BBC’s Top Gear came to the CCM factory in October 2021 to film the moving tribute to legendary stunt man Eddie Kidd. This stunning CCM is the bike that was seen flying high above 13 x London Routemaster buses, with one of Britain’s greatest ever stuntmen taking it into the world record books.
Eddie was just 12 years old when he saw a movie about American stuntman, Evel Knievel, which inspired him to jump over 11 of his schoolmates on his bicycle! He got his very first motorcycle at the age of 15, and his love of stunt-jumping won him a junior world record. He cleared eight buses and this early success would set him on a path to greater things.
He joined stunt team, Cyclo Maniacs and in 1975 on board his CCM 500 Motocross bike, Eddie successfully cleared 13 x double-decker buses on ITV’s World Of Sport and the cameras recorded more than just a jump!
The adjacent golf club was concerned that Eddie would run on to damage their course and so attempted to stop the jump going ahead. The organisers reassured them by agreeing to have sheets placed at the end of the run off to catch the bike, just in case it was travelling too quickly.
As we now know, by the time Eddie had landed and was in control, he knew the bike wouldn’t stop in time and so tried to put the bike down to scrub off speed. He bowled over his dad and uncle, (who were holding flimsy bed sheets!) like skittles, and scattering them into the undergrowth! Eddie was relatively unscathed but his dad suffered broken legs as a result. Health and safety was very much in development back then! This didn’t harm his career as immediately after the jump, Eddie would be snapped up by Yamaha.
Eddie soon became a household name and would go on to double for Harrison Ford, Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine to name just a few great movie stars, with Hollywood film and TV productions employing his motorcycle and driving skills. He was versatile too, his handsome, masculine looks helping to garner successful modelling and music careers.
In 1993, in front of a 60,000 strong crowd, Eddie jumped the Great Wall of China, however just 3 years later, his career would end dramatically. It was at The Bulldog Bash that Eddie made what appeared a relatively easy jump against the advice of his mechanics. He landed hard, his head hitting the tank leaving him as an unconscious passenger and he was thrown down a 20-foot drop, leaving him with injuries to his pelvis, spine and tragically, his brain.
Eddie was in a coma for three months and was left paralysed requiring round the clock care and physiotherapy. Determined not to be defined by his injuries, Eddie took on the London Marathon Course in 2011. It took him over a period of 2 months to complete but he did it, such is his strength of character.
Eddie’s CCM bike was part of a barn find, where this and the rest of Bert Dearman, the Cyclo Maniac team owner’s motorcycles were locked away after Eddie’s successor, a young enthusiastic rider, was tragically killed attempting another daring jump.
Many years later, CCM were alerted to the existence of the bike and it was brought back to Bolton and lovingly restored to its original condition, where it remains on show in the company’s boardroom.
The 500cc bike was manufactured on the 10th August 1976 for the Cyclo Maniacs team. The suspension had extra long travel (for those days!) and featured a Quaife 4-speed conversion. The bike had a number of adaptations such as extra footpegs and extended rear brake to allow Eddie to perform some of his stunts.
Top Gear’s tribute was incredibly moving, many citing it as the shows best ever feature! Paddy McGuinness showed a rare sensitive side to his character with contributions from friends and family, excerpts from some of his greatest stunts and some truly beautiful footage of Eddie in a spectacular finale.
If you haven’t seen it, you can find it on the BBC iPlayer….and get the hankies at the ready!
You can see Eddie’s record breaking CCM on our stand at this years Motorcycle Live from 4th to 12th December at Birmingham’s NEC.
This year CCM Motorcycles (CCM) is celebrating its golden jubilee and in another milestone, the Bolton-based firm has just secured significant investment to build on the business’ past 50 years of success.
From the humble beginnings in founder Alan Clews’ garage, that same passion to succeed and innovate continues to thrive on the site of Alan’s 70’s factory site at Jubilee Works.
