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Aprilia

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Motorcycle
Founded	1945; 74 years ago (1945)
Headquarters	Noale , Italy
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Rocco Sabelli, CEO
Products	Motorcycles & Scooters
Parent	Piaggio & Co. SpA
Website	aprilia.com

Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle company, one of the brands owned by Piaggio. Having started as a manufacturer of bicycles it moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. In more recent times Aprilia has produced large sportbikes such as the 1,000 cc V-twin RSV Mille and the V4 RSV4. Aprilia has enjoyed considerable success in road-racing.^[1]

Aprilia plant, Scorzè, Venice

History

Aprilia was founded after the Second World War by Cavaliere Alberto Beggio, as a bicycle production factory at Noale, Italy in the province of Venice. Alberto’s son, Ivano Beggio, took over the helm of the company in 1968 and constructed a 50 cc "motorcycle" with a dozen or so^{[citation needed]} collaborators. The first production Aprilia mopeds were named Colibrì, Daniela and Packi. Aprilia later produced a motocross bike in 1970 called the Scarabeo. Produced until the end of the 1970s, the Scarabeo came in 50 and 125 cc versions.

In 1977 Ivan Alborghetti from Milan, Italy won the Italian 125 and 250 cc motocross championships on Aprilias. In 1978 Alborghetti closed the season with two third places in individual races and sixth place in the World Championship. In the 1980s Aprilia added enduro, trials and road bikes of between 50 and 600 cc. In 1981 Aprilia introduced the TL320 trials machine. In 1983 Aprilia launched to St 125 road bike. In 1984 Aprilia launched an improved model called STX, and an enduro, called the ET 50.

In 1985, Aprilia started outsourcing engines for some models to the Austrian company Rotax. In 1985 Aprilia launched a 125 STX and 350 STX. In 1986 Aprilia launched the AF1; a small sports model, and the Tuareg; a large tanked bike for African rallies like the Dakar Rally. Aprilia factory rider Philippe Berlatier contended for the trials world championship reaching fifth place, and Loris Reggiani rode an Aprilia GP 250 with Rotax engine to sixth place in the road racing World Championship. Two seasons later, on August 30, 1987, at San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Loris Reggiani's AF1 won the first World Speed Championship.

In 1990 Aprilia launched the Pegaso 600, a road bike derived from off-road mechanics. Later, in 1992 Aprilia rider Alessandro Gramigni won the World 125 Road Racing Championship title. Also in 1992, Tommy Ahvala won the World Trials Championship on an Aprilia Climber. Since then, Aprilia has 124 times won 125 and 250 cc class Grand Prix, 15 Road Racing World Championship titles, and 16 European speed titles. Many world champions started on Aprilia such as Biaggi, Capirossi, Gramigni, Locatelli, Sakata and Rossi.

Also in the 1990s, Aprilia entered the scooter market starting in 1990 with Italy’s first all-plastic scooter, the Amico. In 1992, Aprilia introduced the Amico LK and the two stroke Pegaso 125, both with catalytic converters. In 1993 Aprilia launched a large diameter wheel scooter reusing the name Scarabeo with a four-stroke, four-valve engine. Later Aprilia launched more scooters such as the Leonardo, the SR and the Gulliver.

In 1995, Aprilia commissioned Philippe Starck to design the Motò which was shown in New York’s Modern Art Museum. Also in 1995 Aprilia launched the two stroke RS 125 and RS 250 sports bikes. In 1998 Aprilia launched what is its current flagship model the RSV Mille, a 1000cc V-Twin Superbike, and the Falco, a 1000cc V-Twin sport tourer with emphasis on sport. Both bikes used a variation of a Rotax 1000cc engine.

In 1999 Aprilia entered World Superbike Championship racing with its RSV Mille, and during 2000, Aprilia acquired Moto-Guzzi and Laverda, both historic heritage Italian marques. In 2000 Aprilia launched the 50 cc DiTech (Direct Injection Technology) two stroke engine for scooters which provides high mileage and low emissions, and also the RST Futura, a sport tourer, and the ETV 1000 Caponord; an adventure touring motorcycle. Both of these latter two motorcycles used a variation of the Rotax 1000 cc V-Twin.

