The Dirt Biker Chronicles

I can still vaguely remember that summer day in 1969. Every time I see the photo in the family album, the distant memory from so long ago awakens. The picture is of my Dad sitting on his brand new Ossa 250 Stiletto in our front yard. I remember the excitement of that day. That special excitement you get when you bring a brand new motorbike home.

In 1969 Ossa was one of the top European dirt bikes, made in Spain. Ossa was just one of many European bikes available in the United States. It was the heyday for European bike manufacturers.

Besides Ossa, other European bikes sold in the U.S. were Bultaco (Spain), Greeves (England), BSA (England), CZ (Czechoslovakia), Maico (Germany), and Husqvarna (Sweden).

Meanwhile, Japanese dirt bikes were widely considered inferior in performance and quality. Dad never even considered buying one when he got his Ossa; nor over the following years of the 70s when he went on to buy a Husqvarna, a Maico, and then another Husqvarna.

Those glory days for the Euros were numbered, though. There were major changes coming in the dirt bike market during 1970s. By the time the 1980s dawned, the Japanese manufacturers owned the U.S. market while most of the European makers were out of business.

Honda and Yamaha, in particular, saw their U.S. dirt bike sales explode from about 1973 on. The companies had deep pockets subsidized by their other industries, like cars and road bikes. They were able to sell bikes at a lower price while at the same time spending more money on research for new technologies. The result was a better bike at a lower cost. European sales dried-up and bankruptcy followed.

Of all those European bikes named, only Husqvarna still sells dirt bikes today in the USA. But the once mighty Husky reputation took a big hit  in 1986 when an Italian company bought Husqvarna and moved manufacturing to Italy. Quality plummeted and has only improved in recent years. It almost killed the Husky reputation and it has yet to return to its’ former glory.

Fortunately the European dirt bike has revived over the past decade or so. Besides Husqvarna’s reemergence, KTM (Austria) established a quality reputation and loyal U.S. market-base over the course of the late 80s and onward. Today KTM is one of the top brands in the world. Other European bikes available in the U.S. are Gas-Gas (Spain), Husaberg (Sweden), Beta (Italy), and Aprilla (Italy). All offer modern, competitive dirt bikes, albeit at slightly higher prices than the Japanese bikes.

Today, anyone who wasn’t around the dirt bike scene of the late 60s and early 70s would have a hard time imagining Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki as second-tier bikes to unknown names like Ossa, Bultaco and Maico. But that’s how it was on that spring day in 1969 when we brought the new Ossa home.

Filed under: The Dirt Biker Chronicles on April 19th, 2008