improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article is an orphan as no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . march 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message renthal ltd. type private industry manufacturing founded 1969 headquarters bredbury england number of locations 1 area served 42 countries key people henry rosenthal commercial director andrew renshaw technical director products alloy motorcycle and atv handlebars motorcycle and atv chainwheels motorcycle and atv grips motorcycle and atv chains and other products number of employees 70 website http www.renthal.com renthal is a uk manufacturer and designer of motorcycle accessories including handlebars chainwheels grips and other items for the off road street and atv markets . honda kawasaki ktm and suzuki specify renthal handlebars as standard for their performance off road motorcycles . renthal s manufacturing and engineering facility is located in bredbury near manchester in england . contents 1 history 2 products 3 oem involvement 4 andrew renshaw 5 references 6 external links history edit renthal was formed in 1969 by friends and motorcycle enthusiasts andrew renshaw and henry rosenthal who are today the company s technical and commercial director respectively . the company name is a portmanteau of the founders names renshaw and rosenthal . the first handlebars were based upon a prototype that rosenthal made for his trials bike from h14 aircraft aluminium that was world war ii surplus material . the two founders made a tube bending machine to handle the aluminium and started small scale production . making motorcycle handlebars was initially a part time job while andrew studied for a degree in mechanical engineering and henry finished his business studies at a local university . initially renthal only produced handlebars for the trials market but the two soon realized there was much more demand for this type of product in the motocross market . full time production began in 1975 in stockport england the very same place where the company resides today in northern england . in 1990 renthal opened its first us office and warehouse for sales marketing with the help of a young american entrepreneur by the name of jim hale . in october 2000 the renthal factory in stockport england was destroyed in a fire caused by a faulty aluminium particle extractor which removes particles from the air during the machining process . a spark within this machine had caused it to catch fire and act as giant blowtorch straight through the roof of the factory . before the machine could be shut down the factory was destroyed . plans were made to rebuilding the facility in the same location . renthal s 41 000 square feet 3 800 m2 factory houses machinery for manufacturing quality control r & d and storage . this includes five yamazaki two and three axis cnc turning centres seven kitamura machining centres and one kardex shuttle 500nt automated vertical storage system . custom specification machines include bar bending machines a fatigue tester and drop test rig created to fatigue aluminium handlebars . in 2004 renthal began supplying the first aluminium 7 8 handlebars to be fitted as oem equipment on a japanese manufactured off road motorcycle . for the 2004 model year every honda cr and crf motocross bike came with the renthal 971 rc bend handlebar . soon after this many of the other manufactures followed suit and began fitting renthal handlebars as stock on their off road models . products edit renthal also produces chains sprockets and grips . the intellilever unbreakable clutch and brake levers for motocross bikes along with brake pads were added in 2008 . also new is a hybrid bi metal rear sprocket called the twinring rear chainwheel which utilizes an aluminium centre section mated with a steel outer ring . by combining these two materials the chainwheel is lighter than an all steel construction but is more durable than the traditional all aluminium rear sprocket . in 2009 renthal introduced new products for the road racing market such as adjustable clip on handlebars and kevlar infused dual compound road race grips . the road race kevlar grips use a mold from the mx grips in that they have open ends for bar end weights and a smaller inner flange . oem involvement edit renthal has always had ties with the manufacturers of motocross motorcycles and atv s such as honda kawasaki yamaha suzuki and ktm . in 2004 honda became the first manufacturer to fit renthal 7 8 aluminium handlebars to their motocross bikes . this was also the first time that aluminium 7 8 handlebars had been fitted to a motocross bike which typically came with very cheap to produce steel handlebars . in 2005 yamaha followed suit and decided to also fit renthal 7 8 handlebars to their motocross model range of yz yz f and wr off road models for only that year . by 2006 every manufacturer had chosen renthal handlebars except yamaha which switched to protaper over the steel handlebar which they replaced . kawasaki s line up of motocross bikes from 2006 include a renthal 7 8 handlebar . since 2006 suzuki have been fitting their motocross models with a renthal 1 1 8 fatbar which is an oversized tapered handlebar . the austrian manufacturer ktm has been using the oversized renthal fatbar on their motocross bikes since 2002 . for 2008 kawasaki has chosen to fit the renthal fatbar on every one of its new kfx450r all terrain vehicles . in addition to supplying the oem s with alloy handlebars for many years renthal also supplies manufacturers with its grips and chainwheels . andrew renshaw edit andrew renshaw died october 27 2013 . references edit renthal ltd. business data manta.com http www.manta.com coms2 dnbcompany kzkscy isoqar quality assured firm iso 9001 certified company certificate 4229 04 http www.isoqar.com uk index.asp international dealernews al franck international editor http www.dealer world.com andrew renshaw death http www.motorcycle usa.com 2 17424 motorcycle article renthal co founder andrew renshaw dies.aspx external links edit renthal official website renthal at the open directory project retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title renthal & oldid 641430005 categories manufacturing companies of the united kingdommotorcycle accessory manufacturershidden categories articles needing additional references from july 2009all articles needing additional referencesorphaned articles from march 2011all orphaned articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk 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