450 and 550 V-twin sport bike

[Steve Hunt]

Am I looking in the wrong place? where is the buzz on the possibility of a 450 & 550 sport bike. Holy crap my Hawk and SV are on borrowed time if they build a 300 lb bike with 80 HP in a killer sporbike frame and bodywork. Who do we contact and beg? Robert Panda? Any body know anyone that will listen?

Steve Hunt

[gomillego]

I saw this @ www.rsvr.net


Aprilia Will Build 450 V-Twin Sportbike
Following the buyout of the Aprilia brand by the Piaggio group last year, there has been much speculation about the future of the company's model lineup. Many have wondered what Aprilia will do with the 450cc V-twin motor which they have been developing since last year in prototype supermoto and MX racers.

In an interview with British weekly MCN, new Aprilia boss Leo Mercanti (sent in by Piaggio to run their new brand) says that Aprilia will use the 450cc V-Twin in a sportbike which will replace the current RS250 two-stroke model.

The 450cc V-Twin is claimed to be nearly as light and compact as a 450cc single, and in race trim is reputed to produce nearly 70 horsepower. In a street-legal sportbike, it could produce 60 horsepower in a package that weighs around 300 pounds. Sounds like fun, right?

[GEARHEAD9969]

They have been working pretty hard on the supermoto program....wonder if they'll apply those mills to the street???

[NorCalRSVR]

This has been discussed at length here on the forum. I can only add that Aprilia are concerned with the durability of the 450/550 v-twin engine. It can survive trips up through the rpm range but not sustained high rpm use under load. Once they have the reliability required to begin production I believe the bike will happen. Most likely not this year or next but maybe in 2007. I haven't read any further or more recent news regarding the new rsv.....sean

[2pist]

I talked to Robert at Infinion and asked him that very question and he said the motard and mx versions will be in the showrooms in september but said that a road going version WILL NOT HAPPEN.

[montereyrsvr]

I talked to Robert at Infinion and asked him that very question and he said the motard and mx versions will be in the showrooms in september but said that a road going version WILL NOT HAPPEN.

Did you ask the next logical question..."is a 749 twin in the works?". That's where they need to go with model development.

[Sal Khan]

Forget that.

V-4 990 cc homologated for WSB!

[GanjamanUSS]

so far you've all hit the nail on the head

midrange bikes are not happening untill 2007 odd

RSV450 RS450 whatever, correct it'll never happen . . .

and god only knows where those midrange engines are coming from

Vespa ET750 anyone ? :p

[Steve Hunt]

Not that Sport Rider is any bible or anything but that article all but says it's in the bag. There was another article in the current Cycle World or Road Racing World that says basically the same.

300 lbs at 60 HP would not be quite the shit but closer to 80 HP would be way more righteous than my Mille. It would take about 80 hp to be the same power to weight ratio as my Mille but ride like a RS250....that would be just incredible fun.

Steve Hunt

[clarkie49]

I talked to Robert at Infinion and asked him that very question and he said the motard and mx versions will be in the showrooms in september but said that a road going version WILL NOT HAPPEN.

I said it until i was blue in the face and no one believed me

while the 550 street bike not coming is a dissappointment what 'is' coming will not be

[chrman]

Forget that.

V-4 990 cc homologated for WSB!

[2pist]

Aprilia needs to go racing again to rejuvinate the brand. In the mean time I think I'll buy a bunch of bikes while they're cheap!

[montereyrsvr]

Just what is the definition of homologated? I don't even know how to pronounce the word!

[NeoGeniX]

while the 550 street bike not coming is a dissappointment what 'is' coming will not be

Oh stop that :p

[clarkie49]

Just what is the definition of homologated?!

the simple version is paying the racing organisation you want to race with lots of money

a manufacturer has to produce x number of motorcycles for 'street' use before they can race it, because Aprilia makes and sells so many scooters they are in the same category as Honda, Ducati is not. There was talk with the AMA just to count the number of full size motorcycles Aprilia produces which would reduce the number of bikes they would have to import to get the bike homologated.

the number currently stands at around 250-300 so the Factory does comply as they brought in more than 250 of them, then you have to pay a 'pay to play' fee with the AMA and then give them at least one motorcycle that they can use to measure up and then compare to in post-race teardown.

The number for WSBK was around 50 i think which is why 18-20 of the original 'SP' versions were brought into America, these sold new for around $30,000 back in 1999. the cost of producing a one-off 'Homologation' model is huge which is why they always have a higher price tag then others.

The 999R became a 'street bike' for the first time in the US a couple of years ago so they could get it homologated, the problem is that the Yamaha R7 was never homologated for street use in the US and was sold as a 'Track only' model like the 999R used to be.

and there was Harley.......... the produced invoices for 250 bikes that were all 'sold' to Puerto Rico which is why you never really saw them on the street.

There has been a push for over 8 years to get the AMA, BSB and WSBK rule makers to use the same rules but neither organisation would budge, for a while the Ducati's here were using a stock set of throttle bodies as the WBSK ones werent homologated. this is the same reason why the RC51 (SP-2) canme stock with 62mm tb's even though there was no need for them to be that big on teh street bike