1954 Gilera Four - 1-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article for Sale

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1954 Gilera Four - 1-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article For Sale

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1954 Gilera Four - 1-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article:
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1954 Gilera Four - 1-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, Vintage Magazine ArticlePage Size: Approx. 8\" x 11\" (21 cm x 28 cm)Condition: Good
This water-cooled GileraFour was one of thesensations of theGrand Prix circuits inthe mid - thirties. Topspeed was above 150mph, and one hour rec-ord speed was 121mph set by Taruffi in1937. Engine devel-oped 90 hp at 8000rpm.A PRODUCT of the Gilera factory ofItaly, this road racing motorcycle wasfirst designed and built in the mid-thirties.The original machine had a pressed steelframe and forks. Ignition was by coil. Thepressed steel frame was scrapped in favorof a light duplex frame employing both tubesand pressings. A Scintella-Vertix magnetoreplaced the coil and distributor. The pressedsteel forks were retained. By 1939 the jobdeveloped no less than 90 B.H.P. at 8000R.P.M. and was capable of speeds in excessof 150 M.P.H. The four cylinder 493 c.c.engine mounted across the frame was watercooled and built-in unit with the four-speedgear box. The crankshaft ran on four bear-ing and was of very rigid construction. Theoverhead camshafts were driven by a chainof gears from the center of the crankshaft upbetween the two middle cylinders to the cam-shafts themselves. This layout was empolyedto lessen torsional twist of the shafts. Thelength of the shafts from the drive being onlyhalf as long, valves were inclined at 90degree in hemispherical combustion cham-bers. A positive displacement superchargerwas employed giving a very high boost ofnearly twice atmospheric presure. Compres-sion ratio (disregarding the blower) was 8 to1. Spark plugs were centrally located in thealloy head. Head and cylinders were cast inunit. The magneto was driven from the gear-box: engine side of the clutch. Drive to thegearbox was through gears, teeth being ma-chined on one of the crank wheels. Finaldrive was by chain. Rear springing of theswinging arm type, controlled by coilsprings and hand Hampering, was employed.After winning the 1939 Ulster Grand Prix,the four was proclaimed the world’s fastestroad racing motorcycle. The average speedfor the race was 97.85 M.P.H. with an exist-ing lap record of 100.3 M.P.H.Pietro Tarrufli riding one of these fours ina streamline shell set a new hour record in1937 of 121.23 M.P.H. beating the 0. H.Cam Norton record of 114.09 M.P.H. set bythe late Jimmie Guthrie. TarruHi rode theGilera back and forth on some 30 odd milesof the Brescia-Bergamo Autostada in Italy.In 1939 he again raised the hour record to1271/2 M.P.H., where it stands today.The Gilera factory had six of these ma-chines at the end of the 1939 racing season.They have not, in their super-charged form,been road raced in any of the post war roadrace. Superchargers having been banned bythe F.I.C.M. They have however, in unsuper-charged form been raced in several of themajor side car races on the Continent.The prewar one hour record holder, this GileraFour averaged 121.23 mph with Pierro Taruffiin the saddle. He later raised record to 127.5.15205-5409-02