Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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the days when the lanky Valent ino Rossi was riding for the tea m, I hadn't expected the much shorter Poggiali wo uld have such a relatively rangy riding position on what amounts to the same motorcycle. But fortunately, he does, and in fact the whole bike felt perfectly tailored to my six-foot stat ure , so much so that I could move easily about the Apriliaand tuck myselfwell away behind the pointy screen and curvaceous fairing so as to take full advantage of the aerociynamics down the pair of Jerez straights. Just as well, really - I need all the help I can get on a comparatively small but perfectly formed bike like this, though mind you, I'm in good company: Randy de Puniet isn't exactly vertically challenged, and he seems to tuck away pretty well aboard the Aprilia! Riding the Italian bike reminded me very much of when I tested a previous world champion 250 at the same circuit three years ago - O livier jacque's sweet-steering VZR2S0 Yamaha, which was equally voluptuous ly streamlined, just not as fast and powerful as the '03 RSW2s 0. Everything is just in its place and just right, reflecting the years of careful refinement and evolution that have honed the world champion Aprilia into such a perfect tool so single-minded ly tailored for success. Though the handlebars are q uite low-set - presumably to help Poggiali tuck away down the straights , and t 0 load up the front end with his body weight surprisingly for a 12s -c1ass graduate, he doesn't use such steeply dropped c1ipons as, for exam ple, fellow forme r 125 World C hampion Loris Ca pirossi doe s o n his MotoGP Ducati, so there's more of a sense of leverage and control, even if your arms are wrapped tightlyaround the Aprilia's curvaceous fuel tank, and the footre sts are notably further back than usual, again perhaps reflecting the Podge's 12scc heritage . However, a key factor in spee ding up the steering are sure ly the Aprilia-made carbon wheels fitted to the Poggiali bike, which as I know from my days developing such items for Dymag on my Ducati supermono do indeed make a significant impact on steering response as well as suspension compliance. thanks to their reduced gyroscopic mass and lower unsprung weight. This must be the main reason the bigger Aprilia matches the smaller, shorter Honda for quickness of steering . The Aprilia engine is a gem - purposefu l yet forgiving in its power delivery, unbelievably eager-revving as we llas finelycarb uret ed. It pulls we ll from 9000 rpm upwar d, comes on strong at 10,500 revs and holds the power all the way to 14,500 rpm before it falls off the pipe , if you want to avoid a couple of time-wasti ng gearshifts, like on the short chute between Turns I and 2 at Jerez. Acceleratio n is extremely impressive by 2s 0-c1ass standards, and I think this is the Aprilia's strong suit, rather than the extra top -end powe r it certai nly has compared to its rivals - getti ng to your bike's top speed quicker than your rivals is at least as important as being faster than them outright once you've got there. With power peaking at 13,500 rpm , that's a hefty 1000 rpm of overrev available, with only a slight dip in power if you take advantage of this. To access this, you have to ignore the lights flashing at you on the small Poker System dash with its easy-to-read analog tache, with a blue one coming at you first fro m 13,500 upward, followed at fourteen grand by a big, bright red one. But all this is strictly advisory on a power-up two-stroke like this one , just to tell you when it might be a good idea to shift if you want to ride the power curve to its best advantage. The Aprilia engine is so forgiving, as well as potent, that you don't have to hit a higher gear ifyou don't want to . On the other hand, if you prefer to shortshift at around 13,000 - as I did each lap between the two parts of Angel Nieto, the last tight left at jerez, to get a better drive out of this second-gear tum - the Aprilia is flexible eno ugh to pull hard fro m lower dow n in the midrange and catapu lt you toward the next turn. As you might expec t at a circuit Aprilia practically live at off-season , the gearbox was ideallydialled in to suit the jerez track , and the Wide-open one-up race-pattern powershifter was perfectly set up. Faultless, as well as fast - that's the 250 Aprilia's power package . What a fantastic motor. The Aprilia's handling merits the same adjective, too. Though it feels larger and longer than the tinier Honda, perhaps mainly because of the wider bodywo rk, the Italia bike only n loses out a little in maneuverability and is definitely more stable and less nervous both under heavy braking and powering around fast sweepers likethe Sito Pons right-hander leading on to the main straight at jerez, where there's a slight crest right on the apex, and if you don't have a bike that's properly set up, at best you risk getting the shakes down the first part of the straight that follows, and at worst lose traction . No sign of either there on the Aprilia - nor around the two fast sweepers behind the pits, the second of which I could take hard on in fourth gear before braking hard for the last Ducados hairpin leading on to the pit straight, which was the door to another lap riding arguably the most enjoyable race bike I've tested all year - one whose performance is j-u-s-t within t he abilityof an average rider to exploit to somewhere approaching its true potentia l, and it' s a lot of fun trying to ride hard. 250 GP racers are the perfect track tool - not like a MotoGP bike! The Aprilia isn't quite as nimble-steering as the Ho nda in tighter turns like the Michelin or Ducados hairpins at Jerez, but that's no real handicap, and above all it's predictab le under braking and on turn-in, and even with my extra weight on board compared to Poggiali's, it didn't push the front wheel unduly anywhere. The Italian bike held a line well, even under acceleration from low down , when with my extra kilos and the extra power compressing the rear Ohlins, I was frankly expecting it to understeer. Didn't happen . Though the Aprilia doesn't flick quite as well from side to side as the Honda (like between turns 2 and 3 at Jerez), it turns in well without any feeling of oversteering into the apex, and it doesn't weave around when slowing hard, thanks to those radial brakes, whose good bite allows the use of smaller 2ssmm Brembo steel discs, which further reduce unsprung weight without sacrificing stopping powe r. That 's because it feels pretty balanced, in spite of the extreme ss/4s-percent static frontal weight bias, so it didn't liftthe back whee l on me more than just a couple of times, thanks to the SO/SO weight balance Jan Witteveen claims exists with the rider in place - we ll, maybe more at the back to keep the wheel down, with yours tru ly aboard! Again, it feels forgiving - but this time, not just the power delivery but as far as the carefully evolved chassis des ign is concerned, too. The Ohtins suspension delivers so much feedback, coupled with the trustworthy and grippy Dunlop tires, that CYCLE NEWS • APRil 21, 2004 27