Peter’s Italian obsession for smaller exotica – you can ride them hard!
MAIN PIC: Peter Barker with his Aprilia RS250.
Italian beauty comes in all shapes and sizes
WHEN motorcycle enthusiasts start talking about Italian bikes, the conversation almost always concentrates on big-capacity sports bikes.
It’s the green-frame 750 Super Sport, Mike Hailwood Replica, Moto Guzzi LeMans or Ducati-powered Bimota that usually make people go weak in the knees.
But not Peter Barker.
“They just don’t float my boat,” he says.
“I like the smaller bikes. They go plenty fast, and you can ride them hard!”
Peter says his Gilera CX125 is good for “almost 160kmh”- a product of its featherweight 120kg and near-on 30hp powerplant. The CX125 was a radical, futuristic small-bore two stroke created by Gilera in the early 1990s. It featured a single-side swing arm and a single fork front end, plus aerodynamically efficient full bodywork. Testers at the time reckoned it looked like a fighter jet without wings.
Another rare machine in his collection is a stunning “honey-I-shrunk-the-916” Cagiva Mito 125. Both bikes were designed by Massimo Tamburini, and both were launched in 1994 to universal applause. At the time, Ducati was owned by Cagiva and Tamburini was at his impressive peak.
The day we dropped in, Peter also had on hand a spotless Aprilia RS250 — one of our all-time favourite bikes — and a pair of more modern Aprilias.
Perth’s biennial Italian motorcycle show, the Moto Italiane Ovest, always attracts a wide range of machinery. The event will be held this year at Garvey Park in the Perth suburb of Ascot, on Sunday October 18 from 9am to 3.30pm.
All Italian bikes are welcome, and you can register on the day.
This year’s event is even more special than usual, with 2026 marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ducati Owners Club of WA and the 100th anniversary of the founding of Ducati.
