Superb Gilera MX125 Barn Find

The Italians have always been well known for making bonkers 125cc bikes, and Gilera are no different by creating some very cool 125cc street bikes and scooters. This little Gilera MX125 is complete, however doesn’t have any documents and no attempt has been made to start it. There are no documents included with the bike, and appears never to have been registered for the UK.

Gilera was founded in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera, and like many of the Italian brands was purchased by the Piaggio group in the 1960s, however still continued to produce bikes under the Gilera brand. Like Cagiva, Gilera produced some beautiful and innovative 125cc bikes, which made many of the Japanese bikes look dull by comparison.

Whilst everything appears to be complete for this MX125, this probably isn’t a restoration for a novice given the amount of work required and hard to find items which may require reconditioning or replacing. Being a 2 stroke motor should make a rebuild easier if the gearbox is in good order, with no camshafts and valves to worry about. The age and temperament of the people who typically bought these bikes new often lead to being thrashed and crashed, so inspect everything carefully before deciding if further work is required.

Getting your workshop organised for you Gilera MX125

You you peel back the fairings on these little bikes, the mechanicals are fairly straight forward to understand and work on. The engine can be removed easily and worked on in a small area, whilst the chassis is broken down and you start your regular swearing sessions at the Italian electrics! A weak point on a bike of this type and age will generally be wiring and electrics, which will be dry with corroded terminals.

Getting your workshop organised to undertake a project of this nature is always important, whilst the mechanicals are simple, some specialist tools may be required. Preparation is important, and trying to remove bolts which have been untouched for 20 years with gung-ho regular tools usually results in snapped bolts and more work.

We recently created a workshop article which could provide some inspiration and ideas, which you can check out here.

Happy bidding on the Gilera MX125

If you are bidding on this interesting barn find, we wish you all the best of luck. Please let us know what your plans are for the bike, hopefully a full restoration and not a donor bike. We don’t see enough of these pocket rockets on the road these days, and it would be nice to someone ripping up the back roads like they’re 17 years old again.

Ride safe,

Al (Barnfindmotorcycle.com)