Информация по мотоциклу Gilera CX125

Gilera CX125

Этот мотоцикл построил Filippo Barbacane Guzzi и был представлен общественности в 1991 году. Дизайн мотоцикла придумал Federico Martini, который также разработал Bimota DB1. Gilera CX125 полностью закрыт пластиком, возможно передний обтекатель немного великоват.

Не считая подвески, байк CX125 является совершенно обычным. CX125 основан на точной гоночной копии Gilera Crono. Мотоцикл оснащен двигателем объемом 125 см3 и мощностью 30 л.с., красная черта — 12000 об/мин. Рама полностью стальная, а не алюминиевой, как, например, была у конкурентов Cagiva Mito и Aprilia RS125. Вес CX125 120 кг, предельная скорость 190 км/ч.

Односторонняя передняя подвеска подобна система BMW Telelever, фактически тут собрана односторонняя вилка, амортизатор и маятниковый рычаг. Ход подвески 100 мм, многие тестовые гонщики говорили, что подвеска очень жесткая.

Извиняюсь за качество фото, найти нормальных не удалось

Характеристики на языке оигинала

EngineEngine Watercooled two-stroke single
cc 124
Compression ratio 13:1
Transmission 6 speed

Cycle PartsTyres Michelin Hi-Sport radials. Front; 120/60 ZR 17. Rear; 150/60 ZR 17
Brakes Front 300mm (11.8in) disc. Rear; 240mm (9.4in) disc
Suspension Front 45mm single-arm telescopic. Rear; Single shock with preload adjust
Wheelbase 1370mm (53.9in)
Dry weight 120kg (264lb)

PerformanceTop speed 120mph
Fuel capacity 11 litres (2.5gal)

Сколько такой стоит в Европе не знаю, видел в продаже у нас за 1000$ б/у естественно)

Жизнь и смерть карманных ракет: 125‐кубовые спортбайки

Только в Италии, где каждый мальчишка — гонщик, могла родиться порода дорожных 125-кубовых мотоциклов, способных разгоняться до 175 км/ч.

001_moto_0711_054

С легкой руки немецкого конструктора Германа Вебера, создавшего в конце 30-х годов великолепный DKW RT125, после Второй мировой войны эта кубатура стала стандартом для дешевой мототехники. Но во всем мире — от США до Японии — «осьмушки» выполняли лишь две роли: бюджетное средство транспорта либо «парта» для начинающих. И только в Италии они стали полноценными спортивными снарядами — всерьез и надолго. Тому две причины. Во-первых, итальянцы обожают выяснять, кто первый если не в мире или в Риме, так хотя бы на деревне. Не случайно по числу чемпионов мира в шоссейных мотогонках они — впереди планеты всей. Вторая же причина куда более прозаична: вплоть до последнего времени Италия была страной небогатой. Не хватает на «пятисотку»? Будем гоняться на «осьмушках»!

Число компаний, бросившихся после войны выпускать в Италии 125-кубовые мотоциклы, не поддается никакому учету. Одни из них ныне известны лишь историкам, другие же — MV Agusta, Ducati, Benelli, Gilera — и по сей день знамениты во всем мире. И вот что интересно: казалось бы, итальянским стандартом должны стать дешевые двухтактные мотоциклы, тем более что немцы тогда не смели и заикаться о своих интеллектуальных правах на DKW RT125. Действительно, некоторые компании — Moto Morini, Mi-Val — отметились копиями этой машины. Но абсолютное большинство итальянских производителей сделали ставку на четырехтактные двигатели. Что объясняется просто: Италия — страна гористая. А у четырехтактного двигателя шире тяговый диапазон, что для маломощного моторчика немаловажно. Некоторые фирмы даже держали в производственной гамме сразу два варианта: дешевый двухтактный и примерно на 20% более дорогой четырехтактный. Таким двуликим был, например, Benelli Leoncino: унифицированы у обоих версий не только ходовая часть, но даже и картер силового агрегата.