Over the past five decades, CCM has taken the fight to the motorcycling behemoths on the motocross, trials, flat-track and road race circuits of the world, with numerous accolades achieved throughout.
Great names to grace the saddles of competing CCMs from the motocross world include Mike Barnes, Andy Ainsworth, Bob Wright, John Banks, Vic Eastwood, Vic Allan, Donny Schmit, Greg Hanson, Dave Thorpe, Tom Church and Steven Sword, amongst many others.
From the trials world, high profile names include John Lampkin and Steve Saunders, Dakar riders –
Simon Pavey, Nick Craigie; and from the road racing world Niall McKenzie, Donnie McLeod, Chris
Walker and 1981 IOM TT winner, Steve Tonkin. From the European flat track racing scene, Marco Belli and Stephane Mezard.
Bob Wright in full flight leading a ’77 British Championship race.
All enjoyed racing success with the British Marque, some winning British, European and World
Championships on their ultra-competitive CCMs, giving the marque a fantastic 50 years racing heritage. And with legendary British stuntman, Eddie Kidd, at the controls, CCM claimed the world bus-jumping record too.
CCM has proved to be an industry leader in the motorcycle world, with the world’s first aluminium trials bike in the 1980s, the first direct link suspension, the first carbon fibre road racers, the world’s first aluminium bonded motorcycle chassis on its GP450 Adventure bike – all proven on the racetrack over the years.
Making bikes to win races gave CCM the expertise to design bikes that feel alive on the road, and this earned them a cult following with a range of dual sport, supermoto and modern retro models. The ground-breaking GP450 remains as one of the only truly capable lightweight adventure bikes and the end of engine supplies took CCM on a whole new journey with the critically acclaimed Spitfire series and the firm’s greatest retail success with a range of scramblers, flat trackers, bobbers and Carl Fogarty tribute machines.
Such pedigree has attracted a new partnership with North West based-Pitalia Capital, which will support the company on its next 50-year journey and will enable this great British brand to invest further in new product development and embrace the pent-up demand across Europe and beyond. With the company currently only offering the Spitfire range within the UK, the support of Pitalia Capital will facilitate investment in European homologation to provide access to a number of other key markets, which supports CCM’s wider global growth plan.
Designing and developing beautiful, customer focused artisan motorcycles will continue to be CCM’s
core product and business focus. This investment also represents a fantastic opportunity as the company begins the recruitment process for 14 new roles to provide the infrastructure to support the ambitious growth plans. CCM is actively looking to bolster the senior management team and recruit experienced design engineers and programme managers to support new projects, in addition to ambitious, talented people for roles in procurement and production assembly through to finishing, PDI and logistics.
Commenting on behalf of CCM, Austin Clews said: “I am so proud of my father’s achievements here at CCM. It’s been a true family affair, with three generations involved in driving the brand through its competition days towards becoming a well-known British icon in the world of bikes. We are really excited about the next stage of our journey which will see a new ambition to take CCM into international markets.”
John Davies, managing partner of Pitalia Capital, added: “CCM is a British manufacturing success story with a rich heritage and despite increased competition from overseas in recent years, the company has continued to buck the trend and bring fantastic, innovative motorbikes to market.
“CCM bikes are an incredibly emotive creation, and the passion in the products and the people of this business is something that has clearly shone throughout our discussions. Our immediate investment priority is to our current and loyal customer base. It is so important for CCM to forge and maintain personal relationships with our customers. We look forward to investing heavily in this area to their benefit.
“I’m also looking forward to working in partnership with the Clews family and our plan is to invest in all areas of the business, providing the financial and strategic springboard to bring this unique brand to the international stage. We are extremely excited about the opportunity ahead.”
For further information about the employment opportunities available, please contact recruit@ccm-motorcycles.com
For the second year running, head of CCM France, Stephane Mezard has been crowned as French nation Flat Track champion.
Stephane has a great track record as former French Super Moto champion and for contesting the 24 Heures Du Mans, to name just a few of his achievements.
