The company started making bicycles in 1893. Founders were Eduard and Jules Scheffer.
Responsible for the motorcycle side of the company was
Otto Fricker, who became the son in law of Eduard Scheffer.
Fricker produced his first motorcycle in 1901. Condor used a number of different engines: in the beginning mainly Zedel, Motosacoche and Moser and later also Villiers.
In the later twenties and early thirties Condor was a very active competitor in races and many successes were recorded.
This very rare racer was the lightest model in the range but by no means the least powerful: it was faster than the 350 cc IOE single and almost as fast as the 500 cc IOE twin.
It had a special engine from which the top half was converted to full overhead valve construction. Noticeable in this construction was that the pushrods had a cross-action and that the inlet channel was facing downward, suggesting that the cylinder head was a development from the V-twin OHV racer.
The valves had double springs to counteract possible valve float at high engine revolutions. The “Franconi” label given to these models refers to the famous Swiss racer Francesco Franconi, who seems to have been involved in the development of these fast singles.
The front forks is produced by Brampton special for the 250cc and 350cc racers. Further the motorcycle has Amac carburettor, Best&Lloyd mechanical oil pump and 3-speed Sturmey Archer hand-change gearbox.
The spark comes from a Bosch FF1 Magneto and the tyres are 26×2,5.
The light and agile machine is a rare survivor, only a limited number of these semi-racers have been produced.
