The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

US Highland – Build to Order Motorcycle Manufacturing in Tulsa Oklahoma

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Highland Viking 1050cc V-twin
Highland Viking 1050cc V-twin

Many of us would like to see more motorcycles built in the U.S. and it looks like we’ll be seeing just that in a few months. Tulsa, Oklahoma based US Highland will be manufacturing motorcycles right in the heartland of America, building the whole bike, even manufacturing the engines, in Tulsa.

For those of you familiar with Highland, you might be saying, “Hey, wait a minute, Highland is from Sweden.” Well, “from” is the operative word since the company has been reorganized and relocated to Tulsa and established as US Highland. The Chairman of US Highland is Bengt Andersson, former CEO of Husqvarna, the President is Mats Malmberg who founded Highland Motorcycles AB of Sweden in 1997 and who, along with former motocrosser, Chase Bales, formed the new US Highland. The company will be building a range of singles and V-Twins for both off road and street applications. V-Twins are 750, 950 and 1050cc, singles are 350, 450 and 507cc.

Highland Street Tracker 950
Highland Street Tracker 950

I spoke to Kurt King of US Highland and he tells me they will have their dealers setting up in the June or July time frame. You’ll be able to configure your bike online right at the dealer and then place your order immediately. Dealers will only carry demo bikes so they have no flooring expense to maintain a showroom full of new bikes. When you purchase a motorcycle, you select the model you want, the type of riding you do, the components you’re looking for and the factory hand builds it to your specifications with shipment in 7 days! There’s no need to remove a lot of stock components and upgrade a brand new bike, you order it like you want it. They build it, you ride.

Highland V-twin engine
Highland V-twin engine

Price has not yet been specified but expect it to reflect the high end components and hand built quality.

I like the idea of the build to order model. There’s no need to guess what all of your customers want and produce a lot of bikes, you build exactly what they want because they tell you. I hope they do very well.

One note: Their website is all Flash and must load completely before you see anything, in other words, it’s slow until it loads.

Link: US Highland

Highland Urban Assault 950
Highland Urban Assault 950
Highland Super Moto
Highland Super Moto
Highland Single
Highland Single

Comments

  1. I saw these guys running out at Miller Motorsports park last year, Very nice bikes, with high build quality. It was cool to find this article.

  4. Website sucked. Hope they build better bikes. I’m all in favor of this concept! And maybe a sport-tour version based on that v-twin.

  6. Outside the box dealer network, quality product, this could work. Cost is a factor of course, but ultimatly passion drives the motorcycle purchase. It wears a “made in the USA” lable and that counts in my book. Good on them!
    Peg Leg Craig

  9. The proportions in the pictures look very odd. Like the wheelbases are super crazy short and the even the road bike appears to have about 10″ of wheel travel at both ends. The motors look awesome but the graphics say Beijing. They have a “Dated” look to them where as the Magpie in the previous article was very futuristic looking.

  10. They do look fun. I hope the pricing is attractive as well. It would be nice to have more small bike options.

  11. Is this the American sport bike so many have been waiting for? Im interested in a Big Single Enduro, No need to wait for Harley anymore!! The road bikes have a very pronounced Stink Bug Stance, Time for a better look.

  12. I agree with SteveD: it will be nice to have some small displacement options. My wife, for example, was determined to buy a new Blast for her first motorcycle and is feeling a bit hopeless now that Buell is gone.

  13. Now the supermoto and the street tracker both look like my kind of bike. As a Brit a made in the USA sticker does nothing for me but a bike that i can get built to high quality without having to replace components I really fancy. I hope they do great and flourish, in the Sweden in the U.S. everywhere. At the moment for us over here with a devalued pound they won’t be much of an option but these rates fluctuate and there will be times when it makes more sense to pay a US dollar than a Euro or a Yen.

  14. Possible successor to the HawkGT/Superhawk V-twin sport-standards, which Honda won’t do.

    This could be quite cool, depending on the chassis and body options.

    Good luck on this, it is something worth keeping an eye on.

  15. This is good news. I hope it works out well for Highland. I’d dig on a lightweight single road bike but the styling here is pretty bad. If that part of the equation is flexible enough to work around then it would be worth looking at.

    -todd

  16. If the 950cc Desert Xer and the streettracker live up their claimed weight, it’s amazing, 128 kg is less than many (thumper) supermotos. Looks good too! However, the Viking-bike looks like crap imo, proportions are all wrong.Very home-built feel to it, especially with that off the shelf-tail.

