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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

2014 WSBK – Laguna Seca Results

Mon, 14 Jul 2014

Marco Melandri rebounded from last week’s disappointing Portimao round to win Race One at Laguna Seca while Tom Sykes extended his championship lead with a win in a red-flagged Race Two. Melandri got taken out of the second Portimao race after his Aprilia teammate Sylvain Guintoli slid into his RSV4. Melandri looked eager to make up for that DNF, leading every lap of Race One on his way to his third win of the season.

2014 WSBK – Portimao Results

Mon, 07 Jul 2014

Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes extended his championship lead while a Race Two collision between Aprilia teammates Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri provided drama in the World Superbike Championship round at Portugal’s Portimao track. Sykes qualified on the pole in a sun-draped Superpole session but the clouds rolled in on race day, forcing teams to plan for mixed weather. An overcast sky presided over a dry Race One, leading to a mix of tire choices but all of the racers switched to wet tires for Race Two that saw the scheduled 20-lap length reduced to 18 laps.

Get Your Face on the Aprilia RSV4 Factory WSBK Race Livery

Fri, 04 Jul 2014

Aprilia is giving its race fans the chance to show their support by putting their faces and words of inspiration on the livery of its RSV4 Factory World Superbike racer. Simply visit Aprilia Racing’s official website, BeARacer.com, select either Marco Melandri or Sylvain Guintoli and leave a comment on what you think it means to “Be A Racer”. Ahead of each round, Melandri and Guintoli will select their favorite submissions and have the fan’s picture and comment printed onto the fairing of their RSV4 Factory WSBK racebike.

2014 WSBK – Misano Results

Mon, 23 Jun 2014

Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes won both races at Misano to stretch his championship lead to 39 points as we pass the halfway mark of the 2014 World Superbike Championship. The reigning champion scored his third double-win round of the season while his teammate Loris Baz added a pair of second-place finishes. David Salom on the Kawasaki’s factory EVO entry was also the top rider in the new sub-class for both races to top off a strong weekend for the Team Green.

2014 WSBK – Sepang Results

Mon, 09 Jun 2014

The first ever World Superbike round in Malaysia offered a plenty of drama including both factory Kawasaki riders crashing out on the first lap, a red flagged second race and an overall impressive outing by Aprilia. Under pressure for his lack of results so far this season, Marco Melandri impressed, earning the double for his first career wins on the RSV4 Factory. Aprilia riders led every lap in both races at Sepang, including the red-flagged initial start for Race 2, with Sylvain Guintoli joining his teammate on the podium with a pair of second-place finishes.

2014 WSBK – Donington Results

Mon, 26 May 2014

Tom Sykes and Loris Baz captured a pair of one-two finishes for Kawasaki at England’s Donington Park. The first race saw the reigning World Superbike champion fight his way up from 11th place for the win while Race 2 offered a three-way battle between the two Kawasaki riders and Aprilia‘s Sylvain Guintoli. Race One #493744055 / gettyimages.com Normally a strong starter, Sykes had a nearly disastrous beginning in Race One, while up front, Suzuki‘s Alex Lowes battled with Guintoli and Baz.

Aprilia Caponord Demo Tour To Reach 43 Cities

Tue, 20 May 2014

Aprilia has announced a coast-to-coast tour to showcase the capabilities of the new Caponord 1200 ABS Travel Pack. Beginning this Thursday, May 22, and running through through July 5, at one of Aprilia USA’s 43 participating dealerships, licensed riders can throw a leg over the Caponord and experience all that Aprilia’s latest adventure-tourer has to offer. The tour kicks off its west coast leg at GP Bikes in San Diego, CA and east coast leg in Belleville, New Jersey at Motorcycle Mall. You can find all the tour dates below, with full routing and additional information available at http://www.apriliausa.com/demotour.

Help Crowdfund Official WSBK Mobile Game – Get an Aprilia RSV4

Thu, 01 May 2014

Video game developer Digital Tales is seeking backers to crowdfund an officially-licensed World Superbike Championship mobile game. Like most crowdfunding projects, Digital Tales is offering a number of incentives based on how much a donor pledges. For the SBK14 Mobile game, the top tier pledge nets the donor a package of prizes including special edition Aprilia RSV4 SBK personally delivered by Marco Melandri at the Laguna Seca Superbike round.

2014 WSBK – Assen Results

Mon, 28 Apr 2014

Heavy rains and a fortuitous red flag were the difference in the World Superbike Championship‘s visit to The Cathedral of motorcycle racing, the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. Aprilia‘s Sylvain Guintoli captured his second win of the season in Race 1, which was halted early by a red flag with five laps to go just as it looked like reigning WSBK champion Tom Sykes was gearing up for a final challenge. The second race was also shortened, not by a red flag but because of a rain, turning the 21-lap race into a 10-lap sprint.

2014 WSBK – Aragon Results

Mon, 14 Apr 2014

Reigning World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes put on a clinic this weekend, leading every lap in both races to claim a pair of wins at Spain’s Motorland Aragon circuit. Sykes’ Kawasaki teammate Loris Baz was right there with him, recording a pair of second-place podiums to give Team Green a pair of one-two finishes. Sykes and Baz were also one-two in the Superpole qualifying on this nearly flawless weekend for the Kawasaki factory team.