Are Any Dirt Bike Brands Made In The USA?

It's impossible to think of cruiser motorcycles without conjuring up images of Harley Davidson or Indian motorcycles. Those heavy V-twin bikes with laid-back ergonomics, low seats, and chrome accents. Bikes like the Harley Street Glide or Indian Chieftain wouldn't look out of place with an American flag waving in the rear. Americans invented this style, and U.S. brands still define it globally. However, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum — the lightweight, small-engine dirt bikes, there seems to be a drought of the old red-white-and-blue.

Some novice bike enthusiasts might challenge this by saying Harley has the Pan American 1250; it's an off-road bike with ADV-standard suspension and knobby tires, but with over 500 pounds of weight, it's not enough to meet the standards of competitive enduro racing, not to mention motocross-style. The last true Harley dirt bike was made in the 1970s; it was called the MX250, and as you may have guessed, it didn't really work out well for the company. 

If you want American dirt bikes, you're going to have to look away from the traditional big brands. ATK USA, Alta Motors, Cobra Moto, and Dust Moto are all made in the U.S., But for one reason or another, none of them currently play in the big leagues. As of the third quarter of 2025, no competitive American dirt bike stands up to the likes of Honda, Kawasaki, or Yamaha. Whether that will change soon is yet to be seen.

Unlike the Japanese and European giants, churning out thousands of race-ready and enduro bikes every year, most American brands in this space are small, niche operations. ATK USA made waves in the 1980s and 1990s with its California, and later Utah-built bikes, even acquiring Cannondale's ill-fated motorcycle program in the 2000s, but production eventually slowed to a trickle. Today, ATK mainly supports existing owners with parts, rather than delivering new models to dealerships.

The electric wave briefly gave the U.S. a shot at leadership. Alta Motors, born in San Francisco, built the acclaimed Redshift lineup of motocross and supermoto bikes, proving that American engineering could rival the best from the established manufacturers. Yet despite rave reviews, funding dried up, and a potential lifeline with Harley-Davidson collapsed in 2018, causing one of the greatest electric bike companies to fail. The void it left has yet to be filled by another large-scale American dirt bike manufacturer.

One company that still flies the flag is Cobra Moto, which builds youth motocross machines by hand in Michigan. Their 50cc and 65cc race bikes dominate amateur championships like Loretta Lynn's, though the brand doesn't scale beyond the kids' classes. Newcomers like Dust Moto are also testing the waters with lightweight, American-made electric trail bikes, but these are still in early stages of production. For now, the U.S. dirt bike scene remains fragmented and boutique, far from the mass-market dominance held by the prominent Japanese brands.