The day job is still very much on 2 wheels, as CCM’s distributor in France, and with results like this, he should have a few more customers beating a path to his showroom door in the beautiful Clermont Ferrand region.
Why not head to Stevenage to BIKE STOP where TEAM CCM will have some tasty new metal on display for you to try for size.
From the rugged MAVERICK to the snorting stance of the STREET TRACKER, the playful STREET MOTO and the street fighting SPITFIRE SIX, the CCM team will be on hand to answer any burning questions you have about these gorgeous hand-built bikes.
Martin from Bike Stop makes a mean Coffee and some tasty paninis too and, with 1000s of fantastic biking clothes and accessories in stock, it’s well worth a visit.
The team will be there on 28 August from 9am until 4pm.
CCM Blackout customer, Annette Norman had a dilemma. She’d booked onto the MotoLegends Ladies Ride which took the group of all female bikers from their headquarters near Guildford, across Salisbury Plain to the Roth Bar & Grill at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Bruton, Somerset.
With all of the issues surrounding shipping of components in from Europe, Annette’s Blackout was delayed and wouldn’t arrive in time. With a gap between promotional events such as The Festival of Speed and the MCN Festival, we were able to lend our Maverick test bike to Annette to enable her to take part.
Annette was able to assess the bike ahead of her Blackout’s arrival to make sure a) it fitted her and b) it fitted her camper van….
The great news was that it worked on both counts, the bike being so light and easy to move around which also allowed her to transport the bike from her home in the midlands to Surrey on a rack on the back of the van – perfect! This was something that she wasn’t able to do with her outgoing Triumph.
Annette said of her time on the Maverick “I found it really easy to ride, it gripped corners so well, easy gear changes, easy to steer, great power, this bike loves the twisties, a great all rounder….
it was comfortable, good seat height, being 5ft 5, I had no issues with confidently reaching the ground, unlike other bikes. Had lots of ladies come over to look and ask about it, showing serious interest…..No matter where I went, it pulled a crowd…you’ll never be alone, someone always wants to chat to you about the CCM ”
Why not head to Stevenage to BIKE STOP where TEAM CCM will have some tasty new metal on display for you to try for size.
From the rugged MAVERICK to the snorting stance of the STREET TRACKER, the playful STREET MOTO and the street fighting SPITFIRE SIX, the CCM team will be on hand to answer any burning questions you have about these gorgeous hand-built bikes.
Martin from Bike Stop makes a mean Coffee and some tasty paninis too and, with 1000s of fantastic biking clothes and accessories in stock, it’s well worth a visit.
The team will be there on 28 August from 9am until 4pm.
It’s been a long time coming but the wait is almost over… We’re excited for you to witness a CCM motorcycle playing a starring role in the new movie Infinite, coming to @ParamountPlus on June 10th! This very bike was ridden by Mark Wahlberg and the chase scenes are right up there with the very best of the genre. We are so proud to be a part of this superb movie! See if you can spot the CCM motorcycle in the new trailer and make sure to see it on Paramount+ in the US on June 10th! See the trailer here and watch this space for more “Infinite” news. #BeInfinite
Last weekend, CCM showed off a new Café Racer colour scheme at the SupercarFest event. The scheme was the classic Alitalia scheme as seen on rallying Lancias and Max Biagi’s WSBK bike.
We wondered what classic racing schemes would you like to see on a CCM?
You may already be aware that this year will be a big deal for CCM, as we will be featured not once, but twice in Hollywood blockbuster movies.
The first to hit the silver screen is the new Black Widow action adventure movie from the Marvel stable.
In the following trailer, you can see the two heroines of the movie doing a donut before escaping down an alleyway (or a ginnel as we call it here in Bolton!)
Black Widow arrives on Jul 9th and just a few weeks later, another big budget movie features another CCM in a high adrenaline chase sequence. As soon as we have more information on that movie we will let you know right here!
