CCM CMX450 Test
Published: 12th March 2008
Author: Test by Greg Hanson Photos by still-mx.co.uk
CCM’s new CMX450 may be turning heads – but has it got what it takes to turn laps as well? There was only one way to find out…
With CCM making their international motocross comeback at Hawkstone at the beginning of March after an absence of 20 years, interest in the legendary British manufacturer is running as high as it was in the Bolton firm’s halcyon days of the mid to late ’70s.
The YZF-engined CMX450 was raced in anger at Hawkstone by Ollie Sandiford Smith but a few weeks earlier we got the chance to put the bike through its paces at Southport Leisure Lakes. For our test we utilised the talents of Greg Hanson – the man whose broken leg signalled the start of CCM’s international MX hiatus at the Italian GP in 1988.
Over to you Greg…
“Testing the new CCM was something I was very much looking forward to. I first saw the bike at the Dirt Bike Show at the end of last year and after a lengthy conversation with Austin [Clews] and Gary [Harthern] I soon realised a lot of time and technology had been put into developing this latest machine.
“After arriving at Leisure Lakes the bike was pulled out of the truck and my first impressions were that it’s a stunning looking machine with all the right equipment to do the job. I was just hoping the bike performed as well as it came across.
“The track was still icy in places so my first session was tentative but immediately I knew the dimensions of this chassis worked as it was balanced perfectly. After six or seven laps I came in and asked Ollie [Sandiford Smith] if he wanted to do a few laps as I wanted to alter the suspension and knowing he knew the track I could pick up some lines.
“When Ollie came in after some very quick laps I made the adjustments to the suspension and with the track ice-free set about putting some quick laps in. The faster I went the better the feedback the bike gave me - this CCM turns superbly and the confidence you get to plant it into a corner is what you’d expect from a 250. It’s hard to believe that it’s the 450 you’re riding!
“The Magura hydraulic clutch comes as standard and its light, positive feel just adds to the pleasure. The six-piece ally chassis is very nicely done indeed - with no welding it’s put together using a type of dove joint which is then glued and heat-treated at 60 degrees for two hours, an idea that’s also used on the Aston Martin chassis.
“Gluing a frame may not sound as strong as welding but in conversation with the team about this advanced technology they assured me even without the bonding on the frame it mechanically can not come apart. The pegs are positioned perfectly for comfortable cornering and movement on the bike and the gear shifter and rear brake pedal are positioned like that of CCM’s Japanese counterparts.
“The YZF 450 Yamaha engine fitted with a DEP S7 pipe provides lovely power delivery which is very useable and sharp down low with lots of torque - although I would like it to be able to hold a gear a bit longer - and the WP TRAX semi-factory suspension gave me confidence to keep it under power as it soaked up rough terrain with excellent stability.
“The full carbon sub-frame and filter box is made by Italian company CRN with the seat, tank and rad scoops coming from a ’08 KTM. One thing I wasn’t exactly delighted with was the seat foam which could have been a bit firmer for my liking.
“Overall this bike has, for me at least, virtually got it all - a state-of-the-art chassis, the proven YZF450 motor, semi-factory suspension, a choice of off-set triple clamps, carbon sub-frame and filter box, Talon wheels, hydraulic clutch, Renthal bars and DEP S7 pipe. In my opinion for CCM to have put a competitive machine together in such a short period of time that is such a joy to ride deserves a big pat on the back!”
Classy Chassis It’s a stick-up!
The CMX450’s frame uses technology that’s a first for the MX world although Aston Martin utilises a very similar process when building it’s mega-money cars for pampered Premiership footie stars.
The aluminium-bonded chassis features no welds or bolts, instead the six parts that make up the frame are completely glued together with everything set solid by a heat-treating process. This results in a chassis that’s three kilos lighter than the equivalent part from KTM.
A carbon fibre sub-frame and tank continue the weight-saving although the whole process certainly isn’t cheap – CCM managing director Gary Harthern reckons each of the factory machines costs over £30,000!
With Ollie Sandiford Smith and Richie Worrall twisting the throttle, CCM hope to compete in at least three GPs this season. The plan is that the publicity this attracts will draw in further funding to finance a full season on the world championship stage in 2009.
British Lions
A potted history of CCM
Words by Bill Lawless
CCM founder Alan Clews was a premiership performer as rider, engineer and businessman. He started with an already elderly BSA motor in 1971 and used it to power machinery that came breathtakingly close to winning both the British MX Championship and world title rounds.
