Ossa (motorcycle)
Encyclopedia
Ossa was a motorcycle
manufacturer based in Catalonia
, Spain which was active from 1924 to 1982. Founded by Manuel Giró, an industrialist from Barcelona
, Ossa was best known for lightweight two-stroke-engined bikes used in Observed Trials and Motocross
. The company was known originally as Orpheo Sincronic Sociedad Anónima (O.S.S.A.) and was later renamed Maquinaria Cinematográfica, S.A.. The brand still remains popular around the world, and particularly in the United States, among enthusiasts from amateurs in historic motorcycle racing to hobbyists and collectors.
s for its home market in Spain. After World War II
, Ossa, like several other manufacturers from BSA
to Harley-Davidson
to Yamaha
, began producing two-stroke engined motorcycles, with their first mass produced model being introduced in 1949. Ossa reached its highest production levels in the motorcycle boom of the 1960s, exporting large numbers of exports to other European countries, but also significantly, to North American markets. In the United States and Canada, off-road motorcycling - and particularly the newly imported sport of motocross to which the light-weight and powerful Ossa was well suited - enjoyed a surging popularity.
The Ossa firm was a strong supporter of all forms of motorcycle sport including: road racing
, motocross
, enduro
and observed trials. Their first success came at the 1967 24 Hours of Montjuich
on the streets of Barcelona. Against all the major Spanish factories, Ossa motorcycles finished a surprising first and second. Inspired by this success, the factory decided to compete abroad in order to make inroads into the international market. They achieved early success in Grand Prix
road racing
, competing with an innovative monocoque
-framed bike designed by Giró's son, Eduardo and ridden by Santiago Herrero
. Herrero won four 250 cc Grands Prix with Ossa before he died while competing at the 1970
Isle of Man TT
. The loss of their star rider affected the Ossa team so much that they withdrew from road racing altogether.
However, Ossa redirected their competitive efforts into the sport of Observed Trials (which has come to be regarded as almost a Spanish national sport) in Europe and the United States alongside such other famous Spanish makes as Bultaco
and Montesa
. Ossa hired British rider Mick Andrews to help design and ride their trials bike, and they went on to capture the 1971 and 1972 European Trials Championship, the forerunner to the FIM
World Championship. With Andrews riding, Ossa won the grueling Scottish Six Days Trial
three consecutive years between 1970 and 1972.
In addition to their suitability for racing, in terms of power-to-weight, Ossa motorcycles soon gained a reputation for reliability on and off the track. Despite this growing enthusiasm for the beautifully crafted and rugged bikes themselves, the firm suffered from a disorganized and sparse dealer network in the important American market. Ironically, the motorcycle boom that created a new market and allowed the European makes to reap great financial rewards, was also the seed of their own demise, and that of the numerous smaller firms, such as Ossa. With so many choices of make for both buyers and dealers, sales and service networks were not sustainable, and attempts to improve manufacturing by investing in new factories back home put Ossa, like virtually every other European firm, deep into the red.
In the declining years of the Franco Era
, in 1975, the Spanish government steadily converted Spain's economic structure
into one more closely resembling a free-market economy. The arrival of cheaper Japan
ese motorcycles into the local economy as well as a crippling employee strike in 1977 spurred the downfall of the Ossa company. In 1979, the company merged with Bultaco but this wasn't enough to stave off financial problems. By 1982, the Ossa factory closed down for good. Nonetheless, as a Vintage make, the Ossa still enjoys a significant following among home hobbyists and amateur racers.
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
manufacturer based in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain which was active from 1924 to 1982. Founded by Manuel Giró, an industrialist from Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Ossa was best known for lightweight two-stroke-engined bikes used in Observed Trials and Motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
. The company was known originally as Orpheo Sincronic Sociedad Anónima (O.S.S.A.) and was later renamed Maquinaria Cinematográfica, S.A.. The brand still remains popular around the world, and particularly in the United States, among enthusiasts from amateurs in historic motorcycle racing to hobbyists and collectors.
History
The original Ossa company got its start in 1924 making movie projectorMovie projector
A movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying moving pictures by projecting them on a projection screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras.-Physiology:...
s for its home market in Spain. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Ossa, like several other manufacturers from BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
to Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
to Yamaha
Yamaha Motor Company
, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...
, began producing two-stroke engined motorcycles, with their first mass produced model being introduced in 1949. Ossa reached its highest production levels in the motorcycle boom of the 1960s, exporting large numbers of exports to other European countries, but also significantly, to North American markets. In the United States and Canada, off-road motorcycling - and particularly the newly imported sport of motocross to which the light-weight and powerful Ossa was well suited - enjoyed a surging popularity.
The Ossa firm was a strong supporter of all forms of motorcycle sport including: road racing
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
, motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
, enduro
Enduro
Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
and observed trials. Their first success came at the 1967 24 Hours of Montjuich
Montjuïc circuit
The Montjuïc circuit is a former street circuit located on the Montjuïc mountain in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is considered among the best Formula One circuits of all time, with Autosport rating it among its ten best for their 50th anniversary of Formula One issue...
on the streets of Barcelona. Against all the major Spanish factories, Ossa motorcycles finished a surprising first and second. Inspired by this success, the factory decided to compete abroad in order to make inroads into the international market. They achieved early success in Grand Prix
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...
road racing
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
, competing with an innovative monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
-framed bike designed by Giró's son, Eduardo and ridden by Santiago Herrero
Santiago Herrero
Santiago Herrero was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was born in Madrid, Spain.-Biography:At the age of 12 Santiago Herrero bought his first motorcycle. In 1962, he obtained his racing license, competing on a Derbi and doing his own maintenance...
. Herrero won four 250 cc Grands Prix with Ossa before he died while competing at the 1970
1970 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1970 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 22nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of twelve Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc...
