Aprilia AF1 125 Futura
Aprilia AF1 125 Futura
. .For mile after mile I’dbeen charging. Tearing down the straights and scratching through the bends asfast as I could go: head behind the bubble, throttle hard against its stop, earsringing with the sound of straining two-stroke engine, brakes left late for thebends, knee stuck out as I swept through the corners with a nudge on the low-setbars. And now I was lost. Reaching a fork in the road far ahead of photographer Goldman, who was followingwith our maps of north- eastern Italy in the car, I realised that I hadn’t aclue which way to go. There was no alternative but to park the gorgeousred-white-and-purple Aprilia, sit in the sun and hope that eventually he’d catchup. It was lucky that I looked up when I did moments later, for otherwise I wouldnot have noticed as our Fiat rentawreck rattled past, barely a couple of minutesbehind and showing no signs of being in a hurry. And then it dawned on me. Thenew Futura might look a million dollars (and cost six million lire), it might be big and brash and beautiful and unbearably well-equipped. Butit is, after all, still a 125.
Despite all my efforts, despite the fact that this tuned and fully-fairedmissile was one of the raciest and most high-tech streetbikes I’d ever sat on, Iprobably hadn’t managed to persuade it to push my un-aerodynamically large bodyabove 100mph all day. For all its upside-down forks and its single-sided swingarm and its butch alloy frame, the Aprilia Futura’s most significant feature isnevertheless its engine’s capacity of about half the average-sized shampoobottle.In many ways it is the curse of bikes like this, the latest race-replica toexplode onto the Italian teenage market, that for all its design flair andexpensive chassis brilliance the Futura is still just a 125. That means that itsstate-of-the-art two-stroke motor puts out 34 horsepower when the rest of themachine looks and feels as though it would be happy harnessing twice that power.
Not that the Futura isslow, you understand. It has a genuine top speed of just over a ton, and if youkeep the tacho needle jabbing at the 11-grand redline it has acceleration tomatch. But by sports bike standards it is obviously short on ultimateperformance - which, sometimes, is also its biggest attraction. The delight ofsmall-bore screamers like this is that even speed-freaks used to much biggertackle can enjoy twisting the neck off a 125 without putting life or licence at too much risk.That ride across country back to Aprilia’s base near Venice was memorable by anystandards, despite the lack of out-and-out speed, and travelling half as fastagain on the straights would not necessarily have improved the ride much at all.Lucky is the young Luigi whose rich padre presents him with one of these on hisbirthday. What I’d have made of being plonked on this motorcycle at the age of17 I can’t begin to imagine, and I suspect that it’s probably just as well Ididn’t have the chance to find out. British novices won’t find out immediately either, of course, because they’ll berestricted to a 12bhp version of the Futura that after riding the full-powerversion must feel as though it’s still parked on the centrestand (not that anyAF1 is weighed-down by any such encumbrance, of course).
All the morereason for passing your test, after which time, on being shown a photocopy ofthe owner’s full licence, the new Aprilia importers will forward free-of-chargethe exhaust power-valve that restores the missing ponies.
Aprilia Moto UK won’t be providing anything at all for the Futura for severalmonths, it must be said, because they can’t get stocks of the new bike yet andwill initially concentrate on selling the established AF1 Replica model. When the Futura does arrive it is likely to prove boss of the strada in the 125class just as it has in Italy, where it’s apparently outselling all competition.The Futura is basically the latest version of the AF1 series. It effectivelybrings together the Replica and the AF1 Sport -- the very similar but slightlymore powerful production-race version of the twin-headlamp screamer -- toproduce one new machine that is even slicker, even tricker and even moreobviously suited to the racetrack than its predecessors. It seems almost unnecessary to say that the Futura will eventually be the onlyAF1 model. Short of selling the bike with its bolts already lockwired, orperhaps with a roll of duct-tape and a couple of spare fairings, it’s hard toimagine how Aprilia could come out with a ‘sport production’ version of this.(No doubt they could if they tried, though, and perhaps they will if their babystarts getting whipped on the track.) The main difference between the Replica and Sport models is the carburettor,which is a Dellorto that grows from 28mm in size to 34mm for the competitionbike. The Futura gets a slightly modified version of the bigger fuel-bucket,natch, which helps push claimed output up one whole donkey from the Replica’s32.8 to 33.8bhp precisely, at 11,000rpm.
Compression ratio isactually reduced slightly, from 15:1 to 13.6:1, but the rest of the motor staysvirtually unchanged. It’s a watercooled two-stroke single, built by Rotax to Aprilia’s spec. It hasalmost square bore and stroke dimensions of 54 x 54.5mm, a balancer-shaft todamp out vibration, and an electronically operated exhaust valve that isappropriately named RAVE, and really gets the party swinging after eight(thousand rpm, not pm).The exhaust itself is a similar specimen that bulges out below the motor beforeheading up to a neat tailpipe on the left of the bike. On the other side of the engine the Sport’s side-mounted airbox is replaced by amore central chamber that sits between the top tubes of the bolt-on rearsubframe, and is shrouded by plastic and fed by two long plastic ducts runningback from the nose of the fairing. The main frame is a modified version of Aprilia’s aluminium alloy twin-spar job,and is so neat and sturdy-looking a piece of kit that it wouldn’t disgracesomething from down the coast at Bimota, let alone a puny mass-produced 125. Themain extrusions now bulge out a little on their route from steering head toswing arm pivot, and an alloy plate has been added on each side of the subframe,presumably for reinforcement. But the most obvious difference is that the satinymain spars have been left on view instead of covered by bodywork as they werebefore.
