A
collection of motorcycle manufacturers websites -
Canadian section wherever possible.
If there are any
manufacturers selling motorcycles or scooters in
Canada that we've missed (or links that have
changed) please let us
know.
Aprilia
Aprilia's
historical home is in Noale near Venice
Italy and is now owned by Piaggio. They
started out building scooters but are
now also well known for their
motorcycles.
BMW
The
Bavarian Motor Works company from
Germany, whose humble beginnings took
them from aviation, to motorcycles, and
to what most recognize them for today -
automobiles.
Can-Am
Bombardier ATV became
Can-Am in 2006. The Bombardier
Recreational Products (BRP) company has
a proud Canadian heritage and was
started by Joseph Bombardier in Quebec.
Joseph Bombardier, the company founder,
introduced the snowmobile in 1937. In
2007 BRP introduced its first on-road
vehicle.
Benelli
Benelli
was established in Pesaro Italy in 1911
and in the beginning they only repaired
cars and motorcycles. Benelli is now
now part of motor Group Qianjiang,
which is a corporation located in
southeast China but they still maintain
the facilities and workforce in
Pesaro.
Buell
Founded
by an ex-Harley Davidson engineer Erik
Buell, Buell Motorcycle is based in
Wisconsin USA. Harley Davidson
purchased complete control of Buell
Motorcycle in 2003 and Buell's are now
sold through select H-D
dealerships.
Ducati
An
Italian motorcycle manufacturer famous
for its beautiful (and fast!)
motorcycles with trellis-style frames,
and large capacity four-stroke
90-degree L-twin engines featuring a
desmodromic valve design.
Harley-Davidson
William
S. Harley and Arthur Davidson make
their first production Harley-Davidson
available to the public in 1903. Based
in Milwaukee WIsconsin, USA - they're
famous for their two cylinder V-twin
engines with the pistons mounted in a
45° "V" and a unique "potato-potato"
sound.
Honda
Founded
by a mechanic by the name of Soichiro
Honda. Honda is a multinational company
based in Japan. Honda's first
motorcycle came in 1949. But the Honda
Cub is the best-selling vehicle in
history, with approximately 50 million
units sold around the world. They're
pretty famous for their engines and
automobiles, namely the Honda
Civic.
Husqvarna
This
company with Swedish origins (now based
in Italy) produced bicycles before they
started making motorcycles way back in
1903. The motorcycles made by Husqvarna
are commonly referred to as "Husky's".
Today the company mostly produce
motocross, enduro, and supermoto style
bikes. They were bought by BMW in 2007.
BMW have stated they plan to continue
to operate Husqvarna as a separate
company.
Hyosung
Hyosung
Motors & Machinery Inc was founded
in 1978. They started out producing
Suzuki motorcycle designs under licence
for the Korean market and started
producing their own bikes in 1987.
National Motorsports is the Canadian
distributor.
Kawasaki
Kawasaki
is an international company based in
Japan. These guys started way back in
1896 but no motorcycles back then -
ships were their main product. They
still make them today but their most
visible products are motorcycles and
all terrain vehicles.
Konker
Motors
Konker
Motors is a Langley, British Columbia,
based manufacturer of dirt bikes,
ATV's, and street legal scooters which
they have made in China and distribute
to qualified distributors/dealers. As
of November 2008 they have 72 dealers
across Canada. With each bike you've
got the backing of Konker; they supply
technical support; full coverage
warranty; and a large parts
supply.
KTM
Based in
Austria and founded in 1934, KTM didn't
start producing motorcycles until 1953.
KTM's official company/team colors are
orange, black, and silver. They produce
some particularly strong off road
racing bikes and have performed really
well in the Paris Dakar Rally with many
top finishes.
KYMCO
This
company got started in 1963 when they
began producing parts for Honda. Now,
they are the largest manufacturer of
scooters in Taiwan. They started
started building bikes in 1970 and
started marketing them under their own
KYMCO brand in 1992.
Moto
Guzzi
An
Italian manufacturer with a long
history dating back to 1921. Moto Guzzi
is the oldest European manufacturer in
continuous motorcycle production. They
are now one of the seven brands owned
by Piaggio & Co. SpA. They are
famous for their air-cooled 90° V-twin
engine.
Piaggio
Piaggio
was founded in 1884 and based in Italy.
Initially they made locomotive and
railway coaches but are now the fourth
largest producer of scooters and
motorcycles in the world. No fewer than
seven brands are owned by Piaggio
(Aprillia, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, and
Vespa among them on this page). The
Vespa is probably their most
recognizable product.
Peugeot
Peugeot
is a French manufacturer with a history
dating back more than 100 years. In the
early days they made pepper mills and
bicycles. Nowadays Peugeot is the
second largest carmaker in Europe.
Canada Motor Import Inc. (CMI) is the
exclusive importer and distributor of
the Peugeot brand of scooters.
Suzuki
Suzuki is
a Japanese multinational company that
produces a variety of products
including automobiles, motorcycles,
ATV's, and outboard marine engines
among others. They started out in 1909
building weaving looms. It wasn't until
1952 that they would start building
motorcycles.
Triumph
Triumph
is a privately owned British company
with a 100 year history. They are quite
famous for their parallel twins and
triples.
Ural
A Russian
motorcycle company famous for its
sidecar motorcycles; some with two
wheel drive even! The story goes that
in 1939 the USSR was doing some
pre-World War II planning and were
looking for a motorcycle that would
suit the red army requirements. It was
determined that the BMW R71 was a good
fit so five of them were covertly
purchased and reverse engineered - the
modern day URAL still looks like a
motorcycle from the past. The sole
Canadian distributor’s website
is here.
Vespa
Easily
the world's most recognizable scooter
and pop-culture symbol. Vespa produced
the first globally successful scooter.
Known for their painted, pressed steel
unibody they were first manufactured in
1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of
Pontedera, Italy; they are now owned by
Piaggio of Europe.
Victory
Victory is an American manufacturer
based in Minnesota who make tourers,
sport-tourers and cruisers. They are a
subsidiary of Polaris Industries.
Production started in 1998.
Yamaha
You may
notice that this Japanese company's
logo is a trio of interlocking tuning
forks - well that's because they
started in the late1800's as a musical
instrument manufacturer. They started
building motorcycles after WWII. Yamaha
is one of the world's largest producers
of motorcycles.
Zero
Motorcycles
Manufacturer of
electric motorcycles for the street and
dirt. Designed to be high performance,
lightweight and fast - Made in Santa
Cruz, CA.