In post-war Italy, the biggest rival to the iconic Moto Guzzi Falcone was the Gilera Saturno. Only six thousand of these elegant 500 cc singles were produced in Arcore from 1946 to 1958, but they left a strong impression on the history of motorcycling. Engineer Giuseppe Salmaggi actually designed the Saturno in 1938: it’s a testimony to the quality of his work that the svelte Gilera became the favored mount of racing privateers a decade later, with class-leading acceleration and handling. There’s more on these lovely machines (and the history of the company that built them) on this Gilera Saturno fan site.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | 1/160s | f/13.0 | ISO 100 | Focal length 115mm
4 Comments
Love the clean primary geometry of the pipes and headers
ooh now that’s a proper bike.
Perfect, simplicity itself. Distilled essence of motorcycle.
I love how the engine appears more a blur of potential motion than a solid thing because of the edge-on view of the fins.
Esta Gilera Saturno es excepcional. En Argentina, en los 60, teníamos la Gilera 300, parecida a la Saturno, los mismos colores, pero más petisa y con dos salidas de silenciadores. Era una moto que andaba bastante fuerte.