Hi Mike,
I can't give a definitive answer but my thoughts would be the 'basic' differences were included in production in Italy but no doubt there would have been a lot of Japanese owner changes to the 'production' bikes they purchased. The Itoh Organisation in Japan saw a need for a cafe racer style 500cc single bike for a niche market in Japan. They sort manufacturers in Europe to manufacture their basic idea and (to the best of my knowledge/memory) Gilera were the only manufacturer that actually quoted. Gilera already had a suitable engine (the 350/500 single) which was produced for their Dakota model, so the deal was made. The Saturno name was used in recognition of the older Gilera Saturno/Corsa/Sanremo which apart from being a touring road bike, morphed into a serious racer with it's own separate factory race workshop (headed by Luigi Gilera (brother of the owner and himself a competitor with Saturno Sidecars). Junior racers were allocated a factory Saturno with the idea of moving up the the four cylinder world beaters later. Several like Umberto Masetti and Libero Liberati also used a Saturno at certain circuits where the handling was more suited than the 4 cylinder and gave a better chance of winning. I digress, but it's the joys of being a Gileristi, so forgive my ramblings. In the late 90s early 00s, in the UK there were two main companies (one in Kent and one in Bristol) that specialised in importing Saturnos from Japan. If you enjoy yours as much as I enjoyed mine, then you are a winner already. Paul
