Blue Aprilia Mana 850cc Motorcycles, page #8

Moto blog

For sale? Zero-mile Aprilia RS250 Cup

This zero-mile Aprilia RS250 Cup belongs to a former colleague of mine and he might be willing to sell it. Originally intended for the USA where they ran an RS250 Cup series, this bike was purchased from New Orleans and then shipped to the UK, where it's now in storage just outside of London. Due to the fact it's never turned a wheel in anger, it's something of a one-off.

Save And Ride Sales Event For Select Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, And Vespa Models

During the Save and Ride sales event, from now until February 28, participating Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, and Vespa dealerships are offering savings of up to $1500 on select new, unused, untitled, 2013 and previous model years. See the list below for eligible models. Aprilia Save & Ride Models Shiver 750: savings of $1500 off MSRP of $9,499 RSV4 R APRC ABS: savings of $1000 off MSRP of $14,999 Tuono V4 R: savings of $1000 off MSRP of $13,999 Moto Guzzi Save & Ride Models Norge GT 8V: savings of $1300 off MSRP of $16,290 V7 Special: savings of $1200 off MSRP of $9,190 Stelvio NTX ABS: savings of $1000 off MSRP of $15,990 Piaggio and Vespa Save & Ride Models Piaggio BV 350: savings of $700 off MSRP of $5,699 Vespa LX 150: savings of $500 off MSRP of $4,599 Vespa S 150: savings of $500 off MSRP of $4,499 Vespa LX 50: savings of $300 off MSRP of $3,399 Vespa S 50: savings of $300 off MSRP of $3,299 Piaggio Typhoon 125: savings of $300 off MSRP of $2,699 Piaggio Typhoon 50: savings of $300 off MSRP of $1,899 In addition, all four brands are offering special financing rates of 0.9% for 36 months or 3.9% for 60 months to qualified buyers.

Bahrain track days

A few months ago, expat (and ex racer) John Beddall made contact to ask if I fancied doing some track day instruction out in Bahrain.  After thinking about it for two seconds, flights were booked and a plan was put in place to look after around forty riders for a day at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).  Young Taylor Mac was also recruited to look after any tasty riders that I couldn’t deal with   The Brits out there love their bikes, however, quite a few locals also turned up plus a few others from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most were on high end Superbikes, like S1000s, Panigales and RSV4s but there was also a healthy number R6s and new 675Rs.   Although this fabulous Hermann Tilke designed circuit is around ten years old incredibly it has never hosted a bike race.  The highlight of the year there is F1 but being owned by the Bahrainian Royal family, there is no desperate need for the circuit to operate as a profitable business.  The track reminded me of Qatar but much more interesting as some great undulations have been built into its desert location. We shared the track with Supercars on the day (20mins on/20mins off) and as you might imagine it was betty swollocks for seven hours in the 30 plus temperatures.  As usual there was a few offs with poor old RS1000 Aprilia mounted Andy breaking his femur early in the day.  Two other buddies appeared to swap bikes mid air in another incident but fortunately escaped unhurt.In the evening everyone stayed for an al fresco dinner in the paddock with the craic going on for hours as the Fosters kept flowing.   All in all it was a brilliant trip and it has left me thinking there could be cost effective ways of getting Brits out there for track days next winter.  I'll keep you posted.Cape Town next to make my racing comeback at the Killarney 8 hour on a CBR150 Honda.  Hopefully I can manage the beast, I'll post a full report next week.

Melandri Signs with Aprilia WSBK Team

Marco Melandri has signed a one-year contract to race with Aprilia‘s factory World Superbike team to ride the RSV4 for the 2014 season. The Ravenna, Italy, native will join the returning Sylvain Guintoli, taking the place of Eugene Laverty on the factory team. The move also reunites Melandri with Aprilia; Melandri raced three seasons on an Aprilia RSV250 in the 250cc Grand Prix championship, winning the title in 2002 for his first, and so far, only world title.

EICMA 2013: Aprilia To Enter MotoGP In 2016

Amidst all of the uncertainty with the future of Aprilia’s racing plans, Roberto Colaninno, chairman of the Piaggio Group, which owns Aprilia, confirmed Tuesday at EICMA that the brand was in fact making a full-fledged return to MotoGP in 2016 as a factory team. Colaninno was quoted as saying, “In 2016 Aprilia will return to MotoGP to win and match the success it had in [World] Superbikes.” Aprilia has been going through some turmoil of late when it was announced that technical director Luigi Dall’Igna was jumping ship to rival Ducati. This announcement aims to quell the turmoil and refocus the racing team’s attention.

Q3 2013 US Motorcycle Sales Results

Motorcycle and scooter sales in the U.S. in 2013 remain consistent with last year’s figures, according to data released by the Motorcycle Industry Council. Several manufacturers blamed poor weather for the poor start this year, and the rebounding sales in the third quarter helped to negate the slow sales from earlier in the year.

WSBK 2013: Jerez Race Report

Eugene Laverty did everything he could, scoring a pair of race wins but it was not enough as Tom Sykes rode smartly and conservatively at the season finale in Spain, securing his first ever World Superbike Championship. Sykes landed in Jerez with a 37-point lead over Laverty and a 38-point lead over Sylvain Guintoli. While Laverty battled Marco Melandri to win Race One, Sykes coasted comfortably in third for most of the race to score 16 points, enough to clinch the title.

2014 Aprilia Tuono V4R ABS – First Impressions

Photos: Milagro We’re in the process of testing Aprilia’s upgraded-for-2014 Tuono V4R ABS, but our European correspondent, Tor Sagen, beat us to the punch with the following impressions of the revised Tuono from “V4 day” at the fairly new Italian circuit San Martino del Lago near Cremona (home to Stradivarius). Look for our street-focused review in the next weeks. Ed.

Dall’Igna Out, Albesiano In At Aprilia

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s rumored defection of Luigi Dall’lgna‘s from Aprilia to Ducati comes this morning’s press release from Piaggio. “The Piaggio Group has accepted, with immediate effect, the resignation of Luigi Dall’Igna – wishing him of course all the best for the future.” Replacing Dall’lgna is Romano Albesiano. Albesiano joined the Piaggio Group in 2005 as Aprilia Product Development Manager and currently manages Piaggio’s Motorbike Technical Center.

Ducati Targeting Aprilia Racing Manager Gigi Dall’Igna

Ducati has reportedly signed Aprilia Racing manager Gigi Dall’Igna to take control of its struggling MotoGP program. Neither Ducati Corse or Aprilia Racing have confirmed the reports, but several sources in the European motorsports press such as Motociclismo.it, not to mention a tweet from retired World Superbike Champion Max Biaggi, claim the deal is done. Dall’Igna has been an instrumental figure in Aprilia’s racing success since the manufacturer’s return to WSBK racing with the RSV4 in 2009, helping guide Biaggi to two championships and, pending the result of the 2013 season finale at Jerez, likely three manufacturers titles.