Episode 178 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one starts our review of the 2020 MotoGP Championship season, as we take a look at the fates of the various manufacturers.
On the mics, we have Neil Morrison and our newest member to the show, Adam Wheeler (from the magazine On-Track Off-Road).
Taking the manufacturers two at a time, this episode focuses on the results of the Aprilia and KTM squads during the year.
The 2021 MotoGP grid is finally complete. Or complete-ish, anyway. Aprilia has finally made a decision on their second rider for 2021, and their decision is that they will decide after the winter tests at Sepang and Qatar have finished.
Both Lorenzo Savadori and Bradley Smith have been signed for 2021, to fill the roles of second contracted MotoGP rider alongside Aleix Espargaro, and MotoGP test rider.
Is this the new 2021 Aprilia RSV4 superbike? That is what the internet seems to think, after the eagle eyes at Motomaniaci spotted the machine testing on city roads.
The bike is a mixture of old and new, with the frame and engine appearing to be the same units from the current generation of the Aprilia RSV4.
However, we can see that Noale is using a new under-slung swingarm design, the exhaust can is a new design, and that the bodywork has gone through some serious changes.
Episode 41 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is back with another weekly episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure. In this show, we sit down and talk about a few bikes in particular.
We start out with the BMW R18, which has been sitting in the garage at A&R HQ these past few weeks. Accordingly, we give some initial thoughts on riding this unique cruiser, and what it means for the German brand.
Andrea Dovizioso’s future is becoming increasingly clear, and his choices are going to have a knock on effect for the test rider market.
According to a report from Motorsport.com‘s Oriol Puigdemont, Dovizioso has decided to take a sabbatical and spend a year racing motocross, in the hope of making a return to MotoGP in 2022.
In an unexpected move, Aprilia has decided to replace Bradley Smith in the Aprilia Gresini MotoGP team with Lorenzo Savadori for the last three races of 2020.
Smith has been Aprilia’s main test rider for the past two seasons, and had stepped in to take the place of Andrea Iannone after the Italian was suspended for a doping offense.
Savadori, who has raced for Aprilia in WorldSBK in the past, and this year was crowned Italian CIV champion on board the RSV4, is Aprilia’s second test rider.
Almost two-and-a-half years ago, Asphalt & Rubber broke the story that Aprilia was working on a twin-cylinder sport bike, which would be a more affordable and approachable option than the company’s flagship RSV4 superbike offering.
After teasing us at EICMA with the prototype in 2018, and then with the production model a year later, we were set for the Aprilia RS 660 to debut as a 2020 model…but then, the coronavirus outbreak changed all that.
With Italy no longer under lockdown, this bike is finally ready to take the stage, and of course the 2021 Aprilia RS 660 is headed stateside, with the first examples of it landing at dealerships in time for Christmas (and what a present that would be under the tree).
It has been a long wait for this eagerly anticipated motorcycle, and last week the American motorcycle press got their first miles on this middleweight-twin.
Riding the canyon roads near Santa Barbara, we put the Aprilia RS 660 through its paces on some of the best roads California has to offer (in this author’s opinion, at least), to see how this unique creation from Noale stacked up.
Would it live up to the hype? Is this the new twins class killer? Does Aprilia have another opus on its hands? That is what we aim to explain to you in this review.
Another bike on our list of “must-rides” for 2020, we are about to swing a leg over the Aprilia RS 660. This middleweight-twin has been a long time coming, especially in its full-fairing aesthetic.
On the spec sheet, the Aprilia RS 660 looks set to upend the segment, but of course the proof is in the pudding on how this parallel-twin motor runs, how its twin-spar aluminum chassis handles, and how refined its APRC electronics package truly is on the open road.
Today’s test takes us to the curvy pavement near Santa Barbara, California, where our 200-mile route through canyons and highways promises to give us a glimpse at this bike’s potential.
Next week, we will be in Santa Barbara, riding the new Aprilia RS 660 on the street.
We have been waiting a long time to ride this Italian middleweight twin, as it promises to bring a great deal of sophistication to a segment of motorcycling that has primarily been stagnant.
Andrea Iannone’s doping saga appears to be coming to an end.
In a press release issued today, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that the court would issue its decision in mid-November on the two appeals lodged against Iannone’s 18-month ban for testing positive for drostanolone, handed down by the FIM International Disciplinary Court (CDI). Those appeals were heard on Thursday, October 15th.
Last week, we got news that the Aprilia RS 660 would cost €11,050 in the European market, which gave us some idea on what to expecting for pricing in North America…or so we thought.
In our analysis, we figured on a price tag in the low $12,000 range, but now Aprilia has proven us very wrong.
Releasing pricing for the 2021 Aprilia RS 660 this morning, the Italian brand has done a bit of a shocker, announcing a $11,299 MSRP for the Aprilia RS 660.