This is what to expect from owing a Gilera 180 SP. It will most likely spend a fair amount of time at your local Scooter shop in various states of disassembly. If you have a back up scooter this will not be too painful, however if you don’t, you may want to kill yourself as it can become somewhat frequent. Now don’t get me wrong, some owners who ride slowly and carefully (pointless if you own this scooter) will probably have just a few small problems. However, if it is ridden in anger as it should be, it will break…a lot. The best advice I can give is simple, make sure this is not your only transport option as they are quite old now and really suited as a second project scooter for fun. They are a bit like the AH-64 Apache helicopter which often needs two donors to maintain one operational unit.

What will break? Here’s a few problem areas. Transmissions will break a lot as they really aren’t built to handle the power, the small sub fuel tank is known to crack and sometimes cause fires and like some older Italian models the electrics can be somewhat erratic. You may also have a problem with the front headlight mounting brackets as they are prone to cracking. On a positive note the brakes are some of the best examples on any scooter and are both strong and reliable. In fact the Gilera Runner 180 feels like it stops faster than any motorbike I’ve ever ridden, this is something we’ll test in the future. The suspension is also top notch with modern upside down forks up front on later models. The Runner is also generally well put together and its build quality is somewhat higher than most scooters. The overall impression when riding is one of strength because of the unique frame design giving the scooter more torsional rigidity.