Saturday, August 30, 2008

Motors TV reviews SXV

Supermoto Central launched!


Supermoto Central is the latest addition to the growing Supermoto Community. The goal of Supermoto Central is to become the #1 source for the latest Supermoto news and media.

Supermoto Central is a completely new website that will be offering several features to the Supermoto Community:

- News about the latest races,events,gear and products
- Picture gallery with more than 300 pics of world’s most beautiful Supermoto bikes
-Specials about the most kick ass Supermoto bikes on the planet and interviews with their builders
-Interviews with world class Supermoto drivers from the FIM Supermoto championship and AMA Supermoto championship
- Links database with links to all the Supermoto sites on the web
- Supermoto Central Youtube channel with 100+ and counting Supermoto videos
- Review database with links to online magazine reviews of Supermoto models
- Supermoto Central gear Cool Supermoto t-shirts and more coming soon

Add Supermoto Central to your bookmarks with ctrl+d and keep checking in to get your supermoto fix.

Supermoto Central 100% Supermoto!

www.supermoto-central.com

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hoffman wants spot on Aprilia SBK Team


Aprilia RSV4 testrider Alex Hoffman has expressed his opinion about riding for Aprilia next year in the WSBK championship:

" Aprilia mainly concentrates on the 125 & 250cc championship, which is understandable because there they have to keep a name high but the RSV-4 is also progressing steadily, Aprilia don't want to become field filling. I think that we will surprise a number of people and finishes in the top ten are certainly possible and I will gladly, after all the preparations and testing, take the chance to race the RSV-4 next year" says Hofmann. " Of course I hope on a seat within the team, I have seen the machine growing and I put much time and energy in the project. After my time in the MotoGP I would not consider the move to the Superbike championship as a degradation. MotoGP is still the largest show in the world on two wheels but the Superbike championship is catching-up, with full starting fields and spectacular races."


Check out the Crash.net interview with Alex Hoffman here

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Lazzarini wins Supermoto GP in Austria


The winning streak for the Aprilia SXV 4.5 continues in the World S1 Supermoto with Ivan Lazzarini, the dominator of the only heat disputed at the Austrian Grand Prix, the 5th round of the international calendar. Lazzarini and Team DRC Supermoto were once again unbeatable, marking the best time on the wet track during Saturday's qualifying round and Sunday morning's Superpole. At the start of Race 1, he was able to stay on his feet after a multi-rider incident at the first turn and went on to handily win the heat. Thierry Van Den Bosch (Aprilia SXV 4.5/DRC Supermoto) placed 3rd in Saturday's qualifying round and 2nd in the Superpole but ended up on the ground at the first curve and got back up on the bike in last place. The Frenchman began a comeback that saw him close out in 10th. Race 2 was suspended after a few laps due to a serious accident involving Berthome and Nestor: the latter of which was transported by helicopter to the hospital in serious condition. At the moment the red flag went up, Lazzarini was commanding the race and Van Den Bosch was 4th. Thus, only one heat of the S1 Austrian GP was raced.

Of note in the S2 was Saturday's Pole by Massimo Beltrami (Aprilia SXV 5.5/DRC Supermoto) and his 2nd place in Sunday's Super Pole. In Race 1, he spent the entire fraction in Davide Gozzini's wake (TM). With four laps left until the end and in search of victory, he forced the pace but made contact with the back wheel of a competitor, shutting down his Aprilia. He took off again but ran into a racer during his attempted comeback and irreparably damaged his SXV 5.5. Luca Minutilli (Aprilia SXV 5.5/PMR H20) had a great 3rd place finish in Race 1 after passing Beltrami at the start of the race and maintaining a good pace for the entire fraction. In Race 2, Beltrami recovered to 4th place after a not-so-great start while Minutilli, who took off in the back, finished 10th. Also important was the positive reentry of Christian Iddon (Aprilia SXV 5.5/PMR H20), who finished 5th and 6th in the heats even though he was understandably a bit out of shape after his arm injury.

Full Report

Cycleworld Aprilia articles

The American magazine Cycleworld posted 2 new Aprilia articles on their website. The first one is a review of the Dorsoduro and the second one is a battle between the Shiver and the Mana at a Pirelli testtrack.

Dorsoduro review

Shiver vs Mana article

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Tuscon BT550 Superleggera



Tuscon, a french manufacturer of very special motorcycles, have started a new project. The base of the project is an Aprilia SXV550 engine and their goal is to create a bike with a weight of 100kg's. Hence the name Superleggera (Superlight). With the support of several big names like Aprilia,Bridgestone,Paioli and many more they will try to complete the project in 6 months. They chose the 550 engine because of its small size and power to weight ratio which exceeds many other engines. For example the SV650 engine makes less power and is 20kg's heavier. With 70hp stock and a weight of 34kg the guys from Tuscon found the perfect engine for their project.

Aprilia News will keep a close eye on the Superleggera and will keep reporting about the progress of this project. In the meantime check out the BT550 Superleggera website

Friday, August 22, 2008

New exhausts for the Shiver




Spotted these new Thunder exhausts from a new spanish exhaust manufacturer.

