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Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
The FA-13 Combat Bomber motorcycle, one of 13 handcrafted bikes built by Confederate Motorcycles. This was Confederate’s final model before rebranding to Curtiss Motorcycles to produce electric models.
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Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Lee Peak works on building an engine at Curtiss Motors on Jan. 5. The specialty shop designs and produces exclusive models in limited runs.
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Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
The FA-13 Combat Bomber motorcycle, one of 13 handcrafted bikes built by Confederate Motorcycles. This was Confederate’s final model before rebranding to Curtiss Motorcycles to produce electric models.
Confederate Motorcycles has built its brand on exclusivity. Only a few motorcycles are being assembled at any one time in the company’s Second Avenue South warehouse, and each model is typically one of only 50 or 60 of its kind.
“For the last 25 years, Confederate has always been very high-end, almost unobtainable to most people. It’s been a very niche market, almost arthouse movement,” designer and acting President Jordan Cornille said. “The limited quality has kind of demanded a high price.”
In January, however, Confederate retired both its name and its business model in favor of something new. Now called Curtiss Motorcycle Co., the Lakeview-based company is changing its focus to electric motorcycles with larger production runs and a lower price tag.
“We’re changing branding, we’re changing technology and we’re changing the demographic that we’re marketing to,” Cornille said.
The switch to electric models has been in the works for about seven years, Cornille said. It was officially announced by the company in November, though motorcycle industry magazines noted the change earlier in fall 2017. Cornille said cost and environmental impact were part of the considerations, but one of the main drivers was the performance possibility.
Curtiss partnered with Zero Motorcycles in California to build a special twin engine for its new line of bikes. Cornille said the most recent Confederate models had about 145 horsepower and 160 foot-pounds of torque, while the new electric models will have 170 horsepower and 290 foot-pounds of torque.
“These motors are very high-intensity, torque-y and powerful. They kind of exceed any performance that these [Confederate] machines are capable of,” Cornille said. “The numbers are almost doubled right off the bat, … so we think the sky’s the limit of what these electric motors and controllers are capable of.”
The old Confederate production system is also no more. Instead of producing a single model at a time in a limited run, Cornille said Curtiss will release three brand-new models in May, the first of which will be a traditional motorcycle called the Hercules, with two or three more to come out in the next year. The company will produce about 450 motorcycles for each of the first three models released and intends to move up to 1,000 bikes total for 2019 and later releases.
“I think for people who have followed Confederate in the past, they will see the same team designed these machines. But they are going to be different,” Cornille said of the look of the new motorcycles.
Their warehouse was bought in anticipation of this change and will be large enough to handle 450-bike production runs, though Cornille said they may buy a second warehouse before making the move to 1,000-bike runs. A location for the second warehouse hasn’t been decided, Cornille said, but it’s likely to remain local because the connection to Barber Motorsports park is part of what drew Confederate to the area.
“We think it’s an inspiring area,” Cornille said.
The electric models will range around $20,000-60,000. Designs haven’t been unveiled for the three new models, which will first be revealed to the public at a California show in May.
Cornille said reactions from Confederate customers have been mixed so far.
“Some people despise us for making this change, some people are very excited for it,” he said, adding that he hopes seeing the bikes in action will change some minds.
“It’s going to be cool and fast.”
