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/128173
Aprilia Tuono Fighter Desiw.ned to scare the livin~ dayli!,hts out of Bolo!'na By er is squarely targeted (and $12,425 for the .fully faired RSV Mille it's derived from), the Fighter is competitively priced while still retaining the unique features which made the original version so much fun - and so different - to ride. And as a day spent carving the canyons comprising the picturesque Dolomite mountain scenery of Northern Italy aboard the new model some weeks before its Intermot launch underlined, this is a motorcycle which may now be considered the benchmark bike of the Naked sports class. It's a Monster masher. To create the Fighter version of their Tuono concept, project leader Klaus Nennewitz and his team took the base-model RSV Mille sportbike (as compared to the spec'd-up RSVR, which gave birth to the original high-end Tuono), and in place of that bike's Ohlins suspension, have retained the Mille's 43mm Showa upside-down forks and Boge shock, ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY THOMAS MAC CABELL ~ ad to happen. After the soldout lQ.!, success earlier this year of Aprilia's stripped-out RSV Mille R-derived Tuono - the 200-off limited-edition Superbike streetfighter costing in excess of $14,500, whose array of carbon fiber, Kevlar and titanium components denoted the company's surprisingly long-delayed V-twin entry into the flourishing Naked streetrod class - Aprilia boss Ivano Beggio and his men have bowed to the inevitable and developed a less-expensive, volume-production version. To be unveiled at Munich's Intermot show on September 17 as the Tuono Fighter, this machine will be in Aprilia dealers around the world from mid-October onward. With a retail price in the Italian home market of $11,500 including 20 percent local tax, against $11,425 for the Ducati 54 Monster at which the Tuono Fight- 22 SEPTEMBER 25, 2002' cue I • n • _ os both fully adjustable just like the costlier Swedish stuff. These offer a plusher ride, with the same wheel travel but a little more sag, says Nennewitz. Brembo cast wheels replace the Iighweight OZ forged wheels of the original bike, and while the Brembo front discs fitted still measure 320mm, their four-pot calipers are of the twin-pad type, delivering a less aggressive response than the R-bike's four-pad version. The stock Mille chassis retains the same geometry as the original Tuono (1415mm wheelbase, 25 degrees of steering rake, coupled with 99mm of trail). but though the original intention was to leave the twin-spar frame in a polished alloy finish as on the Mille sportbike, Aprilia stylist Giuseppe Ricciuti (who was also responsible for creating the original Tuono) insisted it be painted in a similar distinctive bronze-titanium tint as on the Tuono Uno. MIDe Undressed: WIth Its production version of the Tuono Fighter. Aprilia I. hoping to drlve a atake through the heart of Ducatl'. Monllter ule•. "We tried it first with an unpainted Mille frame and swingarm, but it just didn't look right," says Nennewitz. "This way, we have a distinctive, dedicated Tuono style which makes the bike stand out from the pack." Scaling nine pounds heavier than the original Tuono at 407 pounds dry (but still four pounds lighter than the Mille), thanks to the heavier wheels and the replacement of all the various bolt-on carbon goodies with their injection-molded-plastic equivalents, the Fighter employs the same level of tune for Aprilia's 50-degree V-twin, eight-valve, dry-sump engine as the Mille. But the Nippondenso EFI with a single injector per 51 mm throttle body has been revamped to deliver a smoother power curve with a fatter