Cobra Motorcycles

Cobra (Cobra MOTO) is an American manufacturer of competition off-road motorcycles founded in 1993 by Bud Maimone, a tool-and-die shop owner who began building minibikes in his garage after failing to convince established manufacturers to produce a race-ready 50cc machine for his son Brent to race. The bike Maimone built himself won an AMA championship at Loretta Lynn's in its debut year, 1994. A decade later, Sean Hilbert and Phil McDowell bought the company and pushed it toward more advanced propulsion systems while keeping its focus on youth and amateur off-road racing. Cobra motorcycles have won more than 300 national titles since the company's founding, and it is often described as the only remaining manufacturer building competition off-road motorcycles entirely in the United States. The company remains a small, racing-focused builder rather than a mainstream manufacturer.