The motorcycle market has played directly into their hands. CCM have taken on staff, expanded the factory and created various subtly-different versions to meet demand, including a Café Racer, Flat Tracker, hopped-up Foggy Edition and Bobber. The first run of Spitfires sold out immediately and caused a huge waiting list. Before the Spitfire came along CCM were lucky to get orders for 30 bikes a month, but the good-looking single is perfect for a market that craves retro-style bikes, factory customs and undiluted riding sensations. But it’s certainly engaging.īang on trend, too. With a stiff set-up, barking exhaust note and lashings of feedback it’s not a machine for the shy, or those after a sedate, cosseting riding experience.
It doesn’t just look like a custom, it rides like a perfectly executed special as well. With low weight, no faffy electronics and a snappy single-cylinder engine the Spitfire delivers unfiltered motorcycling. The classy Spitfire features machined alloy components, bespoke brakes, adjustable suspension, and a frame (in the steel used for the fuselage of the WW2 fighter of the same name) that’s available with a clear powder coating so you can appreciate the hand-welded joins. There’s so much space between components you can see straight through the bike – there’s nowt to it. The CCM is little more than a blunt four-valve engine, slender hand-made tube frame and a pair of wheels.
These days British single means CCM Spitfire. Things have progressed a tad since the days of Panther, Matchless and BSA, however. You used to be able to identify riders of single-cylinder British bikes by their numb fingers, over-developed kickstart leg, and the tailback caused as they whumped along.
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