Photo ou archives : F-M. Dumas
5219
LE GRIMPEUR
250cc -1928
Cinderella of the group
Founded in 1900, Le Grimpeur had a varied output. It used several different types and makes of engines until 1926, when the firm was taken over by Henri Dresch, anxious to expand his company quickly. Le Grimpeur stopped using the two-stroke engines that had established the reputation of its popular little machines and only fitted MAG engines, built under license by Dresch, who up to 1932 used the firm to test-market future Dresch models.
A Year in Advance
That was the reason for the launch of this Le Grimpeur, powered by a 250cc MAG-Paris engine, at the start of 1928. It was followed in 1929 by- and always one motorcycle
show ahead of the equivalent Dresch model - a superb 350cc version that optimistically claimed to be able to reach 60 mph.
Playing Second Fiddle
Le Grimpeur-Dresch also built sidecar outfits of 250, 350 and 500cc with which the company won the Championship of France in 1928. But the way of a subsidiary marque is never easy, and the 250 Le Grimpeur had a somewhat patchwork appearance with a tank mounted between the two top tubes of a splendid full double-cradle frame in smallbore tubing. It also had an extremely elegant girder fork in forged-steel which - surprise, surprise! - appeared later the same year on the Dresch (which had a modern saddle tank) and which was (equally unsurprisingly) not fitted to the 1929 350cc Le Grimpeur.
SPECIFICATIONS Engine: 248cc (64x77mm) Dresch (MAG license) air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke
Valves: overhead intake, side exhaust
Fuel System: carburetor
Transmission: Dresch 3-speed hand-shift, chain final drive
Suspension: forged-steel girder forks (front); rigid (rear)
Brakes: drum (front & rear)
Wheels: 3.25x19 inch (front & rear)
Weight: 220 lb
Maximum Speed: 55 mph
This fine 250 I.e Grimpeur bas an ingenious snailcam fitting - a modern replica of the original item- on the rear wheel spindle to simplify chain tension adjustment.