  17. Oh, and that engine is a work of art. Weighs around 45 kgs (~100 lbs), if I’m not mistaken (as a reference, the KTM LC8 is around 65-70 kg (~150 lbs) I think).

  20. From what I understand, all new US vehicles must comply with the 2010 CARB/EPA regulations. There is no more 49 state vehicles. The federal government sued California for overstepping its grounds and California won. I guess that means we overthrew the feds.

    -todd

  21. Hmm…I seem to recall the Highland hypermotards being very underpowered for their class but relatively light and cheaper compared to the Ducati, Ktm and BMW offerings.
    I’m with Marvin on the “Made in the USA”, it’s nearly a by-word for shoddy plastic and finishing round these parts.

  22. Remember when I said motorcycle manufacturers should build bikes to order with a range of components from which the customer can choose, just like mountain bike manufacturers do?

    Remember when dozens on this site said it was impossible, even though mountain bike manufacturers have been doing so for years with bikes that are in many ways even more sophisticated than the average motorcycle?

    Eat your words, naysayers.

  23. I saw these bikes at Daytona bike week. They looked much nicer in person. I sat on the street tracker. It’s super light. Very nice bikes.

  24. Highland has a long story in Sweden, so far without success sine the mid ’90s. Their engines are based on old Husaberg/Vertemati ideas, developed since they bought the rights in ’98 (but still very similar in general dimensions). As a company, they have had some very tough years, financially disastrous so far. Perhaps they’ll make it this time, re-starting in the US..

  25. I like the V twin and would like it even better with the fins continued from the head down the barrels.

  26. Highland (Sweden) had a joint venture with a Chinese company to produce their engines. I contacted the Chinese company in November last year with an inquiry and received this response…..

    “Dear Mr. James
    very glad to receive your e-mail. our 950cc engine is designed by Sweden Highland, we try to produce it in China, now the engine has not finished domestic produce, so we cann’t sale it now. when i have new information, i will inform you.

    best regards

    Mr. Liu”

    also……

    “Dear Mr. James

    450cc engine, yes, it developed later than 950cc engine, we are searching good dealers in the world. if the marketing work is good, the project will go quick. otherwise it is ‘burn money’. if you have any good suggestion, please inform me, maybe it is a good chance.

    best regards

    Mr. Liu”

    I wonder if this will be continued (yes I know they are stating that they are made in the US) or if they really will be made in the US. The engines are advertised on Alibaba.com although, from the above response, aren’t actually available. I only say this as I know Vento’s triple engine, “also made in the US”, actually comes out of MPTCo, Wuxi, P.R.China. It would seem silly to not get them manufactured there if the project was already well advanced.

  27. The Chinese connection is only one of all the different attempts to get their business going. So far, not very much has happened in terms of proper sales anywhere in the world. Of course, this doesn’t mean they can’t build engines or bikes one by one. They have done that over the years, for example their so called works racers. However, they have to get their act together to such an extent they can sell bikes and spares on a regular basis, like any other small scale operator. Their current website does very little to advertise their ability…..or strengthen any potential customers’ willingness to wait much longer.

  28. So, here’s a question for the assembled great minds: What is the price point for these bikes to be a success? The moto, the tracker, and the sport bike will be different, of course. For example, I think $20K would be way too high for this to work. $10K?

  29. SteveD, You need to realize that it’s not as simple as just picking a price and then just marketing the bikes at that price. Every single nut and bolt on that bike would have to be reduced in cost/quailty and remember also that if the bike sells for $10K, it has to be delivered to the dealer for $8K, the distributor and support structure would cost at least a grand per unit and that leaves not much room for light wheels, a Spondon appearing aluminum frame and Ohlins forks. Not to mention having a nice motor with fuel injection and advanced electronics.

    To recoup their investment, they’ll have to sell a whole lot of motorcycles OR sell them at a price that will provide a faster return. The industry is not in a position to accept new players that don’t already have a manufacturing infrstructure set-up.

  30. Yeah, but, they have to sell it for a definite price. If that price is too high, folks won’t buy it. From the consumers POV it’s real simple, regardless of what’s true for the manufacturer or the dealers.

