Ridley Motorcycle Company was a privately held manufacturer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that built motorcycles from 1995 to 2010. Its machines were cruisers with a continuously variable transmission and no clutch lever, and the company called itself “America’s Automatic Motorcycle”. The full-size Auto-Glide arrived in 2003.
Ridley Auto-Glide at a glance
| Company | Ridley Motorcycle Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Active | 1995–2010 |
| Founders | Clay Ridley and his son Jay, company founded 1997 |
| First model | Speedster, on sale 1999 |
| Auto-Glide on sale | from 2003 |
| Layout | V-twin engine with a continuously variable transmission |
| Range | Speedster, Auto-Glide Classic, Chopper, Old School, Sport, Trike, TT, X88 |
| Dealers by 2006 | 55 in the United States and four abroad |
| Output | nearly 4,000 machines sold through 2009 |
| End | Chapter 7 bankruptcy on 29 December 2009 |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Ridley Motorcycle Company. The Auto-Glide, its versions and the other Ridley models are described there under the company.
History of the Ridley Auto-Glide
From a hobby to a company
Clay Ridley began experimenting with automatic transmissions in motorcycles in 1995, building them for his sons as a hobby. At the time the great majority of cars and light trucks sold in the United States had an automatic gearbox, but no two-wheeled vehicle larger than a scooter did. To work that market he and his son Jay founded the Ridley Motorcycle Company in 1997, and the first model, the Speedster, went on sale two years later.
The Speedster
Ridley’s first production vehicle was a three-quarter-scale “miniature cruiser” of 600 cc with a V-twin engine and a continuously variable transmission. It was introduced in 1999 as the first cruiser with a CVT, and it set the pattern for everything the company built afterwards.
The Auto-Glide
Following the success of the Speedster, Ridley developed a full-size cruiser called the Auto-Glide, which began selling in 2003. The range then expanded steadily around it: the Auto-Glide Classic (at first simply “Auto-Glide”), the Auto-Glide Chopper, the Auto-Glide Old School, the Auto-Glide Sport, the Auto-Glide Trike and the Auto-Glide TT. The X88, sold with a traditional manual transmission, stood apart from the automatic line.
Growth and dealers
Ridley’s success rested on three features: a low seat, light weight and an automatic transmission. That combination found a niche among new riders and women, who were offered the styling of a big motorcycle with the ease of riding a scooter. The company sustained annual growth of over 30 per cent from 2000 to 2008. By 2006 its motorcycles were sold through 55 dealers in the United States and four international dealers, and in 2007 it entered the Canadian market with ten dealerships, though with limited success.
Design and features
- Automatic transmission: a continuously variable transmission did away with the clutch lever and the gear lever.
- V-twin engine: the Speedster used a 600 cc V-twin, and the full-size cruisers followed the same layout.
- Low seat and light weight: two of the three ideas the company built its success on, aimed at riders coming from scooters.
- Wide model line: from the three-quarter-scale Speedster to the Auto-Glide Trike, with chopper and old-school styling among the options.
Ridley Auto-Glide versions
- Speedster (1999): the first production Ridley, a three-quarter-scale 600 cc miniature cruiser with a CVT.
- Auto-Glide Classic: the full-size cruiser introduced in 2003, called simply Auto-Glide at first.
- Auto-Glide Chopper: the chopper-styled version of the same automatic cruiser.
- Auto-Glide Old School: a retro-styled member of the family.
- Auto-Glide Sport and Auto-Glide TT: further versions of the automatic cruiser.
- Auto-Glide Trike: the three-wheeled version.
- X88: sold with a traditional manual transmission rather than the CVT.
All Ridley models are gathered in the Ridley collection.
Sources
- Ridley Motorcycle Company, English Wikipedia: history, models, production, bankruptcy