Forgotten treasure

Chatting to an Italian friend the other week, he was telling me he fancied buying another old bike, but perhaps a machine a bit different to the older singles he has usually ridden. Something Italian though – perhaps a twin...

Having just tested a nice Italian twin recently, I told him it was quite a revelation in terms of its construction and usability. So he started rattling off the usual possibilities – because if you think Italian twin, what bikes would be the first you’d come up with? Moto Guzzi Le Mans 850? Morini 500 perhaps. Or of course the iconic bevel drive Ducati twins. Yes, all twins of course, I said to him, but not the one I’ve ridden. And he really couldn’t imagine what I was talking about, and to be honest, most of us wouldn’t. Even if you Google ‘Gilera 300’ today, you’ll get plenty of info about a modern scooter from a few years ago, and not a classic motorcycle.

Yet, the Gilera B300 was an Italian designed twin cylinder, produced for over 16 years and in over 8000 examples, and was a sales success at home in Italy and in the USA in particular, and it made its debut before any Ducati, Guzzi or Morini twin even existed.

Thanks to my father-in-law, Alfonso, I got