It was all very improbable - a small North West company flying the flag for Great Britain and playing David against the Goliaths of the Japanese factories for the better part of a decade. He also nurtured a breed of outstanding British riders and characters – hard-chargers like Bob Wright, John Banks, Jimmy Aird, Norman Barrow and Vic Eastwood.
Clews was a considerable rider himself in both trials and motocross. As a regular performer at home, a member of the continental MX circus in the ’60s and a qualified engineer he knew what a lot of people wanted and he knew how to fill the need.
The first CCMs emerged from Clews' domestic garage and were powered by versions of the venerable BSA B40/44 motor, the first of which had been over-bored to a mighty 600-plus cc. The first few were known as the Clews Stroka and were welcomed with open arms by some good, hard centre riders who didn't hold with the new-fangled two-strokes and swiftly launched the thumpers to a successful start.
With demand exceeding supply, Clews moved production to an old factory in Bolton in 1972 having wheedled a supply of B50 motors and various chassis and suspension bits direct from BSA at Small Heath. From these humble beginnings CCM launched serious challenges in the British MX championships and later in the GPs.
It was all stirring stuff but cash was not exactly rolling in. In 1982 Clews - rugged individualist and entrepreneur - sold the company to the giant Armstrong group and became just another manager, working unhappily under a succession of bosses who weren't interested in motocross.
Although Armstrong machinery won the British Trials Championship in 1983 and ’84 in the unbeatable hands of Steve Saunders, Armstrong switched interest to road racing which swallowed up vast sums of money.
Meanwhile, Clews proved his sales abilities by negotiating huge deals with Can-Am for 4,000 mixed MX, trials and enduro machines and flogged 3,000 to the British military. Armstrong took all the credit for this and CCM wasn't even mentioned when the company won the coveted Queen's Award for Export Achievement.
But Clews won in the end. After some hard negotiation he bought his company back from Armstrong in 1987 at the right price, claimed back those three magic initials and resumed production.
In the hands of tough guys like Greg Hanson, Perry Leask, Donny Schmit and Simon Wyse the wins kept coming in four-stroke MX and in 1998 CCM played a starring role in the Dakar Rally. The same year Alan and son Austin sold their majority share in CCM but despite supermoto success and a big screen appearance underneath the luscious buttocks of Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider the marque hit hard times and closed its doors in 2004.
Step forward once again Alan and Austin who together with son-in-law and current MD Gary Harthern bought back CCM and its assets from liquidators, setting the scene for 2008’s MX comeback…
For more information on CCM go to http://www.ccmmotorcyclesuk.com
Gary Harthern
A Bit From The Boss
“A big part of CCM’s history and the foundations of its status as a manufacturer came from producing motocrossers in the 1970s and ’80s, it is entrenched in the off-road scene. Since then – under previous management – priorities have veered more towards road-based bikes which has served CCM well and a large section of our output is road-based but I felt that a return to our motocross roots was extremely worthwhile from a PR perspective. People are very nostalgic about the off-road bikes from two or three decades ago and we don’t find that so much with the road machines.
“There is a deep affinity for racing among motorcyclists and that is why people like Honda and Yamaha spend the money that they do. Their presence and high level within racing helps create a ‘buyer mentality’ and that’s what we wanted to be a part of. With CCM being such a small company to then come back into mainstream motocross and try and compete on equal terms with the likes of the Japanese and KTM is a daunting prospect but that David vs Goliath circumstance is also part of the firm’s fabric and it is an exciting time for us.
“The 450 project was largely based on the range of bikes that we currently manufacture between that 450-600cc bracket. We never intended for the bike to go into production, despite many reports to the contrary. It was done originally to prove certain concepts that we hopefully eventually want to bring to the factory floor. Since we introduced the CMX to the press we have been inundated with requests and enquiries but the simple fact of the matter is that these bikes cannot be bought as they are very much factory ‘one-offs’.
“There will only be between six and eight built for the riders. The CMX is about proving our technical excellence with innovative concepts - for a small company like us that is quite a big deal. We have not tried to re-invent the wheel. We have used the very best suspension, brakes and components that are available to us - like WP and Brembo - but the chassis is pretty special. It is made of only six parts and makes the bike three kilos lighter than its nearest competitor which is the KTM. There is no steel or aluminium in the sub-frame - it is all carbon-fibre, so is the tank.
“We have had to use components from here and there because to do this project – including a whole engine development programme – would not have been achievable in the time-scale we wanted. We started in July last year and we had a show-bike in Milan by November. Everybody said that a bike could not be built and raced in six months but this is what we have done and will do. Hopefully it will stay in one piece!”
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