Orial Motorcycles

Orial 600cc Sidecar Combination, Grand Prix de France, Montargis, 1923

Orial 600cc 1924

A Brief History of the Marque

Manufactured: 1920-1927¹
11 Rue du Plat, Lyon

Office de Représentations Industrielles et Automobiles Lyonnais was established shortly after the Great War by Joseph Voland and Lacroix-Laval and sold several makes of motorcycles and automobiles. They began building their own motorcycles under the Orial brand in 1920, having bought the G.L. marque after the death of one of the owners, Maurice Le Pen. They subsequently fitted MAG engines to the rebranded machines.

It appears they also built a two-stroke around 1921.

1922 saw Orial's main rider, Guiguet, move to Koehler-Escoffier. Guiguet convinced a major shareholder in Orial, Drevet, to invest in the new company, leaving Orial in a difficult situation. The marque foundered in 1925.

Racing Sidecars ²

• 1921 Sidecars 600cc : 1st. Colguet (Orial), 2. Leslie Piney (GB, Triumph), 3. Coudert (?)
  1921 Sidecars 600cc : 1st. Raymond Guiguet (Orial), 2. Moret (Orial), 3. Lacour (Orial)
  1923 Sidecars 600cc : 1st. Moret / ? (Orial), 2. Alexandre Hommaire / ? (Orial)
  1925 Sidecars 600cc : 1. Raymond Guiguet / ? (Gillet), 2nd. Moret / ? (Orial), 3. Minot / ? (Triumph)

Orial built 4-wheeled cyclecars under license from Sénéchal in 1923 and 1924. These were powered by a four-cylinder 900cc engine.

There was a short-lived Orial brand in Germany which changed its name to TWN after a legal wrangle with the French firm.

Sources: zhumoriste.over-blog.com, et al.

Notes
1. Mfg dates also given as 1919-1926
2. racingmemo.free.fr
3. wikiwand.com/nl/Koehler-Escoffier
There is some possibility that Orial produced a single cylinder machine perhaps as large as 750 cc but this is disputed.

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