Aprilia
In the province of Venice sits a small town called Noale. With just 15,341 inhabitants it’s not big but it does contain a large R&D; and production centre for Aprilia.
Part of the Piaggio group of companies since 2004 the strategic objective for Aprilia is to strengthen the company’s position as motorcycle and scooter market leader, and as Europe’s only ‘full line’ manufacturer of two wheelers from 50cc to 1000cc.
Aprilia started in the period immediately after the second world war when Alberto Beggio opened his bicycle factory in Noale. In 1968 the plant was assed to Alberto‘s son Ivano Beggio who then produced the first Aprilia motorcycle, a gold and blue 50cc model.
Aprilia’s first products were the Colibri and Daniela mopeds, but the establishment of a brand didn’t come until 1970 when the 50cc Scarabeo motocrosser was released.
The dream for Aprilia was to compete in national level competitions, particularly in motorcross.
In 1974 Aprilia released it’s first competitive motocross motorcycle and, with rider Maurizio Sgarzani, it was ridden in the cadet class. It was to be a while before the titles began to arrive with the first in 1977 in the 125 and 250 classes of the Italian motocross championship. Then, in 1978, Alborghetti finished the season with two race third places and in sixth overall place in the motocross world championship — the best result ever by an Italian rider.
Around the world the Aprilia brand was beginning to gather pace and export markets were showing an interest in the brand’s motorcycles.
In 1985 Aprilia entered MotoGP and became a nursery for great talent. Many recent world champions learned their trade riding an Aprilia including; Biaggi, Capirossi, Gramigni, Locatelli, Sakata, Rossi, Poggiali and Lorenzo.
As the 80’s turned to the 90’s Aprilia sort to make further strides in the urban mobility market. With ever more creative and daring designs, including the Amico which was the first all-plastic scooter introduced in 1990, Aprilia forged ahead.
Today, membership of the Piaggio Group has given Aprilia the confidence to forge ahead with developments in the middleweight and big bike sectors, and major investments have been made in new models and engines, designed entirely by Aprilia and industrialised within the Piaggio Group.
Aprilia seems to be heading firmly down the technology route in the future with innovation like the Shiver 750, the first production bike in the world with a ride-by-wire electronic throttle, and the Mana 850, the first bike to boast a fully electronic automatic gearbox.
The arrival of the RSV4 confirms Aprilia’s determination to compete at the highest levels. The work done at the Noale based racing department has enabled Aprilia to collect another two championship titles, winning 125 and 250 classes of the 2007 MotoGP. Aprilia have now accumulated a total of 45 world champioinship titles, including 38 in MotoGP.
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A selection of some our photos from the 2010 Motorcycle Live event at the NEC in Birmingham, UK.
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