А уж сколько модификаций ухитрялись создавать итальянцы! В других странах 125-кубовые мотоциклы выпускались максимум в двух вариантах — совсем уж удешевленная версия, зачастую с жесткой задней подвеской, и более благородный «Люкс». А вот какое разнообразие «осьмушек» выпускала в середине 50-х годов Ducati: базовый Turismo с четырехтактным двигателем мощностью 6 л.с., разгонявшийся до 85 км/ч — это раз. Чуть более мощный (6,5 л.с.) Turismo Veloce — он же, в соответствии с названием (veloce по-итальянски — скорость), и более скоростной: 90 км/ч. Это два. Ducati 125 Sport — машина куда более серьезная с верхневальным мотором: 8,5 л.с., 110 км/ч (заявленные скоростные параметры — на совести производителя). И наконец, две практически гоночные машины, адаптированные для езды по дорогам: 12-сильный Gran Sport и еще более мощный (12,5 л.с.) Super Sport, который развивал аж 150 км/ч.

В 1959 году в Италии приняли новый Codice Stradale («дорожный кодекс»), поставивший класс 125 см³ в особое положение: он стал верхней планкой для юных мотоциклистов в возрасте от 16 до 18 лет. Одновременно 125-кубовым мотоциклам (и скутерам) запретили выезжать на автострады, так что многие компании параллельно с «осьмушками» стали выпускать и 150-кубовые версии (эта практика продолжается в Италии до сих пор).

Но если мы посмотрим на развитие 125-кубовых мотоциклов «после кодекса», то будем вынуждены признать: застой, махровый застой. Такое впечатление, что все творческие силы ушли на дизайн. Да, он стал просто великолепным. А вот моторы — те же самые четырехтактники разработки еще 50-х годов.

И тут пришли японцы, со своими куда более совершенными мотоциклами. Ситуацию спасло государство, в начале 70-х годов запретившее импорт мототехники с моторами рабочим объемом менее 350 см³. Если бы не эта мера, остались бы в Италии, как и в других европейских странах, две-три мотоциклетные компании. Об Aprilia точно никто бы и не услышал. А японские концерны в ответ открыли свои производственные филиалы: Honda Italia родилась в 1976 году, Yamaha Belgarda — в 1981 году.

В покровительственном «зонтике» одни фирмы усмотрели возможность продолжать выпускать устаревшие конструкции, другие же увидели свой шанс «выстрелить». Особенно компании микроскопических размеров (к таким в ту пору, кстати, относилась и Aprilia). Но героем 70-х стала другая микрофирма — Aspes. Как и прочие «малыши», она использовала покупные моторы, но в начале 70-х отважилась на разработку собственного, причем за основу взяла картинговый Komet. Сблокированный с пятиступенчатой коробкой передач 125-кубовый двухтактный двигатель с развитым оребрением и 34-мм карбюратором выдавал внушавшие уважение 18 л.с. при 8500 об/мин. В 1974 году компания представила оснащенный этим силовым агрегатом дорожный мотоцикл Yuma. Ажурная дуплексная рама, низкие clip-ons руля, вытянутый бензобак, дисковый тормоз переднего колеса — машина выглядела настоящим пришельцем из мира мотогонок. Причем она весила всего 80 кг, а разгонялась до 140 км/ч. В 1976 году был представлен ее вариант с двигателем жидкостного охлаждения (который так и не вышел из экспериментальной стадии), в 1977 году мотоцикл получил литые колеса, а в 1980 году — выполненную единым массивом облицовку, шестиступенчатую коробку передач и форсированный до 21 л.с. двигатель. Параллельно компания выпускала и чисто гоночную модификацию, выигравшую несколько локальных чемпионатов в Италии и Франции.

Информация по мотоциклу Gilera CX125

Gilera’s base is at Arcore, near the famous Monza racetrack on the outskirts of the city, and appropriately enough it was at the Milan Show that the local firm revealed their prototype CX – a futuristic machine looking every bit as weird as any catwalk creation – back in 1989. The CX was separated by a perspex screen from the prying public, most of whom must have assumed it was destined for production around the year 2000, if at all.

Late January 1991. The sun is finally sinking to end an unusually warm winter day, and I’m still sneaking glances at the CX125 to assure myself that this surreal-looking motorcycle really is the bike I’ve just been riding; a machine that will be rolling off the Gilera production line and into hundreds of showrooms by the time you read this
.
The idea still seems faintly ludicrous, like being able to buy a Versace ballgown in a department store. But the CX is indisputably real, and although you won’t be able to buy it in Britain in the near future – supposed Gilera importers Suzuki GB are barely aware of the bike’s existence, so don’t hold your breath – then the masses in other countries across Europe certainly will.

