Gilera Nuovo Saturno 350, Part 3

Stu Thomson’s rebuild of this unusual single-cylinder Italian sportbike continues. This time he addresses some electrical issues and moves on to the wheels, suspension and preparation for paint… Electrical items on the Saturno are fairly standard for the period, 3-phse alternator, 180W, regulator-rectifier and CDI electronic ignition triggered from the alternator rotor. There’s also a separate rev-limiter box which has…

Gilera Nuovo Saturno 350, Part 1

Stu Thomson has a knack for finding unusual Italian lightweights, and this time he’s secured a dohc water-cooled single-cylinder sportbike. It’s one of the supermono café racers which were so popular back in the late 1980s / early 1990s. While a few 500s were imported into the UK, the smaller 350s were shipped straight to Japan, and now they’re reaching…

Classic Techniques: practical painting

There’s a moment in every bike’s life when its paintwork needs a bit of a refresh – but you don’t want to go to the expense and extent of a full-blown professional makeover. Bob Pickett set to with the sandpaper and spray cans… Regular readers may well recognise this particular Morini 3½, which appeared many times on the original RealClassic…