Cobra Youth Motorcycles "Champions Start Here"

Being retired has its perks beside not having to report for work every day. Being able to take spur of the moment trips is one of them. Spending most of my career as a Machine Tool Builder, I find learning how things are built interesting. A few days ago, I got to thinking, Cobra Moto the builder of the best, most state of the art youth 50cc and 65cc motorcycles in the world builds their bikes at their facility in Hillsdale, Michigan only 2 hours away from my home near Niles.

I sent an email to Sean Hilbert, the President of Cobra and asked him if it would be possible for myself and a few other old retired guys to get a tour of their facility to see how their motorcycles were built. Sean graciously extended an invitation. My thinking was it would be a nice outing for myself and 3 other retired buddies. All of us were motocross racers back in the day and keep up with the sport today as well and still ride motorcycles. Three of us are former Machine Tool Builders and one has his own welding and fabrication business.

The ride to Hillsdale and the Cobra facility was a nice two hour ride, combined with a stop in Coldwater for lunch, the shop tour and a two hour ride home made for a great afternoon. The temperatures were in the 60's and there was a bit of rain spitting but not enough to really get anyone wet.

Sean met with us and brought us up to speed on the history of Cobra motorcycles and explained how he became involved with the brand. With that as a foundation he lead us into the production facility. He showed us one of the original models from the first year of production then lead us to where the new electric bikes were going through final assembly.

Cobra CX5E Electric Motorcycles Starting Assembly

The gasoline engine assembly area was next and we watched a builder carefully putting an engine together, piece by piece. Cobra builds all of their engines in house. There are no assembly lines at Cobra. Most motorcycle manufacturers use an assembly line as a means to streamline assembly which allows unskilled workers to add a component or series of components in the minute or two as the work piece passes by their station. The engine builders here at Cobra are craftsman who have an intimate knowledge of each component and hand build each engine from start to finish. Myself, being a Machine Tool Builder, can appreciate that since that's the way we built machines that our companies sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Next was the final assembly of the 50cc motorcycles followed by the 65cc assembly area. Again, there are no assembly lines here. Various sub-assemblies are put together at other stations, again by skilled craftsmen/craftswomen and brought to the final assembly stations where a single worker will fully integrate all of the components into a complete finished motorcycle. These motorcycles are truly hand built. 

50cc's Of Hand Built Goodness

Four Completed 50cc Of Happiness Ready To Be Crated And Shipped

Next Sean took us through the machining area where we saw an array of CNC machining centers turning out parts. Sean explained many of the improvements in manufacturing they've incorporated to improve quality and increase productivity which helps to keep the price of the machines in line. He showed us the dynamometer where they test the engines, the Quality Control area with it's coordinate measuring machine and other test equipment. They even have a test chamber that, if I recall correctly, can be adjusted from -30 to +150 degrees to test machines/components at extreme temperatures for extreme environments. R&D in ongoing and always moving forward at Cobra.

CNC Operator Churning Out Quality Parts

Cobra Engine Cases Fresh Off Of The CNC

Cobra Cylinders In Process

Cobra also designs and builds their own, Card Performance brand of suspension. High end components that offer greater adjustability and tuneability over what's available even by the leading Japanese suspension companies. They also design and build all of their frames in house as well. Clutches, transmissions, braking systems, levers all designed and built in house. I found that amazing! These are truly American made motorcycles!

Cobra has diversified and has branched out into other areas including building an improved portable water pump used by Firefighters. Sean showed us a portable pump that Firefighters were using until recently that weighed 75# and the one that they've created that pumps out a higher volume of water but only weighs 45#! 

They also are working with the US Military supplying propulsion systems for unmanned aircraft (drones) both fuel injected and hybrid units. He showed us several different configurations from single cylinder air cooled units to 3 cylinder liquid cooled, fuel injected engines that can be held in the palm of your hand. The cylinders and crankcase are both 3D printed from an aluminum alloy. Very cool stuff indeed. 

Cobra Aero 3 Cylinder, Fuel Injected, Liquid Cooled Drone Engine

I don't want this to sound like a commercial but I came away really impressed with my visit! Cobra's tagline "Champions Start Here" is more than a tagline, it's a documented history. If you look at the riders who started on Cobra's it reads like a who's who of AMA Champions. Names like Millsaps, Baggett, Izzy, Canard, Durham, Tomac, Sipes, Dungey, Alessi, Cianciarulo, Webb, Osborne, Bell, Bowers, Chisholm and Hackley all raced and won on Cobra's early in their career. Champions truly do start here!