Description
Gillet 1930 “Competition Bol d’Or” 498 cc OHV twin port frame & engine # 50773
The first Gillets – built in Herstal near Liege, Belgium – were designed by Fernand Laguesse and brought out in 1920.
They were unit-design 300cc two-strokes with belt drive.
The design was simple, rugged and reliable and soon the company was an established and successful motorcycle manufacturer. Many long-distance runs were made and the two-strokes were very prominent in races.
From June to December 1926 two Frenchmen rode their Gillets for a distance of 25,000 kilometres and covered almost all continents of the world.
No real problems occurred with the machines and from December 1926 the venerable two-stroke was named the “Tour du Monde”.
A 84 x 90 sporting 500 cc four-stroke, the “Supersport” was designed by brother Armand Laguesse and marketed at the end of 1926.
In 1928 some models got saddle tanks and a racing version of the “Supersport” model broke many world records at the Monthlery track in France.
Some new features for model year 1929 were saddle tanks for all models, the enclosure of the pushrods and rockers and the repositioning of the gear change rod to the nearside of the engine.
This change necessitated a cutaway in the oil tank.
There were three versions of the 500 cc OHV model now: the single port “Sport”, the twin port “Supersport” and the twin port “Competition”.
In 1929 Gillet racer Vroonen won the French 24-hour Bol d’Or endurance race for the second consecutive time and the factory decided to bring out an improved Competition model for 1930.
This machine was essentially a production racer.
It featured a modified frame, a larger petrol tank with racing type filler cap and a cylinder head that was connected with four rods to the crankcase.
This impressive Gillet production racer comes complete with O.S. speedometer, leather topped saddle & bum pad and steering damper.
She’s in excellent condition throughout.