MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF PASSION
Thirty plus years ago a relentless romantic passion for the American Way inspired the formation of Confederate Motorcycles.
Confederate Motorcycles was formed on April 2, 1991. During the first three quarters of operations time was invested in due diligence relative to seeking the top engineers and designers of American motorcycles to assist our design team in creating the new line of Confederate machines. Numerous phone calls were made daily, discussing the project with desired principals of various design and engineering firms.
During the second quarter of 1992 it was determined that a firm in Grass Valley, California would be utilized for our transmission and inner primary technology.
During the third quarter of 1992 a chassis manufacturing and engineering company in San Francisco was retained to assist our company with the design of the chassis itself.
During the fourth quarter of 1992 our firm was relocated in San Francisco, California where we began the intense process of finalizing all design work concerning the chassis of the new Confederate machine as well as the powertrain mounting system.
In March of 1994 operations were relocated to Baton Rouge where our prototype shop was set up. On November 11, 1994, Veteran's Day, that first prototype was fired up and ridden. It proved to be everything we had hoped for, promising "world class" chassis stiffness, unparalleled fatigue resistance, awesome power, maintenance ease and correct manufacturer ability.
Four additional prototype motorcycles were manufactured during the 1995 calendar year during our development stage. It was during this period of time that matters concerning tuning of the machine began in earnest. Early attempts conceptualize our supply chain were begun. Dimensional accuracy and precision were evolved. A collective 150,000 miles was covered. Each development prototype was broken down, examined and reconstructed constantly.
Throughout the period of research and development in Baton Rouge our shop maintained a staff of between five and seven people. Each was completely focused on perfecting the greatest American motorcycle of all time.
If you are passionate to the point of being completely consumed with what you do, you will create pure things that are completely, wholly authentic and beautiful. We are passionate about what we do.
BRAND VALUES
Never compromise passion, intensity, time or money. Treasure American hand-craftmanship. Invest absolute faith. Relish the challenge. Persist eternally. No takeaway.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Dwell in the creative process. Create a fresh holistic American industrial and mechanical design culture. Specify only the finest materials, components, and methodologies. Create through deep, considered, actual individual emotion. Perfect a balance of technology and the primitive. Overbuild.
Excellence in design depends on complete, unflinching honesty. Honesty to yourself and to what you create is the very nature of being alive. There is a skeletal beauty in being completely and wholly honest. We have nothing to hide. Neither do our bikes.
The creation of pure, unfiltered, honest industrial and mechanical design is our purpose and our promise. Each machine communicates directly with the man so fortunate to experience it. It is the embodiment of authenticity, integrity and virtue. It serves up the road, the journey, with no fluff, no contrivance. In motion, from grip to peg to saddle, the accuracy, precision, and look-you-dead-and-unflinching-in-the-eye quality communicate the travelled road directly in a no-nonsense manner.
THE AMERICAN WAY
To lead the world in craftmanship requires leading the world in design - the best of which is inspired by the American Way. The father of the American Way, Thomas Jefferson, taught us that individualism, not collectivism, was the morally centered approach to principled design.
The importance of the American Way relative to American industrial design is impossible to overemphasize. It is America true to concept. It is Western civilization at its zenith. It is bottom-up, non-materialist principled individualism nurturing diverse actualized creativity.
COMBAT MOTORS
On June 15, 2020, Confederate Motorcycles LLC changed the company name to Combat Motors LLC to better reflect the overall values of the company, its clients and its mission. In the months that followed, Combat Motors continued to receive a number of enquiries for Confederate branded motorcycles from our international customers. We therefore decided to continue to manufacture and distribute Confederate branded motorcycles to these international clients.