Follis

1951 Follis Sport 98cc, light French motorcycle produced in years 1951-1959. This is one of few French bikes using Sachs engine.

Follis company founded in 1903 was a motorcycle manufacturer from 1946 to 1959, later they returned to bicycle industry. The company was finally closed in 2006 or 2007.

"The Follis bicycle business was established in 1903 in the suburbs of Turin, Italy, by Joseph Follis, an Italian locksmith. In 1922, Follis established Cycles Follis in Lyon, France, where he moved after Mussolini took power in Italy. Their “hallmark” was exceptional finish, quality and reliability, gaining the company a good reputation and word-of-mouth advertisng. In 1933, the reins of the company passed from Joseph Follis to his son François.(...) In 1946, Follis employed 50 people and was expanding fast. At this time they ventured into the manufacture of motorcycles – on one of which Joseph Follis was killed in 1947. The brand started to gain international recognition when they got contracts to export to India and the United States (...) In 1950, with the success of the company, François Follis purchased land in Craponne to build a plant for his new ambition: to become a real motorcycle manufacturer on an industrial rather than craft scale. From 1951, its heyday, the company, with 200 employees, produced 600 bikes and 1000 motorcycles of various engine capacities per month, distributed by 200 branches and 2,000 outlets. The bikes were built in the city, while the Craponne plant, running flat out, only produced the motorized vehicles ranging from mopeds to motorcycles." from classiclightweights.net