  31. I know that this is a forum where you should be positive, but. We wont miss them here in Sweden.
    The engines are cool though (if the Chineses have not screw them up?), originaly made by another Swedish company called Folan.
    From the picture of the road bike, it looks like they could have use for a designer…

  33. SteveD, you just made my point. The part you left out is that when the dust settles the company will have to make money. If there are actually a series of pre-production bikes, then money has been invested. Probably a lot too. How many millions did Dreer and his investors sink into the Norton venture? How many Nortons would need to be sold to continue to manufacture bikes and recoup even One million of the previous investment? If they could’ve afforded even $500.00 per bike, that’s 2000 bikes just to start digging into the debt and those greedy investors also would be expecting to make a bit of profit too. Add to that, they needed many more millions to set up a manufacturing operation to get the production numbers up and cost per unit down. AND, they still weren’t even in any knid of demand yet. Marketing to create a demand adds more to the previous millions owed.

    On the Highland thing, they have to develop their bikes, market them, change every year to match the whims of the market (they appear to be right on target for 2002 trends), set up a manufacturing facility, develop a network of suppliers and try to meet a price point. They have to start out expensive to cover their costs and hope they sell enough units to gradually work the price down. Usually prices don’t drop though, just the quality and the addition of more Chinese suppliers. It’s gonna be a tough uphill battle. Building some cool bikes is the easy part. The devil is in the details as they say.

  34. Its funny I was reading a motorcycle magazine last night and those engines look identical to Apriilia coincidence hmmmm maybe not

  35. I imagine pricing all depends on the terms of the manufacturers financed loans. If their backers want all their money back in a year, plus interest, they got screwed. If they can show they can make payments on it (and the lender believes they will be successful) they might not necessarily need to charge so much for the bike.

    I’m glad my lender gave me 30 years to pay back the loan on my house otherwise I could have never done it.

    -todd

  36. Here’s my point. If they cost $9000, I might buy one. If they cost $20,000, I won’t. I realize they have to make money, but if what they have to charge to make money exceeds what most people want to pay for them, they will fail. I’m not saying any of us can figure this out for them. I’m just asking folks here: What would you be willing to pay for one of these bikes, knowing what we’ve been shown and assuming that there are no serious problems. That’s a question for the consumer, and I know what my answer would be.

  37. I like it, I always thought that this would be a good way for small manufacturers to make bikes, it may even be able to work for the big boys too, although I think there have been discussions on this subject elsware on kneeslider.

    These guys also prove that you can build a beautiful water cooled engine!

  38. I, like SteveD, am more curious of the price than almost anything else.

    If they come in the $6-10k range, them I’m interested…if they’re talking $15-30k, then count me out.

    I have been looking at Hyosungs and United Motors bikes the last few years hoping they can break the mold the Japanese brands have fallen into. Sadly, the prices Hyosung and United offer are not much lower than Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki.

    If Hyosung or United were American-made…then I think having an unproven product at an [roughly] equal price as the Japanese would make for an very interesting equation.

  39. SteveD, short answer, I’d pay around $8k for a quality built single road bike a’la Mito 500. I’m afraid that’s probably not enough.

    -todd

  40. I’m just wondering WHAT bike with an Ohlins suspension you can buy for $10K US much less $6-8K. I have to wonder aloud whether anyone has stepped into a bike shop in the last decade. A Street Triple R, 675cc with a nice suspension( NOT Ohlins), is 10K.
    A KTM 690 SMC is around $10k US…why would a handbuilt-to-spec bike be any less?

    The Tracker & the Viking look pretty cool, hopefully the performance is there to back up the image.

  41. That’s just what I’m willing to pay. I’ve ridden both a Duc ST4S and 1098S with Ohlins and didn’t notice anything that would justify the premium FOR ME. BTW, the ST4S was a bit less than $8000.

    -todd

  43. I do like these bikes. They need at least one low end bike to get into the market. As their American reputation grows, they can better compete with brands like Ducati in the higher brackets. The problem is that folks with $12-15K to spend might not risk it on an unknown quantity when they can buy and established brand. Even Ducati has the 696 at $9K.

  45. Man I want small mfg’s like them to succeed, but I saw their bikes at Daytona… and they were the cheapest looking bikes I’ve ever seen. If you look at the Highland Urban Assault 950 bike, you can see that they applied the graphics right over the fairing fasteners! They should apply the graphics to the plastic first and then assemble it. Otherwise, the graphics will start peeling away at the edges by the fasteners (just like in Daytona).

    The quality of the parts *look* cheap. Fit and finish this poor won’t help them much. These guys need to step it up if they want to survive.