Isle of Man TT
Isle of Man TT
The International Isle of Man TT Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world...
. The loss of their star rider affected the Ossa team so much that they withdrew from road racing altogether.
However, Ossa redirected their competitive efforts into the sport of Observed Trials (which has come to be regarded as almost a Spanish national sport) in Europe and the United States alongside such other famous Spanish makes as Bultaco
Bultaco
Bultaco was a Spanish manufacturer of two-stroke motorcycles from 1958 to 1983.-Origins:The origin of the Bultaco motorcycle company dates back to May 1958. Francisco "Paco" Bultó was a director of the Montesa motorcycle company founded in 1944. After several years of steady growth and road racing...
and Montesa
Montesa
Montesa may refer to:* the Spanish motorcycle manufacturer, now known as Montesa Honda;* Order of Montesa, a Christian military order;* Montesa, Valencia, a municipality in Spain....
. Ossa hired British rider Mick Andrews to help design and ride their trials bike, and they went on to capture the 1971 and 1972 European Trials Championship, the forerunner to the FIM
Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the governing body of motorcycle racing. It represents 103 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions....
World Championship. With Andrews riding, Ossa won the grueling Scottish Six Days Trial
Scottish Six Days Trial
The Scottish Six Days Trial is an internationally recognised Motorcycle trials competition, which has been running since 1909 making it the oldest motorcycle trials event in the world...
three consecutive years between 1970 and 1972.
In addition to their suitability for racing, in terms of power-to-weight, Ossa motorcycles soon gained a reputation for reliability on and off the track. Despite this growing enthusiasm for the beautifully crafted and rugged bikes themselves, the firm suffered from a disorganized and sparse dealer network in the important American market. Ironically, the motorcycle boom that created a new market and allowed the European makes to reap great financial rewards, was also the seed of their own demise, and that of the numerous smaller firms, such as Ossa. With so many choices of make for both buyers and dealers, sales and service networks were not sustainable, and attempts to improve manufacturing by investing in new factories back home put Ossa, like virtually every other European firm, deep into the red.
In the declining years of the Franco Era
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
, in 1975, the Spanish government steadily converted Spain's economic structure
Economic history of Spain
This article covers the development of Spain's economy over the course of its history.- Ancient era :The prehistoric Iberians and Celts were some of the earliest groups in what is now Spain. The Iberians developed agriculture and metal working. Celtic economy centered around cattle raising, like...
into one more closely resembling a free-market economy. The arrival of cheaper Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese motorcycles into the local economy as well as a crippling employee strike in 1977 spurred the downfall of the Ossa company. In 1979, the company merged with Bultaco but this wasn't enough to stave off financial problems. By 1982, the Ossa factory closed down for good. Nonetheless, as a Vintage make, the Ossa still enjoys a significant following among home hobbyists and amateur racers.
Ossa-based bikes
- Ossa SPQ, OSSA Seurat Piron Queyrel. Produced in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the 1970s, the SPQ was an air-cooled 250 cc road racing motorcycle with a light frame and an OSSA engine. The SPQ excelled in French hillclimbingHillclimbingHillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course....
and criteriumCriteriumA criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course , often run on closed-off city center streets....
races in the decade, but was no match for the Yamaha TD2Yamaha TD2Yamaha TD2 is an air-cooled road racing motorcycle made by Yamaha produced between 1969 and 1970.Great Britain’s Rodney Gould won the 1970 250 cc World Championship on a TD2, with Australian, Kel Carruthers coming in second, also riding a TD2...
in circuit competition.
- Yankee 500, a large off-road motorcycle produced in Schenectady, New York by the Yankee Motor Company. The Yankee, also known as "Ossa Yankee", had a 500 cc air-cooled Ossa twin-cylinder two-stroke engine, designed by Eduard Giró.
- Ossa BYRA 1000, a 977 cc four-cylinder two-stroke air-cooled road racing motorcycle built in Barcelona by engineer Fernando Batlló. The motor was based on two Yankee engines. This bike took part in the 24 hours of Montjuich races in 1972 and 1973. Only one was built as a road racing prototype and another as a street bike. This bike survives at the BassellaBassellaBassella is a municipality in the comarca of the Alt Urgell, in Catalonia, Spain. The village of Bassella, one of nine settlement which make up the municipality, is located at the confluence of the Segre river with the Salada river and at the point where the route from Solsona and the potash mines...
Motorcycle Museum, Alt UrgellAlt UrgellAlt Urgell is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell , seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet.- Municipalities :...
.
Street
- Ossita 50
- 125 C2
- 150 Comercial
- 160 T
- 175 Sport
- 230 Wildfire
- Sport 250
- SPQ 250, a Sport 250 transformed as a road racing bike in France
- 250 T
- 250 TE
- 250 79
- 250 F3
- 500 (Street), with a 500 Yankee motor
Off-road
- Dick Mann Replica/DMR (Flattrack)
- ST1 (Flattrack)
- Desert (Motocross/TrailMotocrossMotocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
) - Explorer (Trials)
- Gripper (Trials)
- Mick Andrews Replica (Trials)
- 250 Enduro (EnduroEnduroEnduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
) - Mountaineer (EnduroEnduroEnduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
) - Phantom (MotocrossMotocrossMotocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
) - Pioneer (EnduroEnduroEnduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
) - Plonker (Trials)
- Super Pioneer (EnduroEnduroEnduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
) - Six Day Replica (EnduroEnduroEnduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
) - Stiletto MX (MotocrossMotocrossMotocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...
) - 500 YankeeYankee (motorcycle)The Yankee motorcycle is a motorcycle which was produced in Schenectady, New York by the Yankee Motor Company in the 1970s. This company was started by John Taylor, a long-time resident of that area....
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