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Cycle World Show.. New Aprilia, Long
- Subject: Cycle World Show.. New Aprilia, Long
- From: Erik Miner <Axeis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 16:41:31 -0500
Well I went with the Wife and Son to the Cycle World show tonight in
Philly and I've got to say the new Aprilia RST 1000 Futura is
STUNNING.. Apart from the lame seat which is being changed ( they had
pictures of the new design) the bike is totally fabulous. The
attention to detail is tremendous, the metal work, frame welds,
fasteners, just the over all fit and finish was exemplary (and these
were pre production models! ) The styling is very angular and modern,
not over the top, but very much in a form follows function sort of
way. The gorgeous triple H7 beam headlight that flows into the
windscreen is just one example. The bike has numerous very nice
touches like the seat lock being located on the dash, the fuel cap
off set to the right so the bike can be fully fueled while on the
side stand,( it comes with a center stand) the hard bag mounts ( I
didn't get to see the actual bags, they didn't have a set) which when
the bags are not mounted are almost totally invisible but are VERY
robust. What else, the under seat exhaust is beautiful as are the
wheels ( ten spokes that blend together to look like five) and the
single sided swing arm. Nice thing with Aprilia's arrangement is that
with the bags off the rear wheel can be taken right off (unlike the
ST that requires removal of several pieces if the bike has bag
mounts) The dash is super cool as are the side view mirrors, no elbow
views, and have the directional signals mounted in the fronts of
them. The suspension is really nice, fully adjustable Sachs rear with
remote pre load adjustment and a Showa inverted Cartridge type fork.
I was a little disappointed that the front fork only offers rebound
and pre load adjustments.. no compression adjustment. But the Aprilia
factory rep did mention that the Ohlins forks from the Mille R would
slip right in :-) Other nice touches, Brembo gold series four piston
brake calipers, with both the hydraulic clutch (nice light pull) and
front brake lever adjustable for 4 positions of reach, and dual side
mounted radiator fans that are designed to pull engine heat AWAY from
the rider. As for as ergonomics the bike seems to have a bit more leg
room than the ST and the bars might be a schooch taller than the ST's
even with the Gen Mar's, overall very comfy. Colors are a very nice
silver, a dark blue which changes at different angles, from a dark
royal blue to almost a purple ( very cool) and an orange red that is
almost like the RS's Lucifer Orange. The Aprilia rep said they may
change this to a more reddish color.. but I hope they don't. Engine
spec's are 113 hp and I believe 72ft lbs of torque with a six speed
gear box. It uses the same 60 degree V twin Rotax built motor with
dual plugs, twin counter balancers, shim under bucket valve's and
Nicacel (sp) plated cylinders as the Mille, except tuned for mid
range punch rather than the Mille's top end rush. Sort of like the ST
as compared to a Daytona. Interestingly the bike uses SAGEM Fi just
like our ST's and RS's ! The rep wasn't sure though if it's an open
loop or closed loop system. I sure hope it's the former so that it
will be tweakable like Triumphs. BMW's Fi is closed loop and lacks
adjustability which sucks. For those that don't know, BMW has had
mucho problems with their Fi which surges due to a lean setup which
CAN"T be adjusted out! The Futura also features a catalytic converter
so all bikes will be CA emissions certified. The rep I spoke with
wouldn't say if these can be removed for better power but I'll bet
that Aprilia offers a performance pipe setup that eliminates these so
that the bike makes the same power as the Falco. Things that I didn't
like? Well not too many. Currently there is no accessory outlet for
electrics but that'll be easy to add, and at least for now no heated
grips option. Also something kind of weird is that there is at
present no way to ADD oil to the bike with out removing a side
panel!! ( you can visually check the level) The Aprilia rep did say
that Aprilia is re-designing this ( these were running pre production
models) so the production models will address this ( along with the
re-designed seat) The only thing of course ( and the most important)
that remains to be seen is how the bike rides. The Triumph triple is
a fantastic motor for it's combination of torque and smoothness I
don't know if the Aprilia's V twin will be smooth enough for a real
long distance mount but I'm looking to forward to trying one!
Availability is slated for March-April with the initial shipment to
the USA of 500 units. Although the Aprilia rep did say if( and when)
these sell out Aprilia has a 60-90 day turn time to the US for more
product. Retail price is $12,999.00 with bags.
Triumph was of course there with the big black truck. On display was
the ) 01 RS in black Looks really nice. They had a BRG ST I really
like the Green , prolly would have bought the BRG instead of my black
ST if it was available in 99. The new Bonnie is really cool, small
light, I'll bet it is a hoot to ride. The 01 Daytona is really nice
in the new blue and I've gotta tell ya I think the "pink" Speed T is
a real head turner. All in all a lot of traffic all around the
Triumph display. I did get a chance to meet with the factory tech guy
" Shell Barr" I thinks his name is. Asked about the sender problems,
in a nice way, and believe me, they REALLY wish Triumph can get this
sorted. He did mention that "so far" the newest senders aren't
leaking and hopes that apart from a few that don't read correctly (
seems that some are just bad and either work right or just don't read
right) that the leaking dilemma is solved. As for the rest of the
show well I didn't have as much time to look at the other stuff as
I'd have liked. BMW had their usual big, classy display.. nothing new
really. The Asian makes had all of their toys. A couple of stand
outs: The new Yamaha FZ-R1 looks really slick, very muscular and
trick. I asked the Yamaha rep about the FZR 1300 sport tourer and
when, and if it'll make it to the US, he hopes as a 02 model. The
new Suzuki GSXR 1000 seems to be a monster, size of a 750 more punch
and lighter than a Yamaha R1. I also cornered the Honda rep about a
new ST 1100 and got the same old shrug, but he did say that since the
new Wing ( which had lots of people all over it) is done, and Honda
is finished with it's 2nd year of it's three year new model plan that
well.. ahh , maybe...
So all in all a great show, saw a lot of friends, wife even had fun,
she thought the Aprilia scooters were really neat.. and gave me
permission for a Honda XR-50 for the kid ( there may be hope for her
yet :-) Bryan my 7 yr old got to play MX video games to his hearts
content, and generally stayed out of trouble. All in all a great show
and a great way to end the day, especially since it started out at
the dentist's in the morning, getting a root canal!
Erik
Hot Dawg
99ST "Shadow"
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