Most recently, in 2003, Aprilia launched the RSV Mille Tuono which was essentially an RSV Mille with motocross-style high handlebars and only a small headlight fairing. Most of the major motorcycle magazines picked it for the best bike of the year. In 2004 Aprilia was acquired by Piaggio & C. SpA, to form the world’s fourth largest motorcycle group with 1.5 billion Euro in sales, an annual production capacity of over 600,000 vehicles, and a presence in 50 countries.

With the acquisition by Piaggio, the new President of Aprilia is Roberto Colaninno (President of Piaggio & C.), and the Managing Director is Rocco Sabelli. The founder, Ivano Beggio, was the Honorary President and died on 13 March 2018.^[2] On 15 August 2010, Aprilia became the most successful motorcycle racing brand in history, surpassing fellow Italian MV Agusta with a record 276th victory.^[3]

Racing history

Gábor Talmácsi, 2007 125 cc World Championship winner, aboard his Aprilia RS125 racebike.

Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle sports. It contested many Road Racing formulae, including the now-defunct 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc Grand Prix classes of the FIM World Championship. From 2002 to 2004 they participated in the FIM MotoGP World Championship, and from 1999 to 2002 they participated in the FIM Superbike World Championship. Aprilia has returned to World Superbike since the 2009 season and in MotoGP since the 2012 season.

Aprilia also feature in the off-road racing world, with their 450 cc V-2 motocrosser producing respectable results (including race wins) in both off-road (Motocross) and on-road (Supermoto) categories.

Grand Prix World Championship

Aprilia made their international racing debut in the Motocross World Championship competing in the 125cc class from 1976 until 1981 with a best result being a fifth place in the 1979 season with rider Corrado Maddi.^[4] The firm then focused on the Grand Prix road racing world championships in 1985 and since then it has seen varying successes. Aprilia won their first world championship race at the 1991 Czechoslovak motorcycle Grand Prix with rider Alessandro Gramigni winning the 125cc race.^[5] In 1992 they won their first road racing world championship with Gramigni winning the 125cc class.^[5] They continued to be successful in the smaller displacement categories, winning numerous races and championships in the 125 cc and 250 cc Grand Prix classes.

However, their 500 cc Grand Prix bikes failed to attain the same success. They began campaigning in the 500cc class in 1994 with a 250 V twin motor enlarged to 380cc in hopes of using its lighter weight and nimble handling as an advantage against the heavier, V4 engine bikes used by the competition.^[5] The bike eventually displaced 430cc and had its best result with a third place by rider Doriano Romboni at the 1997 Dutch TT but, could never overcome power disadvantage during the starting line sprint and was withdrawn at the end of the 1997 season for further development.^[5] Their first MotoGP effort, dubbed the RS Cube, was technically advanced but difficult to ride and performed poorly in the championship. The Cube did, however, pioneer many advanced technologies including ride by wire throttle and pneumatic valve actuation systems. Aprilia left the MotoGP class at the end of 2004 and then left the lower classes when two-stroke engines were banned. Aprilia set the record for the most points earned by a manufacturer in a single season from the 125cc class with 410 points in 2007. It was also the highest points earned by a constructor in Grand Prix motorcycle racing's history until 2011 when 420 points were won by the same bikes winning 16 out of 17 races.

The company is also notable for choosing somewhat atypical engine configurations. For example, they progressed with development of a V-2 500 cc Grand Prix bike when other teams were moving to V-4 configurations for what some believed was better and more usable power outputs. Aprilia continued this trend, taking advantage of lighter minimum weights with the introduction of their RS Cube MotoGP bike – featuring three cylinders in an inline triple layout, the bike had the least number of cylinders on the Grand Prix paddock.

Aprilia rejoined the MotoGP class in 2012, taking advantage of the newly introduced Claiming Rule Team category that encouraged independent teams with lower budgets to use bikes from manufacturers not officially involved in MotoGP. Aprilia supplied RSV4 SBK-derived bikes under the ART (Aprilia Racing Technology) name to Aspar, Paul Bird Motorsport and Speed Master teams. In both the 2012 and 2013 seasons Aprilia's ART machinery stood out as the best CRT bikes.

