Cooper (motorcycles)

Cooper was a motorcycle company that built off-road motorcycles in Mexico.

Frank Cooper was a dealer for Maico motorcycles when he contracted with Mexican motorcycle company, Islo to produce Enduro and a motocross motorcycles. Using engine parts made in Italy and later, engines made by Sachs, Cooper imported the motorcycles into the United States in the early 1970s and sold them as Cooper motorcycles. Cooper made a "street legal" Enduro 250 cc bike using a Yamaha two-stroke engine in addition to other bikes. The design was by Malcolm Smith. It had some inherent issues as it came from the factory as the drive sprocket was too large causing the chain to wear into the engine case. While the bike handled well, it wasn't up to the standards of the Suzuki TM250 or Husqvarnas of the same time period.

Islo also made a trials bike from 1971 - 1975 called GRM (Grapevine Racing Motors) that was imported to the United States, for Bill Grapevine, who designed the bike. Islo also supplied the engines for California's Jones Motorsports who had the AMMEX motorcycle franchise. The Islo manufacturing facilities and name were bought by Honda around 1982. Since 2000, the brand has resurfaced in the Mexican market under the ownership of Moto Road S.A. de C.V.; the same company that currently owns the Carabela motorcycle brand.