Horst Leitner The Story-The Legend

Chapter 1, Hort Leitner Photo from AMP Research.com

AMP Research was founded through the vision and expertise of Hort Leitner, a former Austrian champion motocross-racer. His motivation was not so straightforward and his beginning was surprisingly humble. Leitner's motocross experience began when he was quite young. As he stated in a "The Secrets To Their Success" motocrossactionmag.com website, "racing the GP's in Europe long ago is quite different from today." To Horst, it was just a hobby. No money was awarded, so those involved in the sport had to work or go to school. While racing, he worked for the Puch Factory Team. In due course, he opened an automobile dealership.

Born in 1942, in a village close by Salzburg Austria, Leitner was classified as a top-notch off-road motorcycle racer, taking on challenging competitions like the F.I.M. Motocross World-Championships in Europe. This led to four gold medals in the demanding International Six Days Enduro, along with winning the Austrian National Motocross Championships.

Following completion of his engineering education in Graz Austria, Leitner took on the dare of bettering the suspension function on the motorcycles he used for racing. This led to the A-Trak and AMP-Link chain torque-eliminators, developments that significantly enhanced the riding excellence and execution of on/off-road motorcycles and eventually ATVs.

Eventually, Leitner relocated his family to Southern California, the hub of the motorcycle industry, residing in a motor-home in Tustin, California while he concentrated on developing his own company ATK Motorcycles. The effect was tremendous on the structure of off-road motorcycles of that moment, with an exclusive amalgamation of four-stroke power, even chain torque free-suspension and electric starting. ATK conquered 4-stroke motocross during the 90s. In addition, an ATK machine was the winner of the much celebrated Barstow to Vegas off-road desert-race, taking up reigns against the hottest motorcycles on the market counting Husqvarna, Yamaha, and Honda.

In 1979, an A-Trak outfitted Honda-CB750F street bike took the coveted prized at the Austrian FIM Formula 750-Road Race, contenting opposite much lighter and more robust purpose constructed two-stroke race bikes. However, the weather was pouring rain, but it worked in the A-Trak's favor due to its added traction and control.

Actually, the story of the ATK motorcycle fruition is much more intriguing. Leitner related that he always had a passion for designing things. He created things for his race bike and became interested in the theoretical characteristics of chain-torque and suspension design through studying and racing. Following his move to the US, one of the Puch family nephews approached him with the idea of producing a motorcycle. (The Puch name is a very well known manufacturing company located in Graz, Austria. Founded in 1889, by Johann Puch, the company produced motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, and automobiles.) Leitner was dumbfounded about this proposition since they had nothing to produce a motorcycle with. The young Puch answered "No problem" and proceeded to get everything required to build a motorcycle from his family, and that's how ATK motorcycles was created. Later ATK was sold and AMP Research became Leitner's baby.

Leitner created additional designs and engineering tasks including a braking and transmission technique uniquely designed for Polaris snowmobiles. Furthermore, he devised a sweeping 125cc motocross-motorcycle prototype for KTM, which preceded the existing linkage-free real suspension on the current KTMs. He also came up with an EZ-Pull clutch gadget for Harley Davidson motorcycles, decreasing clutch exertion by half with an easy bolt-on piece. Eventually Leitner sold his portion of ATK Motorcycles to place his focus on AMP Research, bicycle, motorcycle, and automotive parts. In fact, Leitner has never explained the reason for the name AMP Research; he simply says, "He doesn't know, you have to ask the person who created it."

The simple reserved composure of Leitner is intriguing. His success is as natural as breathing; it fits his composure and his outlook on life. To build up a business like AMP Research was certainly no small feat. Due to meticulous research and purpose, an all-embracing legacy was born. The term "actions speak for themselves" certainly applies to Leitner Horst. His actions produced a world-renowned company built on his intuition and a desire to succeed. Magnificently designed parts and accessories for motorcycles, bikes, and automobiles was integrated with Lietner's dream of developing new and practical products that can be used by everyday people. With vision, innovativeness, and opportunity, he accomplished just that.

AMP Research expanded, and in 2011, the company relocated to a larger 55,000 sq ft space. Moreover, the company has a total of 45 international and US patents for automotive, motorcycle, bicycle, and numerous other products. The exact patents will be presented later.

From the pioneering 1980s off-road motorcycles and four-stroke ATK-motocross that foreshadowed the current leading four-stroke machines, to the unmatched AMP Research and Mercedes-Benz bicycles with full-suspension, to the present pickup trucks and SUV add-ons, each AMP Research creation has been envisaged, designed, and developed by Horst Leitner, the brains behind AMP Research, a true visionary and creative thinker.

When consumers find a company that offers what they need, that company consistently acquires new customers while keeping existing ones. That's what quality combined with practicality will do, and AMP Research attained that combination fantastically. AMP Research created products that were not created for showcasing, they actually have a function! Finding easy solutions to many-sided problems is what AMP Research has managed to conquer. The company has certainly been "ahead of their time" in a nonchalant way. Simple products that offer quality and usefulness can't be beat.

AMP Research was taken over in 2013 by Lund International Holding Company, who obtained all the operating resources of the company. However, production will continue at the Tustin vicinity with the innovative team that helped make AMP Research so great.

A bit about Lund International: Lund International is no stranger to being a pioneer in the automotive industry. They've added to their well-managed and innovative company by taking on AMP Research, a smart move by any stretch of the imagination. Partnered with "Innovation in Design," the brand Lund International created for the AMP Research product line, all items will continue to resonate with the quality and magnificent ideal that AMP Research is known for. Lund International stated, "The attainment of AMP Research empowers the company's latest status as the head of the running-board and nerf-bar categories." The newest products combined with AMP Research have built a mega-automotive parts company that retains the structure and thoroughness that AMP Research was founded on by its creator Horst Leitner.