The CX was designed by the Armani of the motorcycle world: Gilera’s chief engineer Federico Martini, whose previous creations include the Bimota DB1, perhaps the most beautifully styled bike of all time. Even the DB1 looks almost normal in comparison with the striking CX, whose uniquely strange appearance is capped by near-solid wheels which, from the right side, have no visible means of support.

This is haute couture in cold metal and plastic, and unlike a fancy frock the little CX has much more going for it than mere looks. The bike’s dramatic appearance has been shaped by its suspension design, which uses single-sided arms and a single damper unit at each end. If the Bimota Tesi – which was first developed when Martini was design chief at Rimini – is this year’s most technically innovative motorcycle, then the CX is not far behind.

Nevertheless, if you strip away the sculpted plastic and ignore the front suspension, the CX is improbably conventional – if such a word can ever be used to describe the current crop of state-of-the-art 125cc two-strokes. Its motor is this year’s version of Gilera’s watercooled eighth- litre powerplant. It’s identical to the unit used in this year’s Crono race-replica ( follow-up to the SP02 tested last November ) except for a revised exhaust pipe, which softens the power delivery slightly and removes a couple of horses from the top-end.

That means an output of approximately 30bhp (the factory are a little coy about revealing precise figures): enough to propel the typical Italian teenager to a top speed of a shade over 100mph. Apart from the pipe, the major engine mod is the adoption of an electronically operated exhaust power valve in place of the previous mechanical system. The new unit sits behind a perspex cover on the right of the engine, operated by a solenoid bolted to the rear subframe.

The main frame is a twin-spar job almost identical to the Crono’s, made from steel rather than the aluminium used by Gilera’s teeny-market 125cc rivals from Aprilia and Cagiva. The frame contributes a mere 22lb to the CX’s 264lb dry weight, even so, and holds an single-sided alloy rear arm operating a vertical shock.

But the front suspension is the vital part of the CX125, for it is unlike anything seen before. A single alloy arm, of roughly similar dimensions to the rear swing-arm, leads up from the front axle before curving above the top of the mudguard. Attached to the arm is the suspension unit: a single upside-down telescopic leg whose female section (the fork slider) sits just in front of the steering head.

A series of articulated alloy rods connects the main arm to what is effectively the bottom yoke, to operate the steering. The 17-inch front wheel, like the similar-diameter rear, is a curved aluminium disc that from the right side looks solid apart from a series of slots near its rim. It holds a single 300mm steel brake disc, gripped by a twin- piston Grimeca caliper, and wears a low-profile Michelin Hi-Sport radial tyre.

Needless to say, the whole thing looks the absolute, Crufts-award-winning, dog’s gonads – and the benefits don’t end with the strikingly clean styling that the single-arm system allows. Gilera’s brochure trumpets a long list of CX ( What a name to give a bike like this!) advantages over normal telescopic forks, including not only increased rigidity and less weight, but also such things as ‘improved driving characteristics’ and the potential for enhanced aerodynamics.

Engineer Martini had been much more restrained at the prouduction bike’s launch at the Bologna Show last December, calling the CX ‘a marketing bike, born by commercial requests’ that worked in much the same way as normal forks. ‘From a technical point of view the weight is more or less the same and the rigidity is more or less the same, so there is no great advantage or disadvantage,’ he had said.

Such comparisons are difficult because the single-arm design, which has been produced in collaboration with the Paioli suspension company, has yet to be refined to the same degree. Gilera engineer Luca Bacchi has been responsible for much of the development: ‘When we began work two years ago the suspension unit was much thicker, with a 60mm diameter, and the cast arm was also much thicker than it is now,’ he said. ‘But we made many calculations and fatigue tests and concluded that this was too conservative, so we reduced the diameter to 45mm. Of course, we will try to reduce it again in the future.’

Bacchi claims the CX is very close to the Crono, which wears 40mm upside-down forks, in front-end weight and rigidity. ‘Perhaps the CX is a few grams lower, and its stiffness against flex and also torsional stifness is a bit higher – it’s hard to measure because this depends on the position of the linkage system. If we wanted to save more weight we could design a special front wheel, or use magnesium instead of aluminium.’

As well as the improved ease of wheel removal, Bacchi mentioned a further asset of the system. ‘A conventional fork experiences twisting force when you steer the bike at the beginning of a corner. The front wheel behaves like a flywheel, and the gyroscopic force is great. On a normal fork this is transmitted through the tubes and causes deformation, but on our system these forces are taken by the linkages and are completely excluded from the suspension unit.’

