CCM Spitfire going international

CCM started by building motocross bikes from the remnants of BSA’s factory competition department in the 1970s. More recently, CCM has been reborn as a manufacturer of adventure tourers, releasing the GP450 in 2014. The Spitfire followed two years later. 

The product of CCM’s own “SkunkwerX” in-house design department, the Spitfire is described as a dream bike, one created without the usual constraints of design, objectives and bureaucracy. A cool combination of street tracker, café racer and bobber, the original Spitfire featured zero bodywork, a leather and vinyl-trimmed solo saddle and bare metal-look fuel tank, but the most distinctive feature was a sinuous trellis frame, hand-welded from carbon steel.

Power comes from a liquid-cooled 600cc single delivering 41kW and 58Nm, matched to a 6-speed transmission, with Brembo brake calipers and 19-inch lightweight spoked wheels on the specs list.

Launched as a limited-edition of 150 units, the original Spitfire sold out almost immediately, leading to small-volume series production and an expansion into Café Racer, Scrambler, Flat Tracker and Bobber variants, all with their own styling touches and details, but retaining the original version’s engine, transmission, frame and braking package, plus its hand-built artisan quality.

Despite operating without a dealer network – all bikes are ordered through and sold direct from the factory -  CCM have sold more than 1200 examples of the Spitfire in the UK to date. Stringent E4 homologation rules have prevented the Spitfire being sold overseas, but this is set to change soon, with CCM announcing in August that they will remanufacture the model to suit European markets. That’s great, but what about Australia?

JUST BIKES spoke to a CCM representative in August, who confirmed that there had been a lot of interest in the Spitfire from Australia; so much so that the company has started searching for an Australian distributor with the sort of resources and dealer network to best serve the Spitfire and its derivatives. The process had only just got underway as this issue went to press, so watch this space for developments and check out the full CCM Spitfire range at ccm-motorcycles.com