Gilera: Gets Shown Off In Falls Village

Motorcycles weren’t plentiful at the recent Falls Village Car & Motorcycle Show, so it would be understandable if a spectator overlooked David Chase Parks’ exquisite and rare 1958 Gilera 175 Extra parked amidst the dozens of classic cars. It would be equally understandable if someone who did spot the petite dark red and black bike had never heard of Gilera.

Despite a history dating back to 1909 in Italy, Gilera isn’t well-known in this country simply because Gileras have never been sold here under that brand name, and the 175 Extra was a race-style model with a low handlebar that wasn’t produced in excessive numbers.

“My guess is there are very few of them in Italy and there is only this one in the United States. I don’t know the total production number,” said Parks of the 175 Extra. “This one was meant for sport, so it would not have sold very many in Italy. I’ve never seen another one.”

Parks, who has lived in Falls Village, CT for five years and who works as head of security at Infinity Music Hall & Bistro in Norfolk, has owned the Gilera since 1980. “My bike came over in 1958. It was brought over privately with two other bikes with different sizes,” he said.

What happened to those other Gileras in that shipment isn’t known. “I’ve never been able to find the other two. They seem to be lost to time,” Parks said. He does know at all times the location of his 175 Extra. That’s because he rarely ventures out on it. “Sometimes it will not see the light of day for several years,” he said.

While other vintage motorcycles may be more valuable, say a Vincent or a Brough Superior, they are more common in the U.S. than the Gilera. Parks said a comment that he often hears from gawkers when he does take it out is that “it’s the only one they’ve ever seen.”

What is it like to ride? “It’s not fast, it’s a small motor, it’s 55 years old, it’s all original, so it’s something to be enjoyed driving around but it’s not something that gets driven fast or to a race track. It shifts on the wrong side and in the reverse pattern,” Parks said. Unlike the world-standardized motorcycles of today, the Gilera’s shifter is on the right side and the shifting sequence on its four-speed transmission is “one up, three down.”

(For non-riders, motorcycles now have the shifter on the left side and the normal shifting pattern requires one downward click of the shifter to get into first gear, followed by upwards clicks to get into subsequent gears.)

The 61-year-old Parks grew up owning European bikes, so transitioning isn’t difficult. A 50cc Harley-Davidson M50 (made by Aermacchi in Italy with a left grip shifter) was his first bike. He acquired it as well as a Triumph TR3 car within a month of his 16^th birthday. He followed it with a string of BSAs, Ducatis and BMWs. Over the years, he’s owned more than 70 motorcycles and toured Europe and Africa on two wheels. In addition to the Gilera, he currently owns a 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 XC and a 2009 Kawasaki KLR 650.

What Parks relishes about the single cylinder, four-stroke 175 Extra is its overall look, beginning with the sweeping “pedestrian slicer” with the Gilera name that sits atop the front fender.  “The shape of the Gilera on the front fender, the shape of the key, the details of the paintwork makes for a beautiful flow. Very Italian in design,” he said. “When people look at it they always seem to have the same feeling and look on their face. They talk about what a charmer it is.”

Gilera was founded in 1909 in Arcore, Italy by Giuseppe Gilera and purchased in 1969 by Piaggio, a company  best known for making Vespa Scooters. Gilera’s biggest claim to fame came in racing circles when its bikes won six Moto GP titles in the 500cc class in the early and mid-1950s. Piaggio still builds Gileras, but the brand is now limited to scooters that are sold most everywhere on the planet except North America.

While Gileras have never been sold in the U.S. under the Gilera name, some 106cc and 124cc models were sold here in the late 1960s under the Sears name. “They re-badged Gileras and sold them through the catalog,” Parks said.

He owns the real thing, though. “It really appeals to the collectors and those to go to motorcycle shows,” he said. If you happened to attend the Falls Village show and noticed it, mark it up as a once in a lifetime experience.

(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on July 20, 2013.)