Cruiser (motorcycle) Cruiser (motorcycle) A cruiser is a motorcycle in the style of American machines from the 1930s to the early 1960s, including those made by Harley-Davidson, Indian, Excelsior and Henderson. The riding position usually places the feet forward and the hands up, with the spine erect or leaning back slightly. Typical cruiser engines emphasize easy rideability and shifting, with plenty of low-end torque but not necessarily large amounts of horsepower, traditionally V-twins but inline engines have become more common. Cruisers with greater performance than usual, including more horsepower, stronger brakes and better suspension, are often called power cruisers. Japanese companies began
Gilera Gilera Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera. In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio. In 1935, Gilera acquired rights to the Rondine four-cylinder engine. It was at that time, the worlds most powerful engine with . The first across-the-frame 4-cylinder motorcycle was the racer 1939 Gilera 500 Rondine. It had double-over-head camshafts, forced-inducting supercharger and was water-cooled, producing @9000 and had a top speed of . This formed the basis for Gilera' s racing machines for nearly forty years. From the mid-thirties, Gilera developed a range of four-stroke engine machines. The