  46. I’d be nice to see my home state known for something aside from bad music, wacko politicians and religious mania.

    Color me “cautiously optimistic”…

  47. Carboncanyon:
    I agree with you and I think that the main problem with Highland is that they seem to prioritize the engine above all. I mean, look at that engine, it just screams attention to detail, it seems like every gram and every millimeter has been carefully thought through. Not so with the rest of the bike though, it’s like when they were done with the engine, the realized the also needed a rolling chassis for it and slapped something together during a lunch break and called it a day.

    I do wish them to succeed though, more manufacturers should focus on light weight and versatility rather than having the highest peak hp.

  48. The U S Highland bikes at Daytona were the last prototypes prior to production and the race bikes for last year . The graphics were a bit rough in places on the desert crosser which was proto type number one. The cases and heads are cast in Sweden untill the US caster gets all the bugs out. China hasn’t in four years been able to build these motors without major issues and at the last board meeting, Mr. Lou and the board decided to build only small scooter’s and bikes under 200 cc. We here at US Highland like Falicon cranks, J&E pistons and Jardine exausts. We will source all we can in the United States given reasonable cost ( good so far) and good quality. Price target for the MX/SM version is $12,900 and we are on target for this price as of 4/1/2010. Open house is may 30th so you all can see for yourselves the American facility. It has taken Highland over 13 years to get here, but they never gave up and they keep pushing forward. Give us a shot and we might just make a beleiver out of you 🙂

  49. I hope they come up with a new ATV chassis soon. There can only be a few of the Cannondale frames left to build out, and those are hard to make without tooling.

  50. new frame almot finished there will be 2 new frames. one will be a 950 and one a 450. but our plans are to continue with the old frames for awhile as they rock. As for tooling you migh be suprised with what we have come up with 🙂

  52. Frank : We have enough to fill the current orders and we should have enough to sell through the year. We have the new 450 frame that is a full race version enterning the patterning for production process this week. we have a 950 quad for the desert racers and dune hounds that will be through proto-typing in june and then entering the same process. If the aluminum “sport” frame continues to have a following we will continue to produce them as well. Tooling is no issue on all our equipment as we are a full line manufacturing facility with many quailified people in 4 countries.We have many talented craftsmen currently welding and building other peoples dreams. As you may know we even have travis fredrick from C-DALE factory/atk assy-maint here with us . Hes been here over a year and is doing very well. And many other profesionals from around the country. COME SEE US AT OUR BBQ ON MEMORIAL DAY AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF AND RIDE WHAT WE BELIEVE IS A GREAT MOTORCYCLE.MAY 30 GATES OPEN AT 8 AM LUNCH AT HIGH NOON earlier if the fire is hot:)

  53. This is way cool and I hope they are very successfull but. I would have several concerns before I bought one of their bikes. The price is of course important, also resale, and most important reliability and parts avalibility. I rode a Buell for alot of years and had enormous problems with realibility parts and service and when I finally decided to sell it I had to give it away. I am not gonna even consider something like that again and at the time Buell was pretty big and well known.

  54. Well I was looking at the specs for the street tracker and the viking. The fuel capacity on the Street Tracker is 2 gal, the Vicking 2.5. I mean you have got to be kidding me. That means I would have to stop for gas at every 50 or 60 miles. At one time I had a commute of 56miles per day so with either of these models I would have to stop for gas every day!

  55. Steve : You are dead on with your concerns !Last to first . The street tracker and the viking are both short distance race bred bikes . More for the short trip kind of rider. However our experiance with the 750 street tracker to date is over 60 mpg when being carefull and 48 when going like stink. The 950 is about 4 %less. The viking is a very high hp get it up on one wheel in every gear so it’s milage is in the low 40s .I too own a buell that is one of the reasons why we have spent 2 years racing and refining this platform prior to it’s release. We also are requiring all our dealers to by a full parts kit that has everything our testing and punishment has revealed as a regular maintenance item. And finally we built several of these units in the zero run format and gave them to racers to use around the country . We did not release the individual lines until we were satisified that they were far ahead of the industry standard for reliability and survivability. And finally we took a lesson from Toyota and farmed out the final reliability test to a company that was qualified to do a full battrey survey and grade our bikes against brand new units from our competitors. And next it’s off to the mags for thier torture tests. But the reality is until we have proven ourselves to all who are potential buyers our bikes wont sell quickly. And were ok with that in fact our sales goal for the hole next year is only 700 units and 120 of those are already commited.We dont expect to win you over in a day or a week or even a year. But we will work our best to earn your business:) OPEN HOUSE MAY 30 8 AM TO 4 FREE BBQ AND RIDE THE WEAPON OF YOUR CHOICE ON OUR TEST TRACK!!! PLEASE COME

