Leading Brands in Hard Enduro

Explore the key brands that define the hard enduro market, from motorcycle manufacturers to specialized gear companies. Each brand page covers the company's history and ownership, where its products are made, its current enduro range and its hard enduro racing record, with sources and check dates.

KTM

motorcycleAustria1953

Austrian motorcycle maker from Mattighofen, part of Bajaj Mobility AG. Manuel Lettenbichler won the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship from 2022 to 2025 and every Erzbergrodeo from 2022 to 2026 on a KTM.

Husqvarna

motorcycleSweden1903

Swedish-founded motorcycle brand, building bikes since 1903 and run from Mattighofen, Austria, within KTM AG since 2013. Graham Jarvis won four Erzbergrodeos on the TE 300, and Billy Bolt won the first FIM Hard Enduro World Championship in 2021.

GasGas

motorcycleSpain1985

Spanish brand from Salt, near Girona, known first for trial bikes. KTM took 60% in October 2019 and full ownership in 2020; its enduro bikes are now built in Austria.

Sherco

motorcycleFrance1998

French maker of trials and enduro motorcycles, founded in 1998 and based in Nîmes. Its enduro range includes the 300 SE two-stroke and the SEF four-stroke Factory bikes.

Rieju

motorcycleSpain1934

Spanish maker founded in 1934 and based in Figueres. Since 2020 it has built the former GasGas enduro platform as the Rieju MR, now the fuel-injected MR 300i.

Alpinestars

gearItaly1963

Italian maker of motorcycle and motorsport protective gear, founded in 1963 by Sante Mazzarolo in Asolo. Its off-road range covers boots, helmets, knee braces, chest and neck protection, and Tech-Air airbags.

Leatt

gearSouth Africa2001

South African protective-gear maker founded by Dr Chris Leatt, best known for the Leatt-Brace neck brace. It also makes helmets, boots, knee braces, body armor and goggles for off-road riders.

Hard enduro brands at a glance

Hard enduro is a small world. A handful of makers build the bikes that win it. Two gear makers, Alpinestars and Leatt, have brand pages here as well. The table sums up each brand on this site. Every fact comes from the brand page it links to, where the sources are listed.

Brand	Founded	Based in	Owner	Enduro focus
KTM	1953 (workshop from 1934)	Mattighofen, Austria	Bajaj Mobility AG	EXC, XC-W and HARDENDURO models, including the 300 EXC
Husqvarna	1903 (motorcycles)	Mattighofen, Austria	KTM AG, within Bajaj Mobility AG	TE and FE, including the TE 300
GasGas	1985	Mattighofen, Austria (enduro)	KTM AG, within Bajaj Mobility AG	EC and EX, including the EC 300
Sherco	1998	Nîmes, France	Founder-led (Marc Teissier)	SE two-strokes and SEF four-strokes, including the 300 SE Factory
Rieju	1934	Figueres, Spain	RIEJU S.A.	MR 300i Racing, Pro and Hard Enduro
Alpinestars	1963	Asolo, Italy	Alpinestars S.p.A.	Boots, knee braces, chest protection, airbags
Leatt	2001	Cape Town, South Africa	Leatt Corporation (OTCQB: LEAT)	Neck braces, knee braces, body armor, boots

Beta also builds hard enduro bikes. The Beta RR 300 has its own bike page, and the full list is on the 2-stroke bikes page.

Who owns what: one group, three brands

Three of the five bike brands here sit in one group. KTM AG owns Husqvarna Motorcycles and GasGas, and their enduro bikes are built in Austria on shared platforms. The differences are real but specific: rear suspension layout, fork specification, subframe and bodywork. Each brand page sets them out.

The group changed hands in the last two years:

November 2024: KTM AG entered restructuring proceedings in self-administration.
June 2025: its restructuring plan, paying creditors 30%, became legally binding.
18 November 2025: Bajaj Auto took sole control of the listed parent.
13 January 2026: PIERER Mobility AG was renamed Bajaj Mobility AG.

GasGas's own path explains the other Spanish brand. The original Girona company went insolvent in 2015. KTM took 60% of GasGas in October 2019 and full ownership in 2020, and moved the enduro bikes to Austria. Rieju bought the rights to the old Spanish-built GasGas enduro platform from Torrot in 2020 and builds it in Figueres as the MR range. So the Rieju MR, not today's GasGas EC, is the direct descendant of the pre-2020 GasGas enduro bike.

Sherco sits outside that group. It is led by its founder, Marc Teissier, and builds in Nîmes.

Which brands win hard enduro

The FIM Hard Enduro World Championship began in 2021, and KTM has owned the top of it since 2022. Manuel Lettenbichler won the title every year from 2022 to 2025 on a KTM, and won every Erzbergrodeo from 2022 to 2026. Billy Bolt took the first title in 2021 on a Husqvarna. Graham Jarvis won four Erzbergrodeos on Husqvarna.

Sherco's best-known hard enduro results came through Wade Young, who won Red Bull Romaniacs in 2018 and the Roof of Africa in 2022 and 2023, and through Teodor Kabakchiev, who won the 2026 Roof of Africa. On GasGas, Mitch Brightmore was third in the 2025 championship and Wade Young second in 2024.

Each bike brand page has a results table with years and riders, taken from official results and the makers' race reports.

The gear makers

Alpinestars began with a motocross boot in 1963 and now covers boots, helmets, knee braces, chest protection and the Tech-Air Off-Road airbag. Leatt began with a neck brace designed by a doctor, Chris Leatt, and has grown into a full range from helmets to boots.

Certification and fit matter more than the brand name. That follows from how the standards work: a protector either meets its EN level or it does not, whoever made it, and a protector that does not fit moves out of place. Our gear guides explain what each safety standard measures and how to read the label, whoever made the product: helmets, boots, knee protection, chest protectors and neck braces.