Getting into Adventure Green

BUILDING AN ADVENTURE BIKE
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE THE PROCESS OF BUILDING A BIKE THESE DAYS.
HERE WE SPEAK TO CHRISTOFER RATCLIFFE, LEAD DESIGNER OF THE CCM GP450
ADVENTURE, ABOUT THE DESIGN AND BUILD PROCESS OF THAT BIKE...
Where
did
the
idea for the
GP450 begin?
It was born out
of a conversation
at CCM, back in
2010, about how
the rising boom in off-road capable
adventure bikes was full of road
based travel bikes that had been
adapted to tackle the rough stuff.
We thought, wouldn’t it be great if
we could turn a bike full of natural
off-road DNA into a travel bike.
How did you get involved with the
project and what were you doing
before this?
I was working not too far away,
designing large industrial machines
used for coating oil and gas
pipelines. I was absolutely loving it,
but then happened to come across
an ad for a motorcycle Design
Engineer role around the corner
from my house. I immediately
picked up the phone and shortly
after went to meet Austin at the
factory. Luckily I had a bit of a
background in Automotive design
from University and a short spell
as a development engineer at
TVR, so Austin gave me a chance.
CCM were very old school in their
approach to designing bikes, so I
think I just came at the right time
and could operate the new fangled
PC and CAD system!
For the first 6 months or so I was
working with the MX race team,
trying to quickly catch up on the
development and testing CCM had
done on the race bikes and bonded
chassis.
What were the particular
challenges in designing a bike of
this nature?
When we sat down and made a
list of dream specifications and
geometry for the bike we realised
why it hadn’t been done before.
Everything you want on a nimble
off-road bike was the total opposite
of what you want on a comfortable
long range travel bike.
Trying to create a low seat height
combined with MX style ground
clearance whilst trying to keep a
comfortable all-day riding position
was tricky to say the least.
Adding 20-litres of fuel on the
bike was difficult. We didn’t
want to compromise the narrow
standing off-road position or
compromise the long seat to slide
up to shift weight over the front or
compromise the weight distribution
of the bike. Affecting any one of
these would have taken away from
the off-road capabilities. And
believe me, the whole Clews family
are off-road perfectionists so would
not compromise one bit on how the
bike performed in the dirt.
“STARTING FROM
THE GROUND UP
WAS A BREATH OF
FRESH AIR”
After a few years of testing and
changes we finally settled on a set
up that felt as stable as a 600cc road
bike on the road, but was as easy
as a 250cc enduro on really tough
off-road.
Where do you even begin in the
process of designing a new bike
from the ground up?
Starting from the ground up with
a blank sheet was really a breath
of fresh air. Once we had set the
geometry and essential spec of
the bike we set to designing the
bike on the screen up to a point
where we were happy to produce
a CNC billet aluminium chassis
to create a rolling test mule. The
bonded ali chassis really is the
secret of the GP450 as it allows
us to control the vibration, stress
and weight distribution of the bike
with much higher accuracy than
a welded frame as it is treated as
a solid block of material with no
unquantifiable stress points around
weld points.
The bike has been designed for
function far above all else. If it
looks purposeful and utilitarian it’s
just because it is rather than being
styled to look that way.
Deciphering the mountain of
European type approval documents
and regulations is enough to send
anyone to sleep. The time and
expense of gaining these type
approvals is by far and away the
most difficult part of getting a new
bike to market.
Specifically, what are the
challenges facing a small volume
manufacturer such as CCM?
We get the expected troubles of a
small scale manufacture. When
we are developing, or specifying
equipment such as suspension,
brakes exhaust etc it is pot luck
to whether the supplier is dealing
with a large development project
or production run for a bigger
manufacturer. It can get frustrating
being pushed down the queue as
it has a much bigger impact on a
small company like CCM.
We do love the David and Goliath
battle and it really feeds us all to work
harder and try to create something
better than what’s already out there.
I guess that’s the competitive racing
nature coming through.
The flip side of being a small family
orientated manufacturer is that we
have a great relationship with every
CCM owner we have met. Ask any
of them and I’m sure they will tell
you the same. In the early days of
the GP450 we must have had 100
people test riding the prototypes
and pre-production bikes. Each
test rider offered different opinions
based on how they would use the
bike, what experiences they had
when out on previous adventures
and made some suggestions on
design features or options. The
GP450 was really moulded by these
people in the early days.
When the design was frozen while
we were going through the Type
approval process, any suggestions
then began to grow into the huge
range of after-market options we
have now. The GP450 really felt like
a bike of the people.
In terms of the engine, how
difficult is it for a small volume
manufacturer to source an engine
and how crucial was engine choice
in the GP450?
CCM have good relationships for
many years with most manufacturers
of motorcycles and engines. The
difficult part is choosing the right
engine to ideally suit our very
specific requirements. The BMW
Chris’s own bike, with a few tweaks
28 Find out more at www.gettingintoadventure.com