Griffon 1904 2¾ HP 353 cc 1 cyl sv 3501

Griffon 1904   2¾ HP 353 cc  side valve  Zédel frame # 23498  engine # 9086

 Griffon is one of the oldest French makes: it was founded as a bicycle company and motorcycle production started in 1902. The factory was situated at the Rue Louis-Blanc in Courbevoie, Paris and for many years this make was in the foreground of French motorcycle manufacture. The firm was established in 1898 by Eugène Peugeot who had fallen out with his cousin Armand. They had arranged that Armand’s part of the business would develop motorized vehicles and Eugène would go on producing Peugeot cycles only. To work around this arrangement Eugène set up a new company that would enable him to produce motorized vehicles too.  The word “Griffon” translates as “Griffin”, the mythical animal typically having the head, forepart, and wings of an eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion. An interesting hint of  Eugène to his Peugeot family members it would seem…

After Eugene’s death in 1907 the family relations became better and Griffon even used Peugeot engines in its late veteran period models. In the nineteen twenties Griffon was absorbed completely by the giant Peugeot conglomerate. Griffon was very active in racing in the years before 1910 and their famous racing men Lamberjack and Demeester won many victories on Griffon-Zédels. In the early years Griffon machines were relatively expensive because of the import duties on the Swiss Zédel engines; from 1906 they were made in a new factory in Pontarlier, France and became less expensive.  The 1904 range consisted of two 2 ¾ HP models with bore x stroke dimensions of 75 x 80 mm in both A.I.V. and  S.V. configurations and one 3 ½ HP side valve  model.  Unsprung front forks were standard, for the sprung Griffon forks an extra 50 Francs had to be laid out; the A.I.V. model cost 840 Francs, the side valve machine was 10 Francs more expensive.

The machine we present comes in largely unrestored condition. She has been used as a display item for quite some years and will need to be recommissioned.