Being an Aprilia, theonly way that this 125cc motorcycle would not have featured upside-down forksand a single-sided swing arm is if the Noale firm’s designers had found a way ofequipping it with hub-centre steering, a single-sided front fork, a hubless rearwheel or something even more weird and over-the-top. (Unfortunately, Apriliawouldn’t reveal what tablets their creative crew are fed on.)
The suspension set-up ateach end looks seriously serious, and the Futura’s forks and shock combine withthe hugely rigid frame to give handling that matches the spec. One surprise isthat the suspension is non-adjustable. It’s firm but I felt no desire to changethings, and for novices the lack of fiddling potential is probably a good idea.Second surprise is that the steering is not ultra-quick, at least by small-bikestandards. The Replica’s rake and trail have been kicked out half a degree and3mm to give 26 degrees and 95mm, which is not radical by current standards.
What that means is that the little bike that looks like Yamaha’s OW01 actuallyfeels a little reminiscent of the super- solid 750 too, ludicrous as that maysound. (Part of the reason is that the Futura is not little at all. It is aleading example of the trend that has seen small-capacity bikes gettingphysically bigger while big bikes get smaller; presumably they will one daycross in the middle.)
The similarities startearly. From the pilot’s perch on the skimpy seat, far more thinly-padded eventhan the Replica’s, it’s a fair reach to the low clip-ons across a fuel tankwhose flush-filler is labelled with the words ‘specially developed for racing’,in case you were in doubt. The wickedly curving screen comes up to meet yourwild-eyed stare. Below it, the cockpit houses a typical array of partiallyfoam-mounted dials, and is bordered by a pair of surprisingly useful mirrors.
Feet are held predictably high but the Futura feels so long and generally roomythat it’s hard to believe this really is just a 125. (Unless you try ridingpillion, which requires membership of the National Union of Contortionists.)Press the button, hear the tinny two-stroke rattle and, well, perhaps it is a125 after all. Then you pull away - or rather this flash- leather-suitedprofessional test rider attempted to pull away, failed to give the gutless motorenough revs, and stalled right outside the factory’s front door. Thank God fordark visors. GET THAT KNEE DOWN There’s very little power below about 4000rpm but once you get used to keepingthe single singing that is really no great problem. Acceleration from thereuntil about 7500rpm is pretty limp, but then the power-valve chops in, theexhaust note changes dramatically from a flat drone to a high-pitched shriek and- in the lower gears, at least -- the Futura hurtles towards the 11-grandredline with great aplomb (and with aslight-but-not-troublesome tingling through the handlebars and seat). If a corner should intervene before the Futura has had a chance to stretch itslegs in sixth gear, then so much the better. A squeeze on the big single disc,which is progressive but not as brain-rotatingly potent as I’d expected from abike weighing only 250lb, brings the speed down in moments. Then you shuffleacross the seat, flick the Futura into the bend and attack the throttle againafter making sure to Get That Knee Down if at all possible. You owe it to thepeople who designed this bike, after all.
Naturally, it’s in the bends that the Aprilia exudes the classy feel of aserious track-ready motorcycle. There’s none of the nervous, underdamped feelthat comes with many small sportsters. You need a little effort on the bars tomove the front wheel off-line, after which point the Futura tracks with absoluteprecision and holds its line with wondrous stability even in ripply corners. Both wheels are five-spoke 17-inchers instead of the previous seven/nine spokedesign, and they wear radial Dunlops whose generous widths and soft compoundallow the Futura to be whistled through corners as fast as just about anythingon two wheels. Then you’re back on the power, the single-pot motor is revvinghard, your left boot is flicking frantically and your head is back behind thescreen as you flog the guts out of those thirtysomething horses...For a 125 it’s a brilliantly enjoyable scratcher; for a motorcycle costing morethan three grand it is still a brilliantly enjoyable scratcher, but... ApriliaMoto UK, the new British importers, hope to receive stocks of the Futura earlynext year. They plan to sell it for a little more than the AF1 Replica costsnow, which is £3134. That’s much closer to the price of Suzuki’s RG250, for example, than the RG125.If you’re a 17-year-old learner with that sort of money to burn, then by now youprobably don’t need directions to the nearest Aprilia showroom. Anyone elsewould have to be pretty sure that they really wanted to get their two-wheeledkicks from head-down, no-nonsense mindless boogie on a bike with the corneringpower and charisma of a Ferrari but the out-and-out speed of a Fiat Panda. Adrenalin junkies with dirty licences, this is the bike for you.
Source .insidebikes.com