During the period of the Galactic Civil War, a conflict where the Galactic Empire fought against the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Empire deployed a combat speeder model. In a battle on Cymoon 1, at least five of these speeders engaged a Rebel force that was assaulting Weapons Factory Alpha, an Imperial installation situated on the moon. These speeders, along with several All Terrain Scout Transports and assault tanks, participated in an attack on an All Terrain Armored Transport piloted by the Rebel characters Han Solo and Leia Organa. The Sith Lord Darth Vader took control of a combat speeder, previously driven by a stormtrooper, hoping to intercept the Rebel Luke Skywalker before he could destroy the facility. Vader's attempt to capture Skywalker failed; Skywalker, riding a 74-Z speeder bike, successfully targeted the factory's reactor, causing it to explode due to overheating.
The initial appearance of the combat speeders occurred in Star Wars (2015) 3, a comic book that was published in 2015. The writing for this comic was done by Jason Aaron, with illustrations created by John Cassaday.