Aprilia Motorcycles

About aprilia

Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle company, one of the marques owned by Piaggio.

Aprilia was founded after the Second World War by Cavaliere Alberto Beggio, as a bicycle production factory at Noale, Italy in the province of Venice. Alberto’s son, Ivano Beggio, took over the helm of the company in 1968 and constructed a 50 cc "motorcycle" with a dozen or so collaborators. The first production Aprilia mopeds were named Colibrì, Daniela and Packi. Aprilia later produced a motocross bike in 1970 called the Scarabeo. Produced until the end of the 1970s, the Scarabeo came in 50 and 125 cc versions.

In the 1980s Aprilia added enduro, trials and road bikes of between 50 and 600 cc. In 1981 Aprilia introduced the TL320 trials machine. In 1983 Aprilia launched to St 125 road bike. In 1984 Aprilia launched an improved model called STX, and an enduro, called the ET 50.

In 1985, Aprilia started outsourcing engines for some models to the Austrian company Rotax. In 1985 Aprilia launched a 125 STX and 350 STX. In 1986 Aprilia launched the AF1; a small sports model, and the Tuareg; a large tanked bike for African rallies like the Dakar Rally.

Aprilia has 124 times won 125 and 250 cc class Grand Prix, 15 Road Racing World Championship titles, and 16 European speed titles. Many world champions started on Aprilia such as Biaggi, Capirossi, Gramigni, Locatelli, Sakata and Rossi.

Also in the 1990s, Aprilia entered the scooter market starting in 1990 with Italy’s first all-plastic scooter, the Amico. In 1992, Aprilia introduced the Amico LK and the two stroke Pegaso 125, both with catalytic converters. In 1993 Aprilia launched a large diameter wheel scooter reusing the name Scarabeo with a four-stroke, four-valve engine. Later Aprilia launched more scooters such as the Leonardo, the SR and the Gulliver.

In 1995, Aprilia commissioned Philippe Starck to design the Motò which was shown in New York’s Modern Art Museum. Also in 1995 Aprilia launched the two stroke RS 125 and RS 250 sports bikes. In 1998 Aprilia launched what is its current flagship model the RSV Mille, a 1000cc V-Twin Superbike, and the Falco, a 1000cc V-Twin sport tourer with emphasis on sport. Both bikes used a variation of a Rotax 1000cc engine.

During 2000, Aprilia acquired Moto-Guzzi and Laverda, both historic heritage Italian marques. In 2000 Aprilia launched the 50 cc DiTech (Direct Injection Technology) two stroke engine for scooters which provides high mileage and low emissions, and also the RST Futura, a sport tourer, and the ETV 1000 Caponord; an adventure touring motorcycle. Both of these latter two motorcycles used a variation of the Rotax 1000 cc V-Twin.

Most recently, in 2003, Aprilia launched the RSV Mille Tuono which was essentially an RSV Mille with motorcross-style high handlebars and only a small headlight fairing. Most of the major motorcycle magazines picked it for the best bike of the year. In 2004 Aprilia was acquired by Piaggio & C. SpA, to form the world’s fourth largest motorcycle group with 1.5 billion Euro in sales, an annual production capacity of over 600,000 vehicles, and a presence in 50 countries.

Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle sports. It contests many Road Racing formulae, including the FIM 125 cc World Championship, the FIM 250 cc World Championship, and the now-defunct FIM 500 cc World Championship.

Moto blog

Ioda Racing Unveils Aprilia RSV4-Powered MotoGP CRT Race Bike

Italy-based Ioda Racing presented its 2012 MotoGP and Moto2 race bikes including the Aprilia RSV4-engined TR003 prototype. The Ioda Racing TR003 machine (pictured above, to the left) uses a trellis-frame produced in-house while the engine is based on the RSV4′s 999cc V4 powerplant. The team will compete as CAME IodaRacingas a Claiming Rule Team entry.

