Clews, started the company in the early seventies, making giant killing four-stroke motocross bikes. There have been racing successes on dirt and tarmac. And along the way there have been commercial successes and disasters, plus a couple of changes of home. I saw (and heard) CCMS race at Beanham Park in 1976, read about them in Bike in March ’77 and attempted (and failed) to kickstart one of the scary 500cc motocrossers in 1978. And I loved their Rotax engined trail bikes. They’ve always had a pull for me, and I want them to prosper. And I want to ride a GP600. ‘Come back and see us in a year. See how we’ve got on,’ says Austin. Then he leaves us to enjoy the bike. So we do.