All Exclusive Tests – First laps of the wheels on the handlebars of the GIMA 125! – Used GIMA

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First laps of the wheels on the GIMA 125 !

All Exclusive Tests - First laps of the wheels on the handlebars of the GIMA 125! - Used GIMA

Hilario Gonzales’ bet (relaunching the production of the GIMA 125 cc of our grandfathers, victorious at the Bol d’Or 1949) is about to be won! Exclusively, the first turns of the wheel on the handlebars of this formidable time machine…

Unearthed this fall in a corner of the Mondial de la Porte de Versailles (read), the new GIMA 125 cc is about to be marketed !

"The start of production is expected to start next week"announces Hilario Gonzales, the man behind this crazy and brilliant bet: to reproduce identically but at current standards the GIMA 125 cc from the 1940s, which was notably illustrated by his victory at the Bol d ‘ Gold 1949…
Peschadoires, 05/02/2006 – First laps on the handlebars of the new GIMA 125 cc. Video Site.

After many twists and turns – like the personal and professional career of this son of a Spanish immigrant, who landed in Clermont-Ferrand at the age of three – Hilario Gonzales is now relieved and satisfied..

"We lived a nightmare, it couldn’t happen worse", he sums up … But neither the theft of the motorcycle in Italy, which led to schedule delays making it impossible to pass the Euro2 tests, nor the countless"sticks that we were put in the wheels", nor the difficulties inherent in an industrial project of this magnitude have overcome this tireless and passionate entrepreneur…
Peschadoires, 05/02/2006 – Jean-Claude Ombret, GB Meca workshop manager. Video Interview Site.

"I had picked up a vintage GIMA that I was planning to retype for my son", recalls Hilario:"then I wanted to produce it again with the machines of my mechanical parts company, GB Meca"…

"Several times I almost let everything fall", he admits today, lighting yet another cigarette,"but I held thanks to all those who believed in us! I would particularly like to thank Jean-Claude Filias and Caroline Vicat of the Banque populaire de Thiers, without whom we would not be where we are today.".

When he learns that there is an exemption for vehicles produced at less than 200 units per year and per model, Hilario takes the machine to Luxembourg to carry out the homologation tests: "they are identical to those of the Euro2 standard", he specifies,"with the exception of the kickstand (without double spring), the fuel cap (without non-return valve) and pollution standards. And the main thing now is that these difficult trials went smoothly !"

The production of the GIMA 125 cc will therefore be limited to 200 units per year in France – 400 numbered and engraved copies are planned for the first two years -, "but nothing prevents us from producing other models in other countries", predicts Hilario already thinking about other displacements: 175, 250, 350 and why not 500 ?

On the basis of Luxcontrol’s homologation tests, the National Certification and Homologation Company, representing the Luxembourg Ministry of Transport, should issue in the coming weeks a homologation certificate valid throughout Europe..

First turns of the wheels !

In Peschadoires, GB Meca headquarters since 1994 and cradle of the new 21st century GIMA, it is therefore with undisguised pride that Jean-Claude Ombret, workshop foreman, puts the contact located on the lighthouse and blackmailed ” a kick start the AMC engine which fitted the machines of the 1940s, reproduced identically except for the bubbling system which has been replaced by a modern oil pump.

Popopopopopop: the low beam comes on automatically and the small mill delicately vibrates the motorcycle, which despite particularly thorough homologation tests having overcome its battery, its rear brake and its stand, shines in its orange dress in the midst of gloomy machine tools…

Once Hilario’s last advice has been assimilated – "the gear selector is on the right foot, the rear brake on the left foot and does not hesitate to make the clutch slip", the moment has come to get to know more about this time machine which, since this unexpected meeting on a stand at the Mondial in the midst of all the traditional commercial noise, has exerted its fascinating power of seduction … Action !

The first passes without problem with a blow of the right heel on the double selector, the small AMC 125 cc obeys without flinching the clutch control – still a little firm on this pre-series model -, and the GIMA gently propels its 113 kg dry out of its cradle…

Direct link with the past

"Emotion sequence", we could have written if the term had not been overused to the disgust by millions of hours of television … But that does not prevent: after barely ten meters at the GIMA handlebars, whose frail vibrations seem to be transmitted to infinity as the heritage of the past is transmitted to future generations, the emotion is particularly great…

Could one imagine a more direct link with the past? Could we hope to find so naturally, as if they had remained comfortably buried in the back of a mechanical workshop, the intact sensations of our grandfathers and the simple pleasure of riding the nose in the wind at 80 km / h? Because the motorcycle offers such a range of sensations that ultimately, trying a Grand Prix RCV on the Sepang circuit (read) or a GIMA 125 in the depths of Puy-de-Dôme is always riding a Motorcycle. With a capital M, for Memoire…

But back to Peschadoires: the second is engaged – forward this time -, then the third, then the fourth, and the little GIMA continues on her way, wriggling like a roach from the top of her 6 little horses, eager to to wander on the small winding departmental roads of which Auvergne is full … Comfortably installed on the large single-seater saddle (a second equally comfortable and approved saddle can be attached to the rear), we can only agree with she !

Of course, the left stalk (turn signals, full headlights, flashes of headlights and horn) is still a little far from the thumb and almost obliges to let go of the handle, "but we can bring it closer", promises Jean-Claude Ombret. It will also be necessary to be particularly vigilant in urban traffic, when in the first emergency situation the right foot will instinctively look for the rear brake but will actually shift up a gear! braking (170 mm front and rear drums), it will indeed be necessary to learn to compose with the left foot and the right hand.

But without a doubt, the new GIMA 125 cc has everything to be a hit with bikers in 2006, from the Parisian BoBo to the provincial grandfather, including lovers of beautiful objects and "scooterists" tired of going to the pump. : the announced consumption of the small GIMA is "between 2.5 and 3 liters per 100", considers the foreman.

At 4,200 euros retail price (4,186 to be precise), the GIMA 125 cc offers its owner not only a formidable time machine but also an original motorcycle (200 copies maximum per year!), An almost unique object. most of the parts of which are made in France (apart from the front optics in Belgium, the rear light in Italy, the indicators in Spain or the mirrors in Taiwan to the chagrin of Hilario who does not despair of finding a French manufacturer), trendy (in phase with the current neo-classical current), timeless and above all furiously pleasant !

Several accessories will be available as an option – knee guards, windscreen, side bags – although it is natural that the GIMA exudes the most charm..

The first machines should be delivered "from the end of July"and customers will even be able to choose their color at no additional cost (except metallic color). For the moment, out of the hundred or so orders registered, the colors most requested are orange, black, burgundy and beige. A famous brand of champagne in would have even ordered about twenty to offer his customers…

Moto-Net advice: do not delay in placing your order because there may not be something for everyone, especially after the Moto Legends Cups have passed on June 3 and 4 in Dijon-Prenois where the GIMA should be at new presented to the public.

Contact: GB Meca
Chemin Torrents Pont de Dore, 63920 PESCHADOIRES.
Phone. : 04.73.51.37.07. Fax: 04.73.51.37.05.
E-mail : .

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