De Tuono......world famous!!

[RinOz]

Our very own DeTuono on
aprilia.com (http://www.aprilia.com/portale/eng/owner_articolo.phtml?id=49)

Well done Nick :cool:

[Luigi]

Excellent Nick - thanks for the writeup and pics!

Nice little KTM too :D

My absolute favorite sound bite was:


Knitting is a hobby. Motorcycling is a passion.

Superb!

[Billy_pty]

A question for Nick,

You mention about the investment to adjust the suspension to suit your weight. You make me wonder, as my weight (100Kg) is close to yours. May I ask what did you have to do to make it handle right? How was it not handling right? :confused:

[Micah / AF1 Racing]

Dude, that is so friggin cool that you made it to the aprilia.com site.

[DeTuono]

Thanks Jeff, Micah et al. I really wasn't expecting it. I only did the questionaire a week or so ago.

Did you see "my" KTM in the bottom picture? The only reason I'm pushing it is because my boy Harry ran it dry riding around Pacific Park! That's him in the background.

Billy, I got the rear spring changed out, and a spacer added to get the sag right. Fork springs were fine. Then I got both front and rear suspension re-built with different shim stacks both ends and new valves in the forks. I used Race Tech parts, but the key was using someone with a lot of experience in setting up these bikes for racing. The end result is fantastic, the bike is so neutral in corners now, I feel I could take my hands off the bars and it would just keep tracking on line. I really recommend this work. As I said in the piece, Italian bikes seem to come from the factory set up for snake-hipped euro dudes weighing about 60kg soaking wet. It is not an Aprilia thing, I had to get my last two Ducatis sorted too. :(

Nick

[Billy_pty]

Thank you Nick.

[Manu]

Originally posted by DeTuono
As I said in the piece, Italian bikes seem to come from the factory set up for snake-hipped euro dudes weighing about 60kg soaking wet. It is not an Aprilia thing, I had to get my last two Ducatis sorted too. :(
Nick

Well... I'm a sort of snake-hipped euro dude and I can testify the factory set-up is way to harsh for my 65 kg.

From my previous experience I think Honda's are the ones set-up for 60 kg riders ;)

[DeTuono]

Manu, I exaggerated to make the point. No doubt there are plenty of 80kg Tuono owners who are quite happy.

As I said in the Aprilia interview, the option to order one's bike set up for one's weight would be a huge benefit for owners.

Wouldn't know about the Hondas, but perhaps it is reasonable to assume that most sports bikes with low tare:gross weight ratios will not suit people more than one SD from the mean?

Nick