Careful design has ensured that the asymetrical CX front-end is evenly balanced, with the single disc sitting neatly on the centre-line. Fitting the twin discs required by a bigger bike would of course not be quite as easy. Bacchi quickly replied that: ‘In this case you would make a twin disc operated by a single caliper, as has been used before on sports cars.’

But he declined to say whether he already had such a set-up on the drawing board.
Simply sitting astride the lightweight CX125 – the first machine off the production line, I was told – was enough to assure me that a single disc would be quite enough for the debut model. The diminutive bike looks as strange from the pilot’s seat as its pointed profile does from the roadside.

The long, flat nose section ends in a narrow perspex strip that you can look through if you crouch down behind the instrument panel (which includes a clock) with your chin resting on the enormous round suspension cap poking through the alloy top yoke.

In the absence of twin fork legs, the yoke is triangular only because it holds the narrow handlebars. There’s plenty of steering lock; so much so that the tyre fouled the fairing slightly on full-turn. The footpegs are high and rearset, and the thinly-padded seat completes a singleminded riding position. A touch of the starter button produced a tinny two-stroke crackle just like that from any of the similarly-appointed race-rep 125s.

And on the road the CX felt pretty much like its conventional brethren; so much so that if I hadn’t known its suspension was so unusual I probably wouldn’t have suspected a thing. The engine is the predictable unrestricted 125cc buzz-bomb, though marginally less of an out-and-out racer than the likes of Cagiva’s Mito, which has seven gears and needs several more unless you’re quick-footed.

The Gilera stables nearly all its 30 ponies at the top- end, redlining at 12,000rpm and needing most of those revs if you’re to make the most of it. The power valve cuts in at just below eight grand, below which the acceleration is as feeble the exhaust note is flat. But when you reach the magic point on the tacho – which happens at 70mph if you’re lazy enough to be dawdling in top gear – the little motor opens its lungs, the sound changes from a drone to a harsh shriek, and the CX picks up its skirt and heads for the horizon.

But handling is the CX’s most important aspect, and the Gilera lived up to its engineers’ claims. The suspension is fairly stiff (there’s 100mm of travel at the front, compared to the Crono’s 130mm, for example) and the bike has a taut, racy, flickable feel due in part to its light weight and racy rake and trial figures. On the twisty country roads in the hills not far from Gilera’s factory it could be thrown around with great ease and precision.

And despite that light weight and radical geometry, the CX proved impeccably stable even on one fast, uneven fourth-gear curve that I repeatedly attacked as fast as I dared for Goldman’s lens. The harder I rode, the more planted and secure the non-adjustable front felt; and the rear shock also behaved flawlessly even on the couple of occasions that the sticky, 150-section Hi-Sport gave a slight squirm to announce that it was close to the edge.

If there was a weakness, it was perhaps that the front felt a little solid when hitting bumps in a corner. But I’m not at all convinced that the Crono or a similar small-bore sportster would have behaved any better. And there seems no reason why a more sophisticated suspension unit, ideally with facility for preload and damping adjustment, should not improve the CX ride still further. Such an impressive first attempt shows massive potential.

Which raises the vital question of where Gilera go next with their design, and whether it will appear soon with a decent-sized engine inside the slick plastic. Martini will confirm only that he is definitely planning more machines with single-arm suspension. Even if he obtains no performance advantage, he considers a little extra cost (the CX sells for 6.3m lire in Italy, against the Crono’s 6.2m) worthwhile for the styling freedom it brings.
But which engine to put in it? The factory are developing a big-bore V-twin, with a V4 roadster also possible in a couple of years’ time. And for the more immediate future, Gilera are rumoured to be working on a 680cc version of their twin-cam 560 single engine, and to have produced a prototype road version of their neat little alloy-framed single-cylinder racebike the Piuma.

Put the new engine in the Piuma frame, add CX-type suspension and style the result in the way that only Martini can, and you’d have a 60bhp, 300lb streetbike that went like a rocket and looked like it had just arrived from Pluto. The most exciting thing is that if Gilera wanted to, they could build one next week. It’s quite a prospect.

