ALUMINUM COMFORT BIKES

For Sale: An Aprilia RSV Mille. 2002 Model.

The good, the bad and the lovely.

The good:
The major service was performed by the Aprilia agents in Cape Town. You can contact them to confirm this, and I have paperwork for it. The service included pretty much everything from fork oil to opening the motor, checking the shims, etc. The shims were perfect by the way. The dealer told me the motor was in near perfect condition and that usually there is alway one shim to replace. They did however replace a engine cover bolt, which i'm sure THEY stripped. But anyway...

The motor and electrics, etc, are in perfect condition. I've just had a tail light bulb go, so this would be my first electrical issue since I've owned the bike. I owned a suzuki prior to this and I had issues every week, so this bike is a major step up in my opinion.

The