Quick Ride

QUICK RIDE

ROUNDUP

GILERA SATURNO A sequel better than the original

A DESCRIPTION OF THE GlLERA Saturno 500 sounds like a scrambled message from a broken FAX machine. Let’s see, it says here the bike is a four-valve, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder streetbike, conceived in Japan and executed in Italy on a formula that was taken from the British motorcycle industry. Could you send that last message again?

But it’s true. The Saturno isn’t quite like anything else made today. And it certainly is nothing like its namesake, the Güera Saturno of the 1950s. The original Saturno did score some minor roadrace victories, but in truth, the long-stroke, pushrod Italian Single was no match for the Manx Norton or the Matchless G50-the dominent Singles of the time. On the other hand, the new Saturno might well be the most sophisticated street Single today.

The bike is the result of a collaboration between the mammoth Japanese firm C.Itoh and Güera. C.Itoh wanted to develop an exotic Single for the Japanese market, and to really capture the public’s imagination, it would have to have a foreign-built engine. An obvious candidate was the 492cc motor from the Güera Dakota, an Italian dualpurpose bike. So, using a Japanesedesigned chassis that was inspired by a British Harris frame, the Saturno was reborn.

One thing becomes apparent from the first 10 miles on the bike: This is the chassis the Dakota engine has been looking for ever since it was introduced back in 1985. Fitting this high-tech, dohç motor to a trail-bike chassis was like sticking a Jaguar engine in a Range Rover: It was wasted. The already-potent engine is now in a hotter state of tune than it was in the Dakota, and though there’s little power below 3000 rpm, the mid-range performance is impressive. The bike weighs 298 pounds dry and produces a claimed 44 bhp, so the power-to-weight ratio permits decent acceleration, and the advertised top speed of 112 mph seems quite accurate.

Lightweight bikes shouldn’t behave other than ideally these days, given the benefits of modern suspension and tires, and the Gilera’s handling isn’t disappointing. The grip from its 17-inch Pirelli radiais is excellent, and the bike corners as if on rails. The Marzocchi suspension gives a featherbed-like ride, completing an excellent handling package. The original Saturno’s flimsy frame was nothing like this.

If all this sounds too good to be true, don’t worry: It is. Only 1000 units were produced (half of those in 350cc form) and none were aimed at the U.S. Even if a couple do pop up on these shores, they will be costly. In Japan, the Saturnos carry a price of 880,000 yen, or about $6500. But then it’s hard to figure out how much it should cost. After all, how many other British/ Japanese/Italian crossbreed Singles are there to compare it to?

Alan Cathcart