The sport of motocross has humble roots, but has reached the mainstream. It has, network TV coverage, stars that have achieved true fame, and a multi-billion dollar aftermarket industry. Perhaps the most visible segment of the motorcycle aftermarket are the clothing companies, including Fox, JT Racing, and Alpinestars. They may have started small, but nearly all have grown up and become quite successful considering their humble roots.

But another brand that existed back in the early days that is little known today. This brand had the #1 position in the US market, all four Japanese brands as private label customers, most of the European brands, plus anyone else worth having. They had hall-of-fame athletes such as Hannah, Stackable, and Pomeroy, and a lead on other players such as JT Racing. But they failed to keep up with the changing market, blew their lead, and now exist only as a memory.

GRIFFS  was founded by  Stanley Arron in Bridgeport,  Connecticut.  Stanley
thinks he  began  in late 1974,  but he is 84 and his  memory is a little  fuzzy.
Stanley was constantly tinkering with clothing, isolating performance issues, and then solving them with apparel technology. He was quite prolific, achieving 4 separate patents on electrically heated apparel in 1968, 1969, and two in 1970. At the time, motocross pants were made from leather, which made them hot and uncomfortable. Stanley had found a new high-strength nylon fabric from DuPont called “Cordura”, and believed that this new fabric would be great for riding gear. He talked to people in the industry about his idea and the buyer from Maico, Tom Steele, introduced Stanley to Steve Stackable. The pair hit it off, and began testing prototypes. Steve found them much lighter and more breathable than leather pants and could ride faster and longer as a result.

Stanley wanted to promote his new brand, and worked out a royalty deal with Steve Stackable. The pants would be called Steve Stackable Ultralites” and Steve’s signature would be printed on the waist belt of each pair. In exchange for his endorsement, Steve would get a 2% royalty on each pair.

There were still hurdles to overcome.  In 1977, the American Motorcyclist Association rulebook allowed only pants made of leather.    They blocked the use of the pants for competition based on the fact that they were not fireproof. Enforcement of this rule was was somewhat political even back then,  sometimes they  were allowed  and  sometimes not.  Stanley  had  his  pants tested  by an independent laboratory with excellent results, and petitioned the

AMA. “I went before the AMA Board under the premise of having just my pants approved, but one of the board members was from a leather manufacturer. He was furious. In the meeting, he told them point blank that they would be giving the industry to me.” Eventually, the AMA reversed and approved all nylon pants for competition, without any testing or certification required.

GRIFFS had a jump on the competition, and sales grew quickly. GRIFFS were made from DuPont Cordura while brands such as JT used cheaper fabric to achieve a lower price. They developed a reputation for being durable, and started getting requests to produce gear for other leaders in the market. The orders began to flow in, coming from OE companies such as Maico, then Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, Harley (!!!), Can Am, Suzuki, and nearly everyone else. They even produced for other apparel companies, and at one time O’Neal was their largest customer.

Steve Stackable 's brother Rolf was a rep in the industry, and also his business manager. Rolf knew a lot of people in the industry – especially athletes - and was hired as the GRIFFS marketing / rider rep. Rolf excelled in his new job, signing up top pro after top pro. “The product was excellent” says Rolf , “and there wasn't a rider out there that wouldn't wear GRIFFS. One year I think I had 90% of the riders on the line.” The list of riders that wore GRIFFS is like a list from the motocross Hall of Fame, including Jim Weinert , Jim Pomeroy , Kent Howerton , Darrel Schultz , Jimmy Ellis , Gary Jones , Gaylon Mosier , Gary Semics , Billy Grossi , Rick Burgett , Marty Moates, and many others. But the most famous of all was the legend, Bob Hannah....

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