Информация по мотоциклу Gilera CX125

Up until recently there was an interesting category of sporting 125cc two-strokes that dominated the European beginner bike market. Countries like Italy and Britain restricted new teenaged riders to 125cc machines as a “learner” category that was well catered to by most of the major manufacturers. These learner specials often had race-replica sport-bike styling and sharp dynamics to appeal to the masses of hormone-addled 17 year olds who wanted to look fast, even if their machine couldn’t have more than 15bhp by law. Four-stroke 125s were always available but the hot ticket up until recent years was always a rip snorting two-stroke that could be derestricted once you had completed your learning period. While the four-strokes and two-strokes made the same power when restricted, the smoker could be uncorked afterwards to unleash the full fury of the mighty single – as much as 35-odd horsepower, manic power in a machine that scarcely cracks 250lbs with a full tank of fuel.

Most of these learner specials are by and large inspired by their bigger stablemates – thus you could get a miniaturized Yamaha YZF-R, Honda NSR/CBR, Aprilia RS, or even an 8/10ths replica of the iconic Ducati 916 sold as the Cagiva Mito. There was, however, one notable exception to this rule where a manufacturer went all in and gambled on producing a totally unique design that would break the mould. Gilera produced what was possibly the weirdest 125 sport bike of all time – the short lived and radically-styled Gilera CX125, which would quickly earn a status as a cult special that had some of the most futuristic design to ever grace a “beginner” bike.

Gilera is one of those unfortunate cases of a once-great marque that has recently fallen into obscurity and the realm of the mundane. Gilera was once a mighty force in motorcycle competition, producing some of the most advanced Grand Prix machines of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Gilera today is a mere footnote in the history of Italian motorcycle brands and a feather in the cap of parent company Piaggio, who debased the once-storied name it by slapping its logo onto a series of dull scooters. It wasn’t always so.

Gilera achieved some successes in racing with sidevalve and overhead valve singles and twins through the 1920s and early 30s, but it would be their four-cylinder racing machines that would establish the marque as a world-class manufacturer that could compete at the highest levels of racing. In 1936 the company was given the opportunity to purchase the 500cc Rondine (Swallow) four-cylinder competition engine, a design that would define the company’s racing successes for the next twenty years. The Rondine four was an evolution of the single-cam Gianini Remor Bonmartini (GRB) air-cooled engine designed in 1923 by noted engineers Carlo Gianini and Piero Remor. It was the genesis of the modern four-cylinder layout; it had an across the frame transverse layout that distinguished it from earlier longitudinally mounted fours, initially introduced to aid air cooling but also having the benefit of allowing a much shorter and more nimble chassis. While today we take multi-cylinder machines for granted, in the 1920s and 30s all levels of racing were dominated by singles (and the odd twin), favoured for their simplicity, light weight, and compact dimensions. In fact four-stroke singles remained competitive in Grand Prix racing right up until the 1950s, when multis finally began to reach maturity and consistently win races.

The Rondine was an evolution of the GRB developed in the 1930s while under the ownership of aviation concern Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica– it shared the basic architecture of the GRB but benefited from liquid cooling and supercharging to produce an impressive 60hp, with later revisions pushing 87hp. While fast, the CNA-Rondine suffered from reliability issues that hampered its success.

Gilera purchased the Rondine racers from CNA and campaigned the machines during the interwar period with some racing successes and several world records. Supercharging was banned from competition in 1946 and Piero Remor, who was now working for Gilera, developed a new engine design in 1947-48. The 500 4-C air-cooled four would prove to be one of the most successful racing engine of the 1950s, and remained the machine to beat until Gilera retired from racing in 1957, winning the 500cc World Championship in ‘52, ‘53, ‘54, ‘55 and ‘57.

So how do we segway from four-cylinder, four-stroke Grand Prix winners to a weird and futuristic two-stroke single aimed at teenaged riders? This way:

After the company withdrew from competition in ’57, Gilera changed direction abruptly. They downplayed their hitherto successful line of four-stroke singles and began to focus on motocross and off-road events in association with independent specialist Elmeca. Sales declined through the 1960s and by 1968 the company was in receivership. In 1969 Piaggio took over the ailing company and began to restructure the lineup. After the takeover Gilera made a range of small four-strokes and a few interesting prototypes, but they would not become truly successful until they returned to the production of motocross and big trailie machines in the early 1980s. At this point street machines were relegated to small two-strokes, as well as a limited revival of their storied Saturno name with a sport bike built around big four-stroke singles taken from their line of large trail bikes. Things looked bright for the marque in the late 1980s. The factory had been modernized and the products updated significantly by 1985, and Gilera had built a reputation for advanced engineering and for producing very competitive machines in a variety of categories.

