The motorcycle industry is a tough and unforgiving one. Riders demand a lot from manufacturers who have to be on top of their game with every release lest they lose market share, traction, or the entire business. This tough environment is what has seen dominant brands such as Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Harley-Davidson rule the markets for decades. But that doesn’t mean other great players are not around.
Albeit small, there is a flurry of great motorcycle companies that are known in the markets for their superb builds. You might have even come across some of them once or twice while hanging out with your riding buddies. And even if you’ve not, the companies are worth the look. These are the 10 lesser-known motorcycle companies most of you have probably never heard of.
10 Horex
Horex’s story is that of grace to grass and now, getting back to grace. Horex was a famed motorcycle manufacturer before trouble hit the company, and they had to sell to 3C Carbon. Now, in a bid to come back to the market, Horex built 2 new motorcycles. One of them is Café Racer.
The Café Racer uses a VR6 engine, donning the narrow-angle V-6 architecture. The Horex VR6’s output is a respectable 163bhp, which is transferred to a very light bike that makes the entire package sporty.
Since 3C Carbon is experienced in making carbon fiber parts, Horex motorcycles use a self-supporting carbon subframe, coupled with a carbon trellis frame. Sadly, Horex’s motorcycles are made in limited numbers, thus it can be very hard to land on one.
9 Paton
Paton holds its origins to Grand Prix racing back in 1958. This history has seen this motorcycle manufacturer make a name for itself as a shrewd sports bike manufacturing company.
Compared to other huge players in the sports bike segment, Paton is a rather small but shrewd player. One of their most iconic builds is the 2014 Paton S1, where they hooked up a Kawasaki ER-6 650cc parallel-twin engine to a very light chassis. The result was a very sporty and fast bike that, despite having a power unit that produces 72bhp, was a great performer on road.
8 Benelli
Benelli is a former shotgun manufacturer turned into a motorcycle manufacturing company. Its origins go back to 1911. Just like Horex, this company also later sold, getting acquired by the Qianjiang Group.
Still, Benelli produces great motorcycles for the sports bikes market. One of their most iconic builds is the Benelli Tornado 302, which some pundits claim to be better and cheaper than the Yamaha R3. This particular bike is capable of hitting 180kph top speed, thanks to the 302cc twin parallel engine that outputs a respectable 36bhp.
7 Husqvarna Motorcycles
This hard-to-pronounce dirt bike brand is one of the most respectable underdogs in the dirt bikes business. Husqvarna has shot back into the dirt bikes limelight after partnering with KTM to produce the iconic Svartpilen and Vitpilen models.
Apart from building state-of-the-art motorcycles, Husqvarna is also well known in the power equipment business. It produces top of the line sewing machines and chainsaws. Their motorcycle business is also big, with the company having started motorcycle manufacturing back in 1903. Their bikes are thus considered one of the best in the business.
6 Bultaco
This Spanish motorcycle company was founded back in 1958. It enjoyed a good run in the business before its doors were shut down in 1983. For most people who tried dirt bikes back in the day, Bultaco was famed for manufacturing amazing air-cooled, single-cylinder, two-stroke motorcycles.
Luck came calling in 2014 when the company was revived, albeit with a new goal – designing and building electric off-road motorcycles for the new generation. Today, Bultaco has over four models in their electric lineup, built on a new platform they call the “Brinco” platform. These bikes are generally a cross between a trials motorcycle and a beefy mountain bike.
5 Rieju
Rieju has its humble beginnings in 1934 Spain. Despite the company being founded in 1934, motorcycle production only began in 1947 – their first bike being a 40cc moped that produced only one horsepower. Fast-forward a couple of decades later, Rieju was one of the most respected companies in the European enduro scene.
Rieju’s sales peaked in the 80s when they won several enduro races and gained massive popularity, becoming one of Spain’s best dirt bike brands. However, their share of the market gradually dwindled until 2011 when they got into a partnership with Yamaha to try and relive their past glory. So far, they’ve launched great motorcycles – like the Marathon 200 Pro, with all models shipping with Yamaha engines.
4 Confederate Motorcycles
Recently renamed to Combat Motorcycles, Confederate Motorcycles is not a very popular motorcycle brand because it’s not built for the masses. Rather, Confederate serves the elites who’re impressed by Rolls-Royce, Bentleys, and are not shy of spending crazy amounts of cash on a two-wheeled vehicle.
Confederate is located in Alabama and is famed for making unique motorcycles milled out of solid aluminum billets. The frames and suspensions are milled into form – not welded, and their bikes use a custom architecture compared to mainstream motorcycles.
Thanks to this unique manufacturing process, Confederate motorcycles are among the most expensive in the market.
3 Ural
Self-proclaimed as the world’s leading manufacturer of off-road ready sidecar motorcycles, Ural is a Russian motorcycle manufacturer famed for its off-road bikes. The company is sizeable, with some of its bikes having been featured in huge publications and magazines such as Road and Track, the New York Times, and Bloomberg Pursuits.
Their off-road ready sidecar motorcycles borrow their design from WWII German motorcycles. Most of them still don the original fork design, with a dual-rear-wheel drive. A spare tire is also included in most of their bikes.
2 MZ Motorrad
Fully known as Motorenwerke Zschopau, MZ is a German motorcycle manufacturer who’s been in the business since 1956. Apart from producing motorcycles for the masses, MZ has had a significant sporting footprint. It has won the International Six Day Trial 7 times, 6 of which were in a row. They’ve also participated in other road racing events where the company has been successful.
As far as their production motorcycles go, MZ is known for a couple of iconic models such as the MZ1000S. Despite featuring designs from the 90s, the MZ1000S is a great performing sports bike that can challenge most V-twin superbikes.
The only downside with MZ is that they’re still lagging as far as new bike designs are concerned.
1 KTM
KTM is not a mainstream motorcycle manufacturer, at least not as mainstream as Harley-Davidson or any of the Japanese brands, but it’s still well-known within bikers’ circles. Located in Austria, KTM manufactures not only sports bikes but also sports cars.
KTM bikes are well-known for their high performance and impressive aesthetics. The KTM 1290 SuperDuke R, for instance, combines high power, lightweight, and top of the class suspension and brakes for out-of-this-world riding experience.
This attention to detail and performance has seen KTM rise in popularity among high-end buyers. Thus, most KTM dealerships are located in wealthy suburbs of well-off cities.