Prices (exc. taxes) are:

Competition: Steel 590€; Carbon 710€; Titanium 740€
Street: Steel 620€; Titanium 770€


thanks to Shiverio for this news

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Orange tuono


Aprilia has some new colors for the tuono in 2008(white,orange and blue) and they are beautiful colors. I haven't seen a lot of pics of the tuono's with the new colors but Emiliano from Racewaynews.net sent me these fantastic pics of an orange tuono he has in use right now. Thanks Emiliano!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Two victories for Aprilia at Brno

250cc

Alex Debon his won his second 250cc grand prix of the season after a thrilling conclusion to Sunday's Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno.

In marked contrast to his runaway win at Le Mans, the 32-year-old Spaniard snatched victory from world championship leader Marco Simoncelli with a skillful outbraking effort into the very final chicane, while Simoncelli's attempts to resist the Lotus Aprilia rider allowed Alvaro Bautista to also edge ahead.

But it wasn't all bad news for Simoncelli, whose third place finish marked his seventh podium in a row for Metis Gilera and extends his title lead to 16 points over Mika Kallio, who crossed the line at the back of the lead group in fifth position for KTM.

Race results 250cc - Brno:

1. Debon (Aprilia)
2. Bautista (Aprilia) +0.280secs
3. Simoncelli (Gilera) +0.325secs
4. Barbera (Aprilia) +0.827secs
5. Kallio (KTM) +1.249secs

125cc


18-year-old German Stefan Bradl has taken his first ever 125cc victory after rising to the top of a closely contested Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. The Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing competitor, son of former grand prix rider Helmut, reached the front of an eleven-rider lead group by the halfway stage of the 19 laps - then pushed hard to gradually break clear of his nearest rivals.

World championship leader Mike di Meglio got the better of Gabor Talmacsi and Joan Olive to wrap-up the runner-up position, while Hungarian superstar Talmacsi saw a podium finish at his 'home' event snatched from his grasp by Olive. Nicolas Terol collected a safe fifth, while Bradley Smith dropped to sixth position after leading on the opening lap.

In the world championship standings, di Meglio has now pulled 44 points clear of Simone Corsi, who finished in tenth position at Brno.

Race results 125cc - Brno:

1. Bradl (Aprilia)
2. di Meglio (Derbi) +0.881secs
3. Olive (Derbi) +4.070secs
4. Talmacsi (Aprilia) +4.118secs
5. Terol (Aprilia) +7.048sec

Friday, August 15, 2008

AB-1 SXV's kicking ass in the Wera Nationals


The AB-1 Motorsports team from the US have been racing Aprilia SXV 550's in the WERA lightweight superstock expert and lightweight superbike expert classes. Racing against fast Suzuki SV 650's and other 1000cc twins. But they are no match for the SXV's. They have been kicking ass this season dominating pretty much every race so far. The other riders are getting frustrated by the dominance of the Aprilia and have been filing complaints that all have been denied. Only smart thing to do is to get a SXV yourself!

Check out the latest race report with videos here

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Aprilia Rip it Report: AMA Supermoto round 2


Stafford springs, CT - After a long 2800 mile trek from the X Games to Stafford Springs, Connecticut, the Aprilia Rip It Energy Fuel Team arrived at Stafford Speedway for round 2 of the AMA Supermoto National Championship. Last season this event proved to be a huge success, and with racing legend, Doug Henry promoting the event, it once again produced a fine showing.


The Aprilia Rip It Energy Fuel Team owner and rider Darryl Atkins earned second place for the Unlimited event aboard the SXV 5.5. Darryl was amongst the front riders at the start rounding turn one in 4th place. On lap number 4, he was able to pass KTM rider, Josh Chisum to move into 3rd place where he was able to begin chasing the two front runners. In the end, the 2nd place rider, Micky Dymond, crashed in the last lap while making a move for the lead. Atkins finished in 2nd in the race and is currently 3rd place in the point standings.


“It was important for me to get a solid result today and not to let the other guys get too many points on us. This championship is long, and now that I have started to recover from my broken wrist, and with today’s 2nd place, I feel the racing is just getting started for me now, and really look forward to the next few rounds. I have moved into 3rd in the championship so I plan to keep the pressure on, and start winning some races to get to the top of the ledger board.” commented Darryl after the race.

Reining AMA Supermoto Unlimited Champion, Benny Carlson, is focused on the 450 Supermoto class this year on the SXV 4.5 and finished in 6th place. “I did not get the result I wanted in the heat race as I went down in the dirt section,” explained Carlson. “That had me lining up on the third row of the grid however, I made some aggressive passes on the first lap, and worked my way back up to 6th. Had I had a better start, I felt we could have gotten on the podium today.” Benny is currently is 5th place in the Supermoto Premier class points standings.


RESULTS

Heat

Darryl - Unlimited Class - 2nd

Ben – 450 Class - 5th

Final

Darryl – Unlimited Class - 2nd

Ben – 450 Class - 6th

Championship points standings

Darryl – Unlimited Class - 3rd

Ben – 450 Class - 5th

Thursday, August 07, 2008

2009 RXV?


Aprilia has posted a service manual online for the 2009 RXV and its showing pics of a red frame and a new straight swingarm. A side drawing also shows the new swingarm. I made a quick photoshop of the 2009 RXV with the new swingarm and red frame. But it's not certain the RXV 09 will end up looking exactly like that.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

More v4 spypics



More spypics from the mugello test. You can clearly see that the frame is a lot different than the carbon RSV4 that was presented by the aprilia bosses at the beginning of this year.