Condor 1943ca A680 677cc sv 3411

Condor 1943ca “A680” Army Model 677 cc side valve v-twin frame# 151135 engine # 40886

Condor, based in Courfaivre, was together with Motosacoche the leading motorcycle manufacturer of Switzerland. 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 Zédel, 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. In the early years of the war Condor cooperated with the Universal factory to develop and build a machine for the Swiss army. Universal had started in the twenties as a local machine factory in the town of Willisau. The company produced “Helvetia” two stroke machines and developed into the third biggest Swiss motorcycle manufacturer after it came under the guidance of design engineer Dr. Vedova, who chose for the ”Universal” brand name.
In the early years the firm relied rather heavily on British parts: JAP engines, Burman gearboxes, Reynolds tubing and Binks carburetor were used on Universal machines. In the course of the 1930s the firm more and more relied on their own engines and electrics, although the JAP parentage was still visible in a number of the designs. A popular model in the late thirties was the 680 cc v-twin, available in ohv and sv configurations. The side valve model was chosen by the Swiss army as a military machine and it was produced both by Condor and Universal between 1942 and 1946 under the “A680” model name. Total production appears to have been 1160 machines, shared equally among Universal and Condor.
The A680 is a sturdily built though well-handling machine. The 70 x 88 mm bore x stroke engine delivers 20 hp @ 4200 rpm and the compression ratio is a modest 5:1. Both brakes are 200 mm in diameter and the gearbox has four speeds. Weight is around 200 kg, top speed around 95 km/h. Electrics are by Scintilla and the wheels are shod by 4 x 19 tyres. Our A680 has been well-restored. The exhaust pipes have become a TSA coating (Thermal Spray Aluminium). She’s is road-registered and a good runner.