October 2005

Texas Upstart Turns Ten

by ROBERT FILA / Thunder Press

Over The Shoals

Founded in 1995 by Rill Rucker and Tim Edmondson, American IronHorse surged into the custom motorcycle market and within three years had two dozen dealers and sales reaching $2.5 million. By the end of 1999, just a year later, the allure of big-inch custom bikes had gripped the nation and AIH sales had quadrupled (to approximately $10 million). But along with rapid growth, AIH began to experience the type of corporate shake-ups that are often symptomatic of instability. Bill Rucker left in 2003 to start his own custom motorcycle concern, and early in 2004, chief designer and company president Tim Edmondson did likewise. The departure of the company’s co-founders was accompanied by a period of management upheaval and restructuring, but despite the internal flux, the company continued forging ahead and holding their own in an increasingly competitive field. And in their quest to offer consumers the latest and greatest in custom bike fashion, American IronHorse has never had any qualms about dropping a particular model and introducing something new. Out of the five original models introduced in 1998, only the Slammer remains in the stable. Others have come and gone at the whim of ever-changing style demands. But it seems the company has settled on a starting roster with staying power, and the six models offered in ’05 lineup are still in the game for ’06. These include three pro-street models, the Slammer, Outlaw and Tejas, and three chopper, the Texas Chopper, Legend and LSC.

December 12, 2006 11:15 AM | send page | Press Releases