Despite looking completely unique the design is actually remarkably conventional – and carries all the same characteristics as a regular front end. Unlike the other funny-front-ends discussed on OddBike previously, the CX offers no appreciable advantage when compared to a traditional telescopic design because it is a telescopic design. Suspension forces are still channelled through the same areas of the frame, and the action is very similar to a regular pair of forks, just merged into a single slider. You still have the age-old problems of stiction, flex, deflection, dive, squat, and geometry changes under compression. Engineering aside, it looks cool – and that was the whole point. The CX wasn’t a groundbreaking machine in anything but styling. It looked (and still looks) like nothing else on two wheels, but under the skin it is pretty straightforward. And easy to manufacture – keep in mind that the CX was intended to be an affordable 125, not an expensive flagship, and only cost a few percent more than the Crono with which is shared showroom space.
Such it was with much of the CX – it was all show, not much substance. The all-encompassing bodywork (with the requisite early-90s dayglo graphics) looked the business but hid the all the conventional bits underneath. The “Integrated Security System” proudly touted in bold script on the tail simply referred to having a locking seat and filler caps. Ignore the time-travelling style and marketing hype and you have a competitive, but not outrageous, 125 sport bike.

In the press the CX was well received. Handling erred on the side of stability balanced by the flickability offered by such a lightweight machine, with a stiff suspension action due to the limited travel of the front end. Praise was sung for the impressive powerband of the tiny engine, which combined adequate midrange with a shrieking top end rush once the exhaust valve opened between 8000 and 12000 rpm. While not torquey engines by any stretch, Gilera 125s were noted for being slightly more tractable than their competition. The reviews are underwhelming for those expecting some far-fetched oddball machine that behaves like nothing else. There is a certain strained quality to the prose that conveys the reviewer’s apparent disappointment with how ordinary the CX was on the road, like they are desperately trying to find a way to make it sound as cool as it looks. It’s not that the CX was completely underwhelming; it was a good bike, but it felt far more conventional than the styling suggested.

While the CX garnered more than its fair share of attention due to its radical styling, it wasn’t particularly popular. Funky looks and nifty front end aside, it performed like the sister Crono model, but was slightly slower and cost more money. Bad formula for a sales success, particularly when you are trying to appeal to speed-craving teenage punks who are more likely to gravitate towards the sexy race-replica with the extra bragging points on the spec sheet rather than the avante-garde styling exercise. It probably didn’t help that popular opinion of the CX varied between “incredibly cool” and “tragically ugly”.

Thus production of the CX125 was discontinued after less than a year and only 1000 examples, about 500 of which were allocated to the Italian home market. Even then there was enough leftover stock for the CX to be sold “new” until 1993, when Piaggio pulled the plug on the Arcore factory, moving the operation to Pontedera and discontinuing Gilera’s motorcycle production. After 1993 Gilera was limited to producing scooters of various descriptions and displacements, which they continue to do today. They did return to racing, winning the 2001 125 GP and 2008 250 GP championships, but the production of street motorcycles was over. A few promising concepts were unveiled in the 2000s that suggested a possible comeback, but they all came to nought – the 2002 Supersport 600 turned out to be vapourware, while a proprietary 839cc V-twin design was poached by Aprilia. It seems Piaggio has developed a reputation for stifling interesting brands and cool models – just ask the Moto Guzzi die hards about all those new sport models they don’t have, or check out the latest (nonexistent) lineup of Laverdas. Sad though it might be, passion doesn’t pay the bills – scooter sales do.

Today hot learner specials like the SP, Crono and CX125 are a dying breed. Increasingly strict emissions laws are putting the squeeze on remaining two-stroke designs, and most companies have abandoned smokers to focus on four-stroke designs, which are far cleaner and more reliable (at the expense of about, oh, 60% of the power). There are a few holdouts that have managed to make two-stroke 125s clean enough to meet Euro III specs (the Aprilia RS125 and Cagiva Mito SP525 being the most notable), but it seems that the future is in four-strokes, much like it was with larger displacement machines in the 1990s.

The Gilera CX125 was a major gamble from a company that was riding high on a string of successes that didn’t pay off in the showrooms – a bold move that is unlikely to ever be seen again, particularly in the accessible price point that the CX targeted. While aesthetically daring, the CX was remarkably straightforward under the skin and far less advanced than its space-age styling suggested. Success or not, the CX was an innovative product produced by an interesting motorcycle company that has since been castrated in the most humiliating way possible: having its once-proud name emblazoned on a series of scooters.