  56. I think it’s great that another moto brand is now made in the USA. I especially like the fact that they’re going to be offering several different types of street-legal bikes, instead of just 2-3 (Like HD, Victory, Indian, & ATK). There are a lot of people in the USA who would LOVE to buy American, but they’re sick of being offered little but 550lb+ bike-a-loungers, and highway-skittish dirtbikes aren’t gonna work for street riders in most locales. Buell was about the only game in town for these people, and HD dumped them after Buell decided to kill the adv and entry-level bikes from their offerings. Heck, the Japanese aren’t even currently offering much that non-squid, American roadriders really want. It’s almost like our elections at this point…choose the one you dislike the least. then modify everything on it until it’s tolerable.

    For street-legal wants, a reliable, USA-made, 750-950cc twin and mid-sized thumper adv/dualsport/standard lineup that all weigh under 500lb wet would be AWESOME. Think “domestic Suzi DL/DR/GS with good full-adjustable suspension, top-quality brakes, EFI, and more go”. Priced similar to the BMW F800GS, Highland probably wouldn’t be able to keep up with demand for a while…given a recovered economy.

    If possible, no-maintenance or screw&locknut-adjusted valves would be great too. Shims are silly in this day and age.

  57. The USHIGHLAND open house is ready to go. the new track ROCKS!!!! the bikes are ready!! the factory is ready for tour:) The new 950 dx a out of the box factory 950 cc desert racer is already a big hit with the mag’s.And jumps like a cat and lands like a feather!!!!!!!! And the power oh wow!!! If you havent had a chance to ride a factory works bike then heres you chance:) BBQ served at noon and its free come on down and eat ride and party till the cows come home:)

  58. Robert, I hear you on the screw & locknut valve adjusters. Only thing, it’s pretty difficult to do that on a motor that doesn’t have rocker arms.

    -todd

  59. Can’t wait for Sunday, the track is looking awesome and I can’t wait to hear more about what their plans are.

  60. Cool party the new 950 is out of sight. All the bikes ran all day and we tried to beat them up but they were tougher then we were. The track was sick. Must have been close to a thousand people there. They were super friendly and showed us everything. They are building these bikes right there in tulsa 100%. Cory Green was even riding the 450 sx. This is the real deal !!!!!

  61. Motors look good but the layout of the bike sucks, looks cheap China and dated. If they just sold motors i would look into that and fab it in a rolling chassis of another brand. Building a low budge entry level say 3k family fun moto play bike that kids can afford and then trick out would be a better start. but a say 13k bike with the chance of zero resale it a tough nut to swallow. I wish them luck and hope I’m wrong. I love Us built but not at a bad resale expense.

  62. John did you go to the factory open house? did you get a chance to ride one? what model looks cheap and chinese? as for resale i think its more about how sought after they are, HD did very well for over 15 years and are still pulling book plus. They won at a state mx race this weekend and they have many people rethinking thier posistions.

  63. Chase,
    Do you remember me? Robert Archibald from Utah, I went to Indy with you.
    Sounds like things are going well for you in Oklahoma, best of luck .
    Robert
    P.S.
    Say hi to Travis for me

  64. Hey Robert;
    How could I forget you, we sweated bullets that year at INDY.Thanks for the wish well . We are moving forward at hyper pace its a wonderful challenge. Trav says hi back.. chase

  65. My condolences for an incredible loss too your families and extended business family. No words can heal your suffering, only know that there are people who never met these fine men, and yet still offer prayers to all of those at Highland and families of Chase, Mats and Damien. God bless you.

  66. First of all I am glad to see a USA made product !!! Great job !!! I Ride Dirt and street bikes, and like to be DIFFERENT !!!!! I currently have a KTM 950SM just to be different from every-one I ride with. Every one seems to have a Honda 996 or Suzuki SV 1000 type v-twin , To me they are a cookie cutter bike and every one has one, If you seen one you have seen them all. I like the fact that Highland makes a Street Tracker because no one else does, The Viking is cool too!!! The power to weight ratio should make riding a Blast !!! These bikes are perfect for riding in the mountains of Colorado. USHighland has a great concept going on here,I hope to test one soon !!!