Gilera Rondine (Piero Taruffi)

The Gilera Rondine (The swallow in Norwegian) was designed by Taruffi, and was very advanced for its time. The model was an inspiration for the next generation of Italian motorcycles, and for the Japanese. The bike, developed with the Caproni wind tunnel, was entirely faired, with a large stabilising rear fin and a made-to-measure frame. The bike also had a supercharged car based engine, a longer frame and modified wheels, while the pistons were adapted for fuelling by alcohol. The record attempt took place between the 80th and 82nd kilometres of the Bergamo-Brescia lap. Piero Taruffi reached an average of 274.181 km/h: the absolute record was broken, with a single regret: at just 45 thousands of a second over the speed of Fernihough (Brough Superior), the record was valid for the 500 and the 750 classes, but not the 1000.

With the use of a supercharger, the Rondine produced 80 HP at 9000 rpm, very high for that time. The Rondine had many successes, such as the race Milan-Tarente in 1938 and the European sidecar race of 1939 where speeds of 180 km/h were reached. The Rondine has become famous with the record of Piero Taruffi; in 1935 he reached the speed of 244.5 km/h with an unfaired model of the Rondine, and in 1937 he reached the speed of 274.2 km/h with the faired "Carenata" model.

Specifications: 4-cylinder 4 stroke, compression ratio 7.2-7.5:1, liquid cooled, 492 cc (52 x 58 mm), DOHC driven by cog-wheels, Weber carburetteurs and a Roots supercharger, gears on primary, chain-driven second, Suspensions: parallelogram shaped in pressed steel in front, oscillating fork with horizontal springs at the rear, front tyre 3.00 x 21" back tyre 3.25 x 20", tank 22 litres, mass 180 kg, maximum speed 220 km/h.