For 2015 Aprilia returned to the world championship with a factory effort.

Riders championships

Year	Class	Champion	Motorcycle
1992	125cc	Alessandro Gramigni	Aprilia RS125R
1994	125cc	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSW 250
1995	250cc	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSW 250
1996	250cc	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSW 250
1997	125cc	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia RS125R
1998	125cc	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Loris Capirossi	Aprilia RSW 250
1999	250cc	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia RSW 250
2000	125cc	Roberto Locatelli	Aprilia RS125R
2002	125cc	Arnaud Vincent	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Marco Melandri	Aprilia RSW 250
2003	250cc	Manuel Poggiali	Aprilia RSW 250
2006	125cc	Álvaro Bautista	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Jorge Lorenzo	Aprilia RSW 250
2007	125cc	Gábor Talmácsi	Aprilia RSA 125
	250cc	Jorge Lorenzo	Aprilia RSW 250
2009	125cc	Julián Simón	Aprilia RSA 125
2011	125cc	Nicolás Terol	Aprilia RSA 125

Manufacturers championships

• 
  250 cc class
  
  • 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
  
  


• 
  125 cc class
  
  • 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
  
  

RS-GP results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

ART results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Superbike World Championship (SBK)

Aprilia RSV4 Factory race bike.

Aprilia entered the Superbike World Championship in 1999 using a homologation special version of their V-twin road bike RSV Mille. They were third in the riders' championship in 2000 with rider Troy Corser, and third in manufacturers' points and fourth in rider points both in 2001 with Corser and in 2002 with Noriyuki Haga. Aprilia retired from the series at the end of that season.

In February 2008, Aprilia debuted a V-4 superbike, the RSV4, for the 2009 Superbike World Championship.^[7]

Max Biaggi rides the RSV4

Aprilia won its first Superbike world championship in 2010 with Max Biaggi, claiming both the riders and the manufacturers titles.

Riders championships

Year	Champion	Motorcycle
2010	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSV4 1000
2012	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSV4 Factory
2014	Sylvain Guintoli	Aprilia RSV4 Factory

Manufacturers championship

• 
  2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
  

SuperMoto World Championship

Thierry Van Den Bosch riding the SXV 450 in 2006

Aprilia debuted in the FIM Supermoto World Championship in 2004 and since then it has won many titles in both S1 and S2 classes.

Riders championships

Year	Class	Champion	Motorcycle
2004	S2	Jerome Giraudo	Aprilia SXV 450
2006	S2	Thierry Van Den Bosch	Aprilia SXV 450
2011	S1	Adrien Chareyre	Aprilia MXV-S 450

Manufacturers championship

• S2 class: 2006, 2007


• S1 class: 2008, 2011

models

Aprilia models for 2014 are:

Road

• RSV4 Factory


• RSV4 RR


• RSV4 R


• Tuono V4 R


• Tuono 150


• Caponord 1200


• Dorsoduro 1200


• Dorsoduro 900


• Dorsoduro 750


• Shiver 900


• Shiver 750


• Mana 850 GT


• RS4 125


• RS4 50


• RS 250


• RS 125


• RS 50


• SRV 850


• ETX 150


• STX 150

Off-road

• SXV 4.5 – 5.5


• RXV 4.5 – 5.5


• MXV 4.5


• SX 50


• RX 50


• SX 125


• RX 125


• RX 250

Scooters

• SR Max 300


• Storm 125


• SR 150 Race


• SR 150


• SR 125


• SR Motard 125


• SR Motard 50


• SR 50 R


• SR 50 Street


• Scarabeo 50 2T


• Scarabeo 50 4T4V


• Scarabeo 100 4T


• Scarabeo 125 ie


• Scarabeo 200 ie

See also

• 
  Gilera – maxi-scooters made by Piaggio


• 
  Vespa – scooters made by Piaggio


• List of Italian companies

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aprilia motorcycles.

• Official website


• 
  Aprilia at Curlie
  


• OEM spare parts price aggregator