500 Marte

The Marte 500, designed by the engineer Salmaggi for military use, was Gilera‚s last 500 cc side valve motorcycle. Its engine combined the long stroke single cylinder with a crankcase that included a four speed change. The chief feature of this model was secondary transmission by drive shaft. It also had a shock absorber-equipped rear suspension. Tested by the Wehrmacht High Command, which pointed out its defects (low power, too heavy), it was nevertheless built in 1942 with a civilian version put on the market at the end of the war. This used spare parts remaining in the warehouse (222 units of the civilian version in 1946, 158 of the military model transformed into a civilian version by Gilera).