The Condor A350

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Utilitarian to its core, the Condor is a basic machine that any soldier could learn to repair.
Utilitarian to its core, the Condor is a basic machine that any soldier could learn to repair.
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Utilitarian to its core, the Condor is a basic machine that any soldier could learn to repair.
Utilitarian to its core, the Condor is a basic machine that any soldier could learn to repair.
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Yellow cartridge is the external oil filter. Red-painted points are the oil dipstick at front and filler plug at rear. Clutch inspection cover says “Condor.”
Yellow cartridge is the external oil filter. Red-painted points are the oil dipstick at front and filler plug at rear. Clutch inspection cover says “Condor.”
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The Condor’s engine is a 340cc OHC single, but was it made by Ducati in Italy or Mototrans in Spain? Bevel drive cover says “Condor.”
The Condor’s engine is a 340cc OHC single, but was it made by Ducati in Italy or Mototrans in Spain? Bevel drive cover says “Condor.”
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The Condor’s headlamp looks like it came from a BMW. No surprise, it’s a Bosch unit.
The Condor’s headlamp looks like it came from a BMW. No surprise, it’s a Bosch unit.
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Not exactly a sexy machine, the Condor is still appealing in its own unique way.
Not exactly a sexy machine, the Condor is still appealing in its own unique way.

“In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love — they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” — Orson Welles as Harry Lime, “The Third Man” 1949

OK, Orson, the Swiss never produced cuckoo clocks. But they did a nice line in music boxes, produced in small villages in the mountains of northern Switzerland, where the motorcycle shown in these pages was also assembled. A Swiss motorcycle? Not only that, a Swiss army motorcycle called the Condor A350.

The engine is unmistakably Italian. (Or is it? We’ll come to that later.) The frame, tank and seat are Swiss made, the electrics are a mixture of Italian, German and Spanish components, while wheels, brakes and suspension are also Italian. With such a mélange of a motorcycle, you won’t be surprised to learn that the manual comes in three languages, none of which is English.

From bicycles to motorcycles

Our story begins in the small village of Courfaivre in the Jura Mountains of northern Switzerland, the watch-making center of the country, where the firm of Cycles Condor sought to fulfill a government demand for army motorcycles, which had to be made in Switzerland.

  • Published on Feb 11, 2010
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