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/127765
(Left ) A switch to 42mm Ohllns forks reduced front-wheel chalter In comers compared with last year's WP legs. (Aboveand below) Aprilla st uck with aluminum for the new, 'strateglcally stiffened frame and swlngarm because It is quicker and easier to modify than carbon fiber. improve stability under braking, the one area where the Aprilia had felt a bit scary when I rode it last year. It felt loose and un stable wh en you really squ eezed th ose bla ck Brembo mega-brakes on such a light bike ( 204.6-pounds without fuel tank - the 250cc-class weight limit). And some front-wheel chatter didn't encourage you to maintain comer speed - crucial to fast lap times with a 250. It was hard to get confidence the way the bike handled on the entryinto a comer, es pecia lly if yo u tr ail-brak ed into the ap ex. Part of th e problem was Biaggi' s setup, says Witteveen . He likes a very fast transition from upright to full lean on the en try to a curv e, which means he has the front ride height lower an d the rear higher than most othe r Aprilia riders, and very radical steering geometry just 76mm of trail on the bike I rode. "Biaggi likes to se t th e bi ke up so tha t wh en he closes th e th rottl e, it turns in very fast and easy," says Witteveen. "If yo u want to ha ve that, it 's hard to h ave s ta bi lity under brak ing as we ll, especially with the WP suspension we always used before. Th eir h yd r aulic con tro l was poor, so th e for ks always di ved when yo u hit the brakes h ard, a nd th e only way th ey cou ld fix that wa s to set them up stiff, which me ant the front end would then chatter wh en you laid the bike into the tum. It meant s u s pens io n set u p w as alwa ys ou r biggest headache at a GP, sometimes to the point of affecting our work on other aspects of the bike. Switching to Ohlins this year wa s a ma jor s te p, but it's worked out well. The bike still isn't perfect under braking, but there's enough of an imp rovem en t to enab le us to maintain our overall handling advantage over Honda, for example." The Aprilia still feels a little twitchy whe n yo u slam on th e carbon brak es, even after hitting the little rear steel disc first to minimize weight transfer onto the front wheel. But I think that's a fun ction of Biaggi' s extreme steering geometr y, which d oe s, howev er , make th e Aprilia a d ream to dial into a tum. It doesn 't tip into the apex almost uncontrollably, like so m e bikes with a n ext reme chassis se tu p and too high a center of gravity will do, but the transition is very fast and you end up carry- Aprilia RS250V Speclficatlons Engine Uquid-cooled. 90·degree V-twin. rotary -valve two-stroke wit h twin counterrota ting crankshafts and electronic guillotine power-valve Dim.n.lon ,54 x 54,5mm DIspI.cement : Output 101 bhp at 12.800 rpm (at gearboxl Comp " 1on retlo Cerburetlon (2) , 249cc ,17.5:1 39.5mm Dell'Orto flat-slide (without powerjet) Ignition Nippondenso digital COl with dry-cell 12-volt battery Gearbox s -speed extractabie with integrated speed shifter Clutch ....M ultiplate dry (5 friction/6 steel) Chassls...Febricated aluminium twin-spar Su.pension Front ing a lot of comer spee d almost without knowing it. The Aprilia is nimbl e rather th an nervous - but if yo u go too d eep into a turn and have to back off some spee d, the Brembo brakes are definitely more sensitive than last yea r, presumably thanks to new carbon material. You can just stroke the lever with a finger to scrub off a little excess spee d if you need to, just like with a metal disc, but wi th greater reserves of braking potential. The Ohlins forks are still set up stiff, presum ably to cope with that explosion of stop ping power when you sque eze the brake lever in Max-mode, bu t there was no chatter from the front Dunlop in midturn, and lots of grip from the rear when you get hard on the gas to accelerate ou t, witho u t having to lift the bike up any to use the fat part of the tire. It is interesting to note that Biaggi generally us es a wider 3.75-inch fron t wheel to maximize front end grip in th e tum, but a narrower 5.50 inch rear compared to some othe r 250-class rid ers to imp rove steering and maximize top spee d d own the straights du e to the reduced drag it offers. Comb in e this w ith A prili a' s wind-tunnel -de velop ed bod y w ork introduced last season and his tucked-in riding styl e developed in his 125 Sport Production days, and the Italian gets the m ost ou t of th e ro ta ry-valve m ot or' s top-end performance. Squatting d own behind the April ia's voluptuous streamlinin g makes you feel li ke a Mast er of the Uni ver se in GP mode: A hundred-horsepower 250 is the ultimate racer for w annabe GP rid ers. With th e b right ye ll ow tacho need le hovering arou nd the 13,000-rpm mark, th e V-twin engine scre am ing toward yo ur appointment with that fla shing backward-facin g headlamp to remind yo u when to ch ange gear, th e kn owled ge that the best brak es in th e bu siness are wai ting to haul you down from 165-plus -m p h speeds, ready to allow you to explo it the more confident handling of th e new ch assis and the controlled res po nse of th e Ohlins sus pe nsion - h ey, m ove o ver, Max. N ow I kn ow how yo u handled H arada . You ha d th e best bike on th e Grand Prix grid, the fastest, most powerful 250 ever buil t, wi th h andling to match . Sure you' re a grea t rider - belter than ever in '95, in fact - but your Aprilia is a great motorcycle, as well. No wonder Yamaha (may be H onda, to o) wants to copy it enginewise with their new rotary-valver that Harada will race next season. What . was that old cliche about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery? £N 42mm Ohlins inverted telescopic forks Rear Fabricated alloy swingarm with APS .dslng-rate IIQkag!" and single Ohlins shock