Renthal History
Renthal was formed in 1969 after a fortuitous conversation between two friends, Andrew Renshaw and Henry Rosenthal. Both being motorcycle enthusiasts they decided to begin making handlebars based upon a prototype Henry had made some years earlier for his trials bike. The bars made from H14 aircraft aluminium left over from world war two had worked well, being much stronger than the original steel bars they replaced (in fact they broke the bending machine whilst being formed).

With a great deal of effort they managed to make their own specialist tube bender and with a supply of tube small-scale production began. They needed a name and chose to combine the REN from Renshaw and the THAL from Rosenthal. A lucky break came when local motorcycle dealer Jim Sandiford gave them their first order, paying up front so they could actually afford to purchase the material.

Making motorcycle handlebars was at this stage a part time job whilst Andrew completed his degree in mechanical engineering and Henry did business studies. At this time Renthal only made handlebars for the trials market but soon realised that there was a larger market in Motocross and with an increase in sales, full time production began in 1975.

The company continued to grow alongside the demand for its products with Andrew taking responsibility for engineering duties whilst Henry pushed the commercial side of the company. However by the early 90’s having been told that no European company could make it in America, the largest motorcycle market opened up for Renthal and the company reached a whole new level. Renthal now employ over 60 production staff and retail in 42 countries worldwide.

In October 2000 Renthal suffered a huge set back when the factory was destroyed by fire. However just one year later Renthal were able to open a brand new, purpose built manufacturing facility to house all the design, development and manufacturing of its products. The 41,000 sq ft facility is dedicated to the manufacture of Renthal motorcycle parts and utilises the most state of the art equipment available (take a tour of our factory from the link on the previous page).

For 2004 Renthal added to its list of records, becoming the first aluminium handlebar to be fitted as OE on a Japanese motorcycle, possible one of the highest accolades of quality anybody could receive.

Take a tour of the Renthal Factory :

http://www.renthal.com/File/about_factory_tour.asp