Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Uke any manufacturer, Aprilia needs to find out what its customers want, and no number of rider clinics or pre-launch questionnaires can take the place of getting the hardware in the showroom and the feedback from hands-on use. The SLl 000 is a well-conceived product, targeting what sales charts confirm to be a bigger overall customer clan than the harder-edged Mille's habitudes of Racer Road, and the Falco arguably represents the first serious European response to the sales success of the vrR and TL/S - one that also doesn't carry the quirky historical baggage of a desmodue, Boxer twin or in-line triple engine format. Even without remembering that it was conceived and developed by a company that until the past 12 months had zero experience in the large-capacity four·stroke sector, the SLl 000 must be considered a praiseworthy entry into the enthusiast sport market. Only a few relatively minor rough edges still remain which need to be smoothed out before the Falco can claim to be the leader of the flock - but Aprilia's latest V-twin model does have the potential to be just that. ing with the Mille's 76ft.-16. - or the hasn't yet owned up to plans to pro- has been under development for the past three years, not as a spin-off from the RSV Mille project, but in its own right, with a separate R&D team headed by 32-year-old, German-born engineer Klaus Nennewitz. He and his men have worked hard and fast to duce a police version of its new Falco, but the civilian version has been fast off the mark into production, with 100 bikes a day rolling off the Aprilia assembly lines. The first deliveries are expected before the end of the year of what is a bike that will cost only a fraction more than the equivalent Honda and Suzuki. Aprilia boss Ivano Beggio and his management team clearly expect to be leading their drive into new markets like the USA and Japan with the Falco, as well as building on their successful first year of Euro-sales with the RSV Mille - of which production had to be increased by more than 45 percent over initial forecasts, in order to meet demand. So Aprilia is on a roll - a fact underlined when we went to the company's Noale headquarters north of Venice to ride one of the first SLl OOOs hot off the production line. create a bike that, while retaining the family feel of the Mille range, is a quite different product from anything else Aprilia has yet built to date. So while still based around the volume-production 97 x 67.5 mm longstroke version of Aprilia's 998cc Rotax-built, dry-sump, fuel-injected DOHC 60-degree V-twin "otto valvole" motor (rather than the 100mmbore short-stroke Mille SP homologation special, developed for Superbike racing), the SL employs a revised version of the very same engine, though one that has been detuned to reflect the less radical demands in terms of performance of the enthusiast sportbike customer. It's fast - but Like the bird of prey its name is derived from, the Falco is hunting for Honda. And to underline the importance of the new model in Aprilia's overall scheme of things, the SLlOOO Nippondenso multipoint EFI (though with the same 51 mm throttle bodies and a single injector per cylinder as on the RSV) to produce a claimed 118 hp at 9250 rpm at the crankshaft - compared to the stock Mille's 128 Honda's 70.9ft.-16., all at the same 7000 rpm mark. But it's the SLlOOO's so-called Double Twin Beam chassis that stands out the most, with a completely new and quite innovative twin-spar design, each side of which is composed of twin triangular-section tubular alloy extrusions butted and welded to aluminum and magnesium castings comprising the steering head and rear engine mount-cum-swingarm pivot. The result not only looks both elegant and distinctive, it also not frenetic. That's the result, with the lower 10.8: 1 compression (compared to 11.4: 1 in the Mille) combining with a different dual-silencer stainless steel exhaust system and remapped kind of bike isn't likely to want a nervous, quick-handling package, only a dependable, relaxing, sporting ride. However, the owner is also not going to want to use the gearbox or the engine revs as much as a Mille rider, either, and here I think Aprilia needs to rethink the low-rpm behavior of the SL's V-twin engine package a little. Though remapped to reflect the lower power output, the engine management system combined with the internal mechanical spec still produces a rather peaky power curve, with a notable surge of extra punch at the 6000 rpm mark when the engine catches alight and really starts to motor delivering a strong, constant pull all the way to the 9250 rpm power peak. That's fine if you want to lift the front wheel out of a turn or away from a traffic light, and indeed all the way to the engine's 10,800 rpm rev-limiter there's a smooth, progressive power delivery that's undeniably muscular and appealing. It puts the Falco on par performance-wise with the TL 1ODDS, and it pulls harder and stronger than the VTRI000. But considering that even on the slightly lower overall gearing AprUia are using on the Falco (16/41 gearbox/ rear wheel sprockets, compared to 17/42 on the RSV Mille) the engine is still only tuming 3800 rpm in top gear at an indicated road speed of 62 mph on the digital speedometer (the SL's entire instrument console is the same ali-dancing package transplanted from the Mille, complete with 40lap memory timer, top-speed telltale and all the other gizmos), and 75 mph comes up at just 4500 rpm. Thus, I have to say the SLl 000 is still basically over-geared for the kind of riding style its likely use will dictate. bhp at the same revs, or the VTR1000's 110 bhp at 10,000 rpm. Torque is also down compared to the RSV, with the 70.se ft.-16. contrast- (Right) The cockpit Is straight off the Aprilia Mille_ (Below) Remove the top of the tail section and••. the Falco is ready for two. Aprilia also offers saddlebags in its catalog, turning the Falco Into a respectable sports-tourer. exposes the undeniably handsomelooking 60degree V -twin engine to view in a way the fully-faired Mille doesn't do, as well as offering improved engine cooling and nominally better access. Chassis geometry is almost identical to the Mille, though, with the same 24.5-degree head angle, 1415mm wheelbase and just slightly more trail at 100mm vs. the sportbike's 97mm. CN Okay - so use a lower gear, just like the RSV Mille customer would. Well, apart from the fact that the gearbox ratios are identical on both bikes (with an evenly spaced out lower three ratios and the upper three much closer together, so that notching down one or even two gears from top doesn't help you much), I have to say that's not the way that most of my friends who own VTR 1ODDs (and there are an awful lot of them in the bike park at any World Superbike race) choose to ride. They don't want to Riding pillion with Alan Cathcart - a scary proposition Indeed. Kudos to Kel Edge on his bravado! trail along winding country roads in the British sunshine (don't laugh) in third or fourth gear - but unless you do that, the Aprilia won't run cleanly until the central analog tach reads 4000 rpm, below which it's quite lumpy and there's quite a bit of transmission snatch if you try to accelerate any harder. The Falco's gearshift is quite crisp, even on the relatively low-mileage bike I was riding. Neutral, though, was consistently elusive in best Italian fashion, even on the move while approaching a stop light. Equally Latin is the clutch, which while not as stiff as a Ducati comes a surprisingly close second - a fact you especially notice in town. Take up is much smoother and more progressive, though, as well as more Silent, than on any desmo V-twin. There is. however, more engine vibration down low than I expected on the Falco, in spite of the same dual counter-balancer system as on the Mille (one in the crankcase, the other in the rear cylinder head). The balance weights in the clip-ons eliminate the vibes from your hands, but you do feel the tingles in your toes coming at you through the foot pegs from low down until the 5000 rpm mark, when the engine starts to smooth out. The distinctive exhaust note and higherpitched V-twin rumble from the 60degree motor gives a clue why this might be: none of the Italo-Japanese gO-degree V-twins has the same problem, and you don't notice it on the RSV Mille nearly so much, for the simple reason you're invariably revving it harder. Answer: gear the Falco down even more. Until that happens, Renthal can expect a strong Aprilia aftermarket for 43T or even 44T rear sprockets. cue I ... n e _ S • JANUARY 19.2000 13

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