2012 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 First Impressions

Our European Correspondent Tor Sagen is in Sicily, Italy, this week testing the Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200. We’ll have a full review coming up but first here are Tor’s first impressions. I’ve just finished testing the updated version of Aprilia‘s Dorsoduro 1200.

WSBK: 2012 Phillip Island Results – Video

Max Biaggi won the opening race to the 2012 World Superbike Championship while defending champion Carlos Checa came back from a high-speed crash in the first race to win the second at Australia’s Phillip Island circuit. Reigning champion Checa of Althea Ducati had a stunning high-side crash while leading on the sixth lap of Race One. The WSBK paddock was already in shock with the death of 17-year-old Oscar McIntyre in the Superstock 600 race the day before but thankfully Checa was not seriously injured.

Who is Max Biaggi?

Max Biaggi opens up to former 250GP rival Jamie Robinson on his 20 years at the top flight of motorcycle racing. Surprisingly, Max grew up in a home without motorcycles and didn't even come in contact with a racetrack until he was 18 years old. Visiting the Vallelunga circuit near Rome, he became hooked on the sight, smell and sounds of racing and with the help of his father, put everything into his dream of becoming a world champion - something he would achieve several years later by becoming a 250GP champion with Aprilia in 1994.

Aprilia Introducess 2012 World Superbike Team of Biaggi, Laverty and the RSV4

Aprilia officially presented its 2012 World Superbike Championship team in Milan, Italy, showcasing its RSV4 superbikes as well as factory riders Max Biaggi and newcomer Eugene Laverty. For Biaggi, the Roman Emperor says he feels motivated to rebound from a difficult 2011 season and regain the title he won in 2010. “It doesn’t matter how many seasons we have under our belts and how many titles we’ve won.

2013 Aprilia Caponord 1200 Revealed at Piaggio Dealer Meeting

Piaggio revealed a new Aprilia adventure tourer at its dealer meeting dubbed the Caponord 1200, giving the manufacturer a competitor to the GS’s and Tigers and Multistradas of the world. Expected to launch as a 2013 model, the Aprilia Caponord 1200 features the same 1197cc  engine as the Dorsoduro 1200, which claims 130 hp at 8700 rpm and 85 ft-lb. at 7200 rpm.

Mattia Pasini Replaces Anthony West on Speed Master CRT for 2012 MotoGP Season

Claiming Rule Team Speed Master has named Mattia Pasini as the replacement for Anthony West for the 2012 MotoGP World Championship. Pasini, a successful Grand Prix racer with 10 wins and 26 podium finishes in the 125cc and 250cc World Championships, will ride the team’s Aprilia-developed CRT machine. He replaces West who was forced to withdraw after being unable to come up with the funding to pay for his ride.

Anthony West Can’t Afford to Pay to Race MotoGP, Mulls Retirement

The 2012 MotoGP season is still months away and the world championship has already lost an entry, as veteran Anthony West announced his withdrawal from the series because he cannot afford to compete. The 30-year-old Australian racer was included on the provisional 2012 MotoGP entry list to compete for the Speed Master team on an Aprilia CRT machine. But with the official pre-season test at Sepang, Malaysia, coming up next week, West says he will not race because teams are asking riders to pay too much to race for them.

Provisional 2012 World Superbike Championship Entry List Released

The International Motorcycling Federation has released a preliminary entry list for the 2012 World Superbike Championship. The preliminary list includes 24 entries representing six manufacturers: Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Noticeably absent is Yamaha which announced last summer it would pull out of WSBK racing.

Preliminary 2012 MotoGP Entry List Released

The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) has released a preliminary entry list for the 2012 MotoGP World Championship. The provisional list includes 21 riders in the premiere class, including nine classified as Claiming Rule Team entries. Defending MotoGP Champion Casey Stoner will wear the #1 plate for the 2012 season, the first with both CRT entries and the new 1000cc engine displacement cap.