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Horst Leitner is a pretty amazing disigner/engineer/inventor in the annals of motorcycling history. ATK 406 article in MXA
...and there was spin-off company using ATK tooling and designs. It was known as the Avenger. Manufactured by American Dirt Bike Inc. This is truly an oddball. Very trick oddballs. The cycle parts (including the WP suspension components) were almost entirely hand made/welded/machined. If I remember right these bikes were in the $8,000 range in 1995 (could be 94' or 96') when they were featured in MXA. A CR 250 was about $4k
The Shop
ATK and Can-Am are directly related, as well as Rotax. Rotax is owned by BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products), the parent company of Can-Am. Horst Leitner was originally commissioned by Bombardier to build them they're new MX line of dirt bikes under the Can-Am moniker. In the middle of the project Can-Am went "belly up", as they say, and that left Can-Am dealers and distributors without product. The Can-Am dealer network pooled their resources and credit lines to help support Horst to complete the design of the bikes and put them into limited production. And that is how ATK was born. ~ A sort of motocross manufacturing co-op. Good stuff.
ATK is an acronym for anit-kettenspannung (German for anti-chain tension). ...and obviously the bikes proudly featured Horst's own AMP Link (the anti-chain tension device he invented/designed).
Rotax (Austrian made and designed) is one of the greatest engine builders in the history of powersports. They are responsible for almost every 2 stroke innovation in the last 60 years, and along with Johnson/Evinrude (another BRP subsidiary), continue to build the most technologically advanced, efficient, 2-stroke motors on the planet. Rotax, and more specifically, Orbital (an Austrailian firm) injection technologies, are the future of 2 stroke motocross, if there is indeed a future for my beloved beasts. *prays*
I never saw one actually running.............
Pit Row
Mainstream? Really?
Husqvarna's total run of off-road 500 twins was one bike. Why wasn't the engine ever put into production? According to Gunnar Lindstrom, "The four-speed gearbox was marginal, even on the 400cc single."
When Swedish MX star Lars Larsson lined up on this bike for the 1971 Indian Dunes motocross race in Southern California, his competition thought he was on a regular Husqvarna.
But Larsson knew better. He was aboard one of the rarest machines in the history of American motocross: a 400cc Husqvarna with a frame made of titanium. And he used it to win both motos and dominate the Inter-AMA series support class that year.
“Of course, my fellow racers came around wondering what kind of Husky I had,” recalls Larsson, who was instrumental in establishing Husqvarna in the U.S. and later went on to start Torsten Hallman Original Racewear, now known as Thor.
He told them: Hallman Racing had commissioned Pro-Fab to make a small run of light, strong and expensive titanium frames to accept Husky engines. Other weight-saving tweaks included titanium fork crowns, handlebars and axles. The fenders and seat base were thin plastic, the gas tank was aluminum, and various parts—including the brake pedal and ignition cover—were drilled to lighten them further.
The result weighed in at an amazing 189 pounds, or 25 pounds lighter than a comparable production Husqvarna.
The machine helped Larsson win four of six rounds of the Inter-AMA motocross series.
I was looking for this one... and the CCM as well
Kelvin only built two. The first one used the motor from a '79 XL500 Honda dual-sport 'cause it came out before the XR and Kelvin couldn't wait.
Cagiva sold that factory to BMW in 2007, BMW sold it to KTM in January this year. They've been assembling actual motorcycles there for a long time. What factory are you talking about?
I always thought they were sick and i cant find anything online
Also any of the old thumper nats bikes. KLX 250's, TTR 250's etc
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