Aprilia

Aprilia’s Dorsoduro line added to its stable for MY17 with the all-new Dorsoduro 900. This supermoto-inspired ride serves as the successor to the popular Dorsoduro 750. It brings over 95-horsepower to the table with a ride-by-wire throttle, variable power delivery, traction control and ABS to help riders cope with the extra power. Not only does this show a certain amount of model-maturity, but it promises some security and safety for those who would use it in their day-to-day riding. Officially billed as a sportbike-supermotard hybrid, the factory also refers to it as “the fun bike.”

As much fun as it is to see all the new bikes that are already slated for production and release, it’s the [concept bikes-<mot297] that really do it for me. The EICMA show presents a number of such items, so join me while I give a run-down of some of my favorites.

Continue reading for a look at my favorite concept bikes from 2018 EICMA.

In a world where outright horsepower and straight-line speed hold center stage, these machines have blazed the streets and have swept us off our feet in the most fashionable ways possible. Built for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering, they come equipped with components from the industry’s best names to achieve a little more speed every single time they get on the paved asphalt.

With the emphasis of a sport bike being on performance, there are certain design elements that most motorcycles of this type will share. Rider ergonomics favor function. Apart form the high performing engines, they are built to cut through the air as smoothly as possible. High tech and expensive materials are often used on sport bikes to reduce weight.

The world of motorcycles is looking at a future where the air is going to help them win races on the track and off it. Aprilia just gave us the world’s first production superbike with aerodynamic winglets. Underpinned by the legendary RSV4 architecture, the new machine will be a limited edition affair of just 125 units, and all of them are heading to North America.

Called as the Aprilia RSV4 RF LE (RF Limited Edition), the carbon fiber winglets on this will change the way future superbikes will look like. It was launched at the GP of Americas in Austin, Texas a couple of months back, and is here to serve a purpose in its life – help Aprilia get on with the new regulations in the WSBK championships.

In 2013, Aprilia launched its first mass oriented scooter, the SR Motard 50 under the "supermoto-inspired" range. This was an ‘out-of-the-blues’ decision for a superbike maker like Aprilia, courtesy of its parent company, Piaggio, thus targeting itself towards a niche younger audience. However, with the SR 150, Aprilia has widened its base and has created an all-new segment of performance-oriented scooters for the mass market buyers although it hasn’t come onto US shores yet.

Touted to be the sporty yet fun-to-ride scooter, Aprilia has launched a limited edition version of the scooter titled as SR 150 RACE for its Asian markets, which comes with some cosmetic as well as mechanical changes over its regular version. Here’s is a comprehensive review of the all-new Aprilia SR 150 Race:-

The world from today is going to change because Aprilia just gave us the world’s first production superbike with aerodynamic winglets. Underpinned by the legendary RSV4 architecture, the new machine will be a limited edition affair of just 125 units, and all of them are heading to North America.

Called as the Aprilia RSV4 RF LE (RF Limited Edition), the carbon fiber winglets on this will change the way future superbikes will look like. It was launched at the GP of Americas in Austin, Texas and will come with a price tag of $24,499, a $1,000 premium over the highly acclaimed Aprilia RSV4 RF.

The Aprilia RSV4 has been a well-accomplished name in the circuits of SBK championship, where the motorcycle has already recorded seven world titles in a span of six years. It is this testimony of the RSV4, which has made it quite unshakable when it comes to consistency in the liter class supersport segment.

For 2018, Aprilia North America is bringing a limited edition of the RSV4 to be launched on 22 April at the GP of Americas in Austin, Texas. It’s called the RSV4 RF LE and will be the world’s first road-legal production superbike that will come equipped with aerodynamic winglets.

The Aprilia RSV4 has been a well-accomplished name in the circuits of SBK championship, where the motorcycle has already recorded seven world titles in a span of six years. It is this testimony of the RSV4, which has made it quite unshakable when it comes to consistency in the liter class supersport segment.

Now, the same V four soul has made its way into another Italian body to go win races. The Italian we are talking about here is not another two-wheeled dreamer but is a Formula X single seater race car called the Wolf GB08 Thunder. Running on the 65 degree V4 machine for the first time, the race car will run at the Italian Sport Prototype Championship 2018.

Carbon fiber has been considered the most exotic material ever since McLaren first made use of it to build a monocoque chassis for its Formula One car, 35 years ago. And so has Rolf van der Heide, a Dutch engineer who had worked for Spyker and Carver (makers of three-wheeled road machines) in the past. He saw endless possibilities of carbon fiber composites and went on to create the motorcycle of his dreams with it.

With his brother Sjors handling the business end and industrial designer Michiel, the ‘Gentleman’s Racer’ was born. With a 100% carbon fiber monocoque chassis, a 100% carbon fiber swingarm, a 100% carbon fiber front end and a patent-pending revolutionary designed suspension system, we see this creation as a genesis of a new breed of humankind. One who is not scared witless to venture into the realm reserved only for the upper-crust.

I know what you are thinking. Companies like Honda, BMW, Suzuki, and Peugeot are already making both cars and motorcycles. They have successfully managed both the shows and show no signs of aging or trouble to either one because of the other. Yamaha is also trying to get a piece of the four-wheeled world with ‘The Sports Ride’ concept.

