industry motorcycle and scooter founded 1909 founder giuseppe gilera headquarters pontedera italy area served worldwide owner rudy parent piaggio website gilera.com gilera exhibit 1954 gilera 150 sport gilera is an italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in arcore in 1909 by giuseppe gilera . in 1969 the company was purchased by piaggio . contents 1 history 2 racing history 2.1 european championships 2.2 motogp world championship 2.3 motogp world constructors champions 2.4 isle of man tourist trophy 3 motorcycle models 3.1 historic product 3.2 modern product 3.3 gilera smt 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit in 1935 gilera acquired rights to the rondine four cylinder engine . this formed the basis for gilera s racing machines for nearly forty years . from the mid thirties gilera developed a range of four stroke engine machines . the engines ranged from 100 to 500 cc the most famous being the 1939 saturno . designed by giuseppe salmaggi the saturno was inspired by the pre war gilera vtegs 500cc otto bulloni yet was quite different due to its unit construction . 1 in 1969 gilera became part of the piaggio group . in 1992 gilera made a return to the grand prix arena and piaggio continues to produce small displacement motorcycles with the gilera name . the famous factory of arcore was closed in 1993 and now the motorcycles only scooters bearing the name gilera are produced by piaggio in pontedera . racing history edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message after world war ii gilera dominated grand prix motorcycle racing winning the 500 cc road racing world championship six times in eight years . citation needed facing a downturn in motorcycle sales due to the increase in the popularity of automobiles after the war gilera made a gentleman s agreement with the other italian motorcycle makers to quit grand prix racing after the 1957 season as a cost cutting measure . the 1957 500 cc machines on which former world champion rider geoff duke had much success were resurrected in 1963 but with the benefit of newer upgraded tyre technology of the 1960s were considered still competitive . the team was devised by duke to challenge the domination of mike hailwood on the mv and had early successes with riders derek minter and team mate john hartle at silverstone brands hatch and imola italy . in may 1963 minter suffered serious injuries when racing a norton at brands hatch and his place in the team for the tt races was taken by phil read who came third to second place team mate hartle . the team only raced for one season in selected races . in 1966 minter arranged to ride the gileras at the tt in june 2 again without success as he crashed on a wet road surface after a rain shower at brandish corner during the last practice before race week breaking his left wrist which ended his racing for the rest of the race season . the bikes were raced at brands hatch later in the year . 3 european championships edit year class rider 1939 500cc dorino serafini motogp world championship edit gilera 5004c gilera won the following world titles 500 cc class ; year class rider 1950 500cc umberto masetti 1952 500cc umberto masetti 1953 500cc geoff duke 1954 500cc geoff duke 1955 500cc geoff duke 1957 500cc libero liberati 250 cc class ; year class rider 2008 250cc marco simoncelli 125 cc class ; year class rider 2001 125cc manuel poggiali motogp world constructors champions edit 500 cc class 1952 1953 1955 1957 isle of man tourist trophy edit 350 cc class year champion class motorcycle 1957 isle of man tt bob mcintyre class 350 cc 500 cc class year champion class motorcycle 1955 isle of man tt geoff duke class 500 cc 1957 isle of man tt bob mcintyre class 500 cc 1963 isle of man tt john hartle second class 500 cc team scuderia duke gilera 1963 isle of man tt phil read third class 500 cc team scuderia duke gilera motorcycle models edit historic product edit marte produced during war for the italian army the marte was a 498 cc 30.4 cu in ohv single with 14 bhp 10 kw . intended for use with a sidecar the marte had a shaft drive and hand operated transmission . 1947 gilera saturno . saturno produced after the war until 1959 as a 498 cc 30.4 cu in ohv single with 22 bhp 16 kw 5 000 rpm and swinging arm rear suspension using parallel twin horizontal coil springs . the racing version designated saturno san remo was campaigned with success in italian national and international races but was unable to compete with the multi cylinder and overhead camshaft opposition . 4 modern product edit citta moped coguar dna fuoco or mp3 a revolutionary maxi scooter with double front wheels and innovative suspension system . 1989 gilera nuovo saturno bialbero gfr gp800 ice nexus nordwest runner nuovo saturno produced from the late 1980s as a modern version of the historic saturno using a 491 cc dohc engine with 45 bhp 7 500 rpm 5 stalker also known as skp 1991 gilera 125 cx storm rcr smt cx mxr gilera smt edit the gilera smt is a cross moped for the big city . it is a supermotard which means it is an offroad moped fit for the big city but can also handle bumpy roads . it has 17 inch rims with broad tires six gears and a 50 cc engine producing 8.5 hp 6.3 kw . see also edit italy portal companies portal list of italian companies list of motorcycle manufacturers references edit james adam bolton february 2011 . the gilera saturno . motorcycle classics . retrieved 2011 03 11 . motor cycle 18 august 1966 last sunday night derek minter left for italy to collect two five hundred gileras for the senior tt . accessed 31 march 2016 sixty years of speed 1967 a motorcycle news publication . accessed 31 march 2016 . wilson hugo . 1993 the ultimate motor cycle book pp. 96 97 gilera . dorling kindersley isbn 0751300438 accessed and added 2014 12 24 walker mick italian racing motorcycles at google books retrieved 2014 12 24 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to gilera motorcycles . the gilera historical register v t e gilera current motorcycles fuoco runner previous motorcycles dna smt designers tonti racing riders geoff duke libero liberati umberto masetti bob mcintyre manuel poggiali dorino serafini marco simoncelli piaggio group v t e major and notable italian motorcycle marques current aprilia benelli beta bimota borile cagiva ducati fantic ghezzi & brian gilera italjet minarelli mondial motobi moto guzzi moto morini mv agusta paton piaggio polini swm terra modena vespa vyrus defunct abra 1923 1927 accossato aermacchi aeromere capriolo aetos agrati 1958 1965 aim 1974 1982 alano 1923 1925 alato 1923 1925 aldbert 1953 1959 atala autozodiaco bianchi caproni ceccato 1947 1962 cimatti 1937 1984 cna 1920 1934 della ferrera 1909 1948 fb mondial frera 1905 1936 fusi 1932 1957 galbusera 1934 1955 garelli 1919 2012 innocenti 1947 1997 iso rivolta 1953 1974 lamborghini lambretta laverda 1949 2006 malaguti mas 1920 1956 maserati motorcycle morbidelli moretti 1925 1989 parilla rumi retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title gilera & oldid 722728481 categories gilerapiaggio groupmotorcycle manufacturers of italyscooter manufacturerscompanies established in 19091909 establishments in italyitalian brandsprovince of monza and brianzahidden categories articles needing additional references from december 2012all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from october 2010commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages catal e tinadeutschespa olfran aisbahasa indonesiaitalianolumbaartnederlands polskiportugu s sloven inasuomisvenska edit links this page was last modified on 29 may 2016 at 20 49 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view