10 Classic Motorcycle Brands That Aren’t Around Anymore

10 Classic Motorcycle Brands That Aren’t Around Anymore
It doesn’t always take much for a storied auto manufacturer to go from boom to bankruptcy. Sometimes, it’s as simple as one wrong decision by management, or a failure to anticipate a change in the market. In other cases, automakers are victims of their own success, buying up smaller companies only to realize they haven’t got the resources to manage multiple brands. The same stories can be found across both the car and the motorcycle industries, and the result is nearly always the same: Revered marques are driven into bankruptcy, leaving enthusiasts to mourn their loss.
However, being axed doesn’t always have to spell the end for a marque. Sometimes, it’s bought out years or even decades later and successfully resurrected. Recent examples include the Norton Motorcycle Company, now under the ownership of TVS, or BSA, which was brought back to life by Mahindra in 2021.
We’ve rounded up some classic motorcycle brands from decades past that aren’t around anymore, but that we think make similarly great candidates for revival. Some are currently in the hands of owners who plan to bring them back, while others seem extremely unlikely to make a return for the foreseeable future, if ever.