But what if exotic motorcycle makers like Ducati, Harley, Triumph, Aprilia, Kawasaki, and Vespa made cars? It would be awesome, of course, but how would they look like? Well, we might have an answer to that. Thanks to the chaps at Jennings Harley-Davidson, a dealership with shops in both Leeds and Gateshead in the UK. They are at it again.

They’ve designed six absolutely bonkers automobile concepts that distill visual cues and character of what the company actually makes.

Aprilia Racing christened its ‘Factory Works’ project which allowed customers to get access to their special, high-performance machines that begins life as the extraordinary 201 hp RSV4. It was the single most exciting thing to come out of the 2015 EICMA convention which got every moto aphrodisiac’s blood racing.

For the 2017 EICMA stand, Aprilia brings in the 2018 version of the RSV4 superbike that has been now primmed up to 215 hp, courtesy a weight saving program and some fancy equipment kits altering the engine components and bodywork.

I gotta say, after watching the mindless lemmings wandering into traffic while playing Pokeyman on their phones, I didn’t have a very favorable opinion of the whole augmented-reality thing, and couldn’t really imagine it going beyond chasing imaginary creatures around on real terrain. Aprilia, in cooperation with Realmore, has just illustrated for me the error in my thinking. Introducing the DAQRI Smart Helmet; an AR device meant as an aid for the factory’s race mechanics. In fact, said mechanics will be debuting their fancy bucket at the San Marino MotoGP this very weekend.

Continue reading for more on the Augmented Reality helmet.

The Aprilia RSV4 has been a well-accomplished name in the circuits of SBK championship, where the motorcycle has already recorded seven world titles in a span of six years. It is this testimony of the RSV4, which has made it quite unshakable when it comes to consistency in the litre class supersport segment.

Now, the same V four soul has made its way into another Israeli to go win races. The Israeli we are talking about here is not another two-wheeled dreamer but is a Formula X single seater race car called the Griiip G1. Running on the 65 degree V4 machine for the first time, the race car triumphed at the Varano De’Melegari circuit despite falling ten positions behind when the race started.

Aprilia has been firing on all pistons to give the world class leading performance motorcycles that make the riding aphrodisiac’s hearts racing. And as with them trying to stay with changing times, they add new updated models every year to their existing lineup to keep things fresh. Although they never made many headways before, it seems like they have now learnt things the hard way and have been busy making bikes that speak for themselves and beam technical prowess.

First seen on the EICMA 2016 stage, Aprilia launched the updated model of its adventure crossover, Dorsoduro 900. Dubbed as a “True Thrill Generator”, Aprilia have been making the Dorsoduro crossover for some time now, and it used to run on a 750cc before. Now, Noale has updated the part-supermortard-part-sportbike motorcycle with an all-new 900cc machine that also makes a scene in the Shiver 900.

With more modern technologies and features embedded into a fine tune chassis built with the experience of the Aprilia Racing Department, there isn’t much that could go wrong with this adventure crossover here. New electronics, refined mechanics and an excellent chassis structure sees this motorcycle take new levels of riding pleasure and we are here to find out how.

Aprilia has been firing on all pistons to give the world class leading performance motorcycles that make the riding aphrodisiac’s hearts racing. And as with them trying to stay with changing times, they add new updated models every year to their existing lineup to keep things fresh. Although they never made many headways before, it seems like they have now learnt things the hard way and have been busy making bikes that speak for themselves and beam technical prowess.

First seen on the EICMA 2016 stage, Aprilia launched the updated models of its naked streetfighter, Shiver. A 750cc motorcycle first launched in 2007, struggled because of its unearthing looks which were not any more striking than the competition. But now, it seems that Aprilia have given their magic touch to the 2017 edition, and it looks more so ever lively and strong.

It carries a bigger 900 cc engine, a jump of a lethal 150 cc from the earlier models and they sit just below the Italian brand’s flagship models RSV4 RF and Tuono V4 1100 RF. New electronics, refined mechanics and an excellent chassis structure sees this motorcycle take new levels of riding pleasure and we are here to find out how.

Aprilia serves as the large-displacement sportbike/race branch for Piaggio, and as such, put out a lot in the way of supermoto and stoplight-burner bikes. The subject for today is not one of those, but rather an on-/off-road bike that carries that unmistakable Italian style with a veritable alphabet soup of fancy electronic subsystems. Aptly named the Caponord 1200 Rally, this ride straddles the line between race-tastic ability and real-world practicality with an eye to long-distance comfort. A 1200 cc mill pushes the thing with ride-by-wire throttle control, variable rider modes and cruise control, plus dynamic suspension and traction control to boot. As one of the few non-crotchrocket bikes made by the company, the Rally stands out as something of an anomaly, but I see no sign that Aprilia is in over its head with this design. Don’t believe it? Join me for my walk-through and I’ll show you what I mean.

Continue reading for my review of the Aprilia Caponord Rally.

Introduced to the North American market in 2013 for the 2104 model year, Aprilia calls the SR Motard 50 "supermoto-inspired" and I’m sure it was, hence the clever model name. I can see the influence in the design: the aggressive front fairing, minimal body panels revealing the mechanicals, the exposed front forks, insect-tail rear end and race-tastic graphics. It even sounds like it could manage in the dirt, but that’s really as far as it goes. It’s a supermoto theme on a 50 cc scooter. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I’m just calling it as I see it. That aside, let’s look at the SR Motard 50 as a spiffy little sports scooter and see what we can make of it.

Continue reading for my review of the Aprilia SR Motard 50.