Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~.Apri/ia's super RSV1000 ,----------, 1 Bimota's new V-twin SB8 four-stroke looks set to debut at exactly the same time as the long-awaited street version of the Aprilia RSV1000 superbike, with both of them appearing for the first time at the Milan show in September. However, though Aprilia has always publicly stated that the RSV1000 will be the first of its (Above) The Philippe Starck-designed range of large-capadty bikes powered by Aprilia V-twin roadster. Compare It to the Rotax-built, fuel-injected 60-degree V- the Shiver (below). twin, eight-valve engine (first shown in public at the Bologna show in December, 1994) to enter production, that message is at odds with the company's newly published corporate profile, a package aimed at heightening worldwide awareness of the Aprilia brand in preparation for its launch as a full-product marque later this year. While underlining Aprilia's remarkable boom in production, increasing from 55,000 powered two-wheelers in 1992 to 165,000 in 1995 and over 200,000 in 1996, thanks to the opening of its new Scorze factory with seven production lines running at full capacity, the profile document reveals Aprilia's '95 turnover as being $364.9 million "based on an exchange rate valid on September 24, 1996" - thereby revealing the date on which the book was prepared. However, two pages later on, it states that "Aprilia~s latest creation, the Shiver, will go into production in the second half of 1996" - only we're still waiting. So, what's going on? Aprilia refuses to discuss its four-stroke V-twin production plans, but sources within the company disclose that there's a battle royal going on between two factions in top management about what kind of bike it should build to attack the key market segment for the large-capacity V-twins it is about to start marketing - the roadster/custom/naked-bike sector now populated by the DucatiMonster, Laverda Ghost, Triumph Thunderbird/Adventurer, etc. The contro\'ersially styled Shiver (designed by Aprilia's in-house studio) is one candidate, together with its touring Shiver Way spinoff launched at the fFMA Cologne show last October. The other is the V-twin roadster produced' by French Design guru Phillippe Starck as part of his ongoing contract with Aprilia, which . saw him pen the Moto' 6.5 street single that was'launched to a fanfare of'high-profile publicity two years ago but has sold very disappointingly since then. But take a look at this scoop photo of the Starck-designed Aprilia roadster which he built more than three years ago and compare it with the Shiver - then decide which one you'd prefer. Maybe a postcard with your comments to Aprilia boss Ivano Beggio (who's understood to be a supporter of the Starck bike, but is concerned about customer reaction to it after the sales flop of the Moto' 6.5) might help the Italian marque's executives make up their minds. Or maybe you would still prefer a Ducati Monster, the bike that invented the V-twin Euro-roadster look? Aprilia needs to be sure it gets the product right with the V-twin roadster because it's the crucial model which will fuel the company's launch into key markets like the United States and also Japan, where the RS250 Suzuki-powered race replica is selling well on tl1e back of Max Biaggi's trio of 250cc GP world titles, but the market for a large-capacity four-stroke range is much greater. Furtl1er down the line, Aprilia plans a 1200cc cruiser powered by a bored and stroked version of the Rotax-built engine, but its effort to introduce leading-edge, modern styling concepts to what is frankly a conservative-minded market is set to prove an interesting test of mind over matter: Can Aprilia persuade potential customers to accept avant-garde design over traditional values - especially in America, the key market it is planning to launch it products in before the next millennium? Time will tell. Bene/Ii re-Iaunch Benelli is a t the opposite end of the evolutionary scale from Aprilia, with the historic Italian company purchased last year by Italian domestic appliance tycoon (and former 600cc Supersport racer) Andrea Merloni still yet to res tart production - though Benelll's made street bikes before. Will they be back? plans are on schedule for a re-launch of the marque at the Milan show in September. Expected to be shoW11 are a range of scooters designed by British design house Seymour Powell (creators of the MuZ Skorpion and BSA Bantam, as well as a wide range of small-capacity bikes for Indian and Malaysian companies), and powered most probably by Franco Morini or Minarelli engines. But although bike-mad Merloni's initial objective is to generate vital profits by cashing in on the current Italian scooter boom, he admits that his main objective in buying the company wa to revive the glory days of the Benelli brand, whicl1 won the 250cc World Championship in 1969 thanks to Australian Kel Carruthers, as well a mounting a serious challenge to MV Agusta's 500/350cc-class supremacy in the hands of riders such as Renzo Pasolini, Mike Hallwood and Jarno Saarinen. Merloni is already involved with World Superbike racing at the highest level, and has done a deal with Ducati to give his Team Gattalone rider 'Pier-Francesco Chili full factory 996 equipment in 1997. But while trying to deliver the first allItalian World Superbike title with the Bologna-built desmo V-twin, Merloni is understood to have already comIl)issioned a Turin-based engineering company to develop a three-cylinder Benelli 900cc superbike engine, with the aim of having it ready for street bike production - and consequent superbike competition after a Milan show launch in September 1999. However, unlike the rival Laverda in-line triple due to debut a year earlier, work is believed to be quite far advanced on the design of a V-three fuel-injected 900cc Benelli engine, aimed at delivering a compact engine package with optimum weight distribution - as well as a distinctive engine format that's bound to help in marketing terms. We'll have further details on the born-again Benelli superbike as they become available. And finally... French police have stopped sending photos of drivers caught speeding by Gatso spy cameras to their home addresses. Apparently, too many of the photos used in prosecuting speeding infraction also provided evidence of a different kind of offense - husbands driving with women other than their wives at a place and' time when, as far as their spouses were concerned, they were supposed to be somewhere else. All the more reason - besides the gridlock traffic of Paris - to take to riding motorcycles while in France. Providing, of course, that both you and your passenger wear full-face helmets - with dark faceshield ! 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