"KTM was founded as a motorcycle manufacturer in Mattighofen, Austria in 1953. The first model, R 100, was a sensation at the Vienna Spring Motor Show, and described as "well constructed, technically innovative with light alloy hub brakes." With his associate Ernst Kronreif, Hans Trunkenpolz founded the company with the name KTM meaning: Kronreif and Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen. From these beginnings developed countless successes. Five decades and numerous world championship titles later, KTM is one of the most modern motorcycle manufacturers in Europe, and fast becoming a dominant leader in the motorsports industry."
THE STORIES BEHIND IT ALL!!
Torakusu Yamaha, born in 1851, founded the Yamaha Musical Instrument Company in 1888. After ten years of growth he joined with other businessmen to found the Nippon Gakki Company or, Japanese Musical Instrument Company. Mr. Yamaha died in 1916 but his company survived earthquakes, labor unrest and bombing of World War II. After the War, the then company president, Gen-ichi Kawakami, decided to use what was left of the company's war-time production machinery to set up a production line for a new product: motorcycles. The new company would be named in honor of the founder. In 1954 the first model was set for production. It was a 125cc, single cylinder two-stroke patterned after the German DKW RT125. Yamaha designated this first model the YA1.
