Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127378
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MT~TI The challenger • prili a ma y not Win a World Champ ionsh ip wh il e J ord i T arres remains in his pr ime, but hey're tryi ng . Diego Bosis and Tommi hval a finis hed second and third in he wor ld last year. Aprilia, a long established Ita lian factory. started slow ly in trial s. Earl y developm ent effo rts with a Hiro engine proved disappoint in g. T hen they g ra bbed the proven Ro tax engine when SWM folded. T heir first Rotaxpo wered mo de l was a tall , long, powerfu l bike at a time when ligh ter, sma ller-engined bikes were becoming the sta ndard. America go t its first look at the Apri lia when the Flor ida -based Tryals Shop imported the 1987 model. In itial im pression: The mos t powerfu l engi ne available, great stabi lity, but a big, ta ll, heavy feel. Overall: not bad, promisi ng even, but the chassis needs a lot of work. . Since then Aprilia has focused on trimming and slimming the chassis while continuing to refine the power of the 280cc rotary valve motor. Their efforts have been marked by innovation rather than imitation. In 1989 they introduced two firsts for trials machinery: liquid cooling and inverted forks. That breakthrough bike allowed the Tryals Shop to lure 1988 National Champion Ryan Young to their team. Young added his second championship aboard an Aprilia, winning five of seven Nationals. In 1990 the factory followed with two more firsts for trials ma chinery: externally adjustable (16-way,compression and rebound) fork damping and Pirelli MT73 tires . They also lowered seat height, peg height, and th e cente r of gravity, and shortened th e wheelbase. This produced an impressive motorcycle that some felt was still . too tall and too heavy. Young returned to Beta in 1990, but the T ryals Sh op go t him back this year. His teammates include CeoH Aaron (nu mber 3), Todd Roper (nu mber 8), and Hi gh School Champion Raymond Peters. As Young and hi s teammates have already discovered, 1991 mod el develop men t focused heav ily o n the chassis, wh ile con tin uing to refin e the power. Summarizing the cha nges for the latest Climber: Sh or ter wh eelbase. subfram e lowered and redesigned. new boxed sw i n ga r m, lower center o f gravity, steeper ra ke ang le, pegs lower o n frame. valvi ng cha nges in the forks, rotary valve changed to allow a more progressive inlet of fuel for a longer period of time (the new valve will fit any previous Cl imber model). sma ller diam eter exhaust pipe ma de of ligh ter' mat eri al , a nd weigh t red uce d o ne pound. T odd Roper, an Arizona electro n ics engi neer, provided hi s bike for testing. Roper looks like the rider Aprilia had in mind with th eir earlier development efforts, He 's tall and muscular, a s triki ng contrast to the shorter, slimmer Young who relies on finesse to get through th e sections. . Commenting on his new bike, Ro per said, " I can notice the porting changes. It seems to chug down a little lower. Aprilias have always been high, better for taller riders, this one is a lot lowe r. It seems as low as a Beta." Last year' s mod el reta ined a stable. long wheelbase feel even as Aprilia made changes. Few guessed that Aprilia has shortened the whee lbase o n the '90 model because the bike still felt so straight-ahead stable. Roper added. "It's the geometry and the cente r of gravity. Even wi th shortened wheel base and geomet ry cha nge, it still feels real sta ble. " The brakes worked fin e, right out of the crate. I like the Pi rell is. The feedback I hear from Europe is that the Pirellis work better in the wet than the Michelins. I'd agree with that. The su spensio n is cush y, and I get great traction. The rear en d 's great for hopping on dry rock s." Summing up his new bike, Roper added, "It's a fin e overa ll bike with all the crea ture co m forts. Another thing I like is it never breaks down." Ryan Young had some time on his new Aprilia when we spoke to him. He 's going for a record fourth straight National title th is year. With 20 career wins, h e's seve n beh i nd Ma rland Whale y who won five National Ch am p ionsh ips fro m 1975 to 1980. Aside from tra ini ng and competing, Yo ung's calen da r li st s tr ia ls schools in EI - - - - - Con tinued on page 14 I II