Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

th e shortest producti on lines in mo torcycle manufacturing histo ry. The man beh ind AT K's threeunits-at -a- tim e, han d-assembl y produ ction line is H or st Leitner, an Austrian engineer who came to the Uni ted Sta tes in 1980. After working in th e resear ch and develop me n t divis io n of the Puch motorcycle factory and after co mpet i ng i n m o to cr o ss a nd enduro eve n ts th ro ugh o ut Europe, the four-tim e ISDE gold medalist launched into the American mo torcycling industry as soo n as hi s feet hit U.S. soil. Starting o u t with a chain torque eliminator, Leitner was soo n branchin g out into redesi gned swi ng ar ms, fo rk springs, a n d h is tie-downreplacing " Bike Sh oe. " H e started working on hi s first comp lete motorcycle in 1983. "When we started work on the bike, I wanted to build the u lti mate four-stroke," Lei m er said as h e roam ed around the workshop tinkerin g with every project in sigh t, like a hands-on Santa su pervising his elves. " I didn't want it to be as good as the j apanese bik es. I wanted it to be better." Leitner 's blu eprint for success was to concentra te o n areas wh ere m ost sta te-o f-the-art fo ur-stro kes we re lacking. " Everyo ne bui lt a four-stok e bu t they did n't bui ld o ne th at wo u ld hand le or stop," he exp la i ned., " There was a niche for us. T here was a need and we filied it." Leitner's idea of filling the gap Willi Kornton is the techn ic ia n who puts the b ikes together. ATK 's Horst Leitner w ill custom build a motorcycle to a rider's specifications, even if he wants a TT b ike with nine inches of travel. ATK: The ultimate in off-road motorcycles? , By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren " H e who dies with the most toys wins," or so the saying goes. But there are a few off-road motorcyclists arou n d who think the saying should be changed to read, " H e wh o dies wi th th e best ,toys wins." "To heck with quantity," . th ey say. " W h a t ab out q uality?" Beach , Ca lifo rn ia, in search of th e ATK "facto~y," a 3000-sq uare-foot wo~kshop wIth what must be one of When it comes to owning the best toys, man y of these hard-to-sa tisfy riders have o ne th ing in common they ride a n ATK560, th e most ex pe nsive productio n o ff-road mo torcycle ever built. With on ly 200 AT K560s leavin g the factory every year, th e Ro taxpowered, four-s tro ke dirt bike wi ll never becom e the mo torcycle for th e masses. Even if you cou ld get your hands on one, th e $5680 (wi thou t op tions) price tag has been kn own to cause more tha n a few second thoughts. But to those who have ridden AT Ks, the price and a seven-week wai t in line are ' worth it. Quite simply, they say, o nce you have ridden an ATK, no thing else will do. Exactly wh at is it tha t makes th e ATK so special? What does it take to j ustify a p rice tag that is almos t dou ble th e price of a j apanese-made fo ur- strok e straig ht off th e showroo m floor? T o find th e answers to those questions, we set off to La guna Nationa l Sales Manager Don Leib explains the production process. resu lted in the La inborghini Co untach of dirt bi kes - a hand-built , made-to-order , cus to m-fit machine th a t many ATK owne rs feel perfects th e art of off-road riding. " It's completely hand made and th at gives you a different feel ," Leitner said, "and it 's built speci fica lly for th e owner. ,We ask th em wh at th ey weigh, how tall they ar e and wha t they wa nt to do with th e bik e. We don 't start building until we know abo ut the rider." . If you can slo w Leitner dow n long . en ou gh to ask wh at sets his brain ch ild a pa rt fro m th e average " joe mo torcycle," he will tell you that th e major differen ces are in suspensio n and fram e design. " No bo dy else comes close," says the softly-spoken Austrian without a h int o f con ceit. " Everybody else in the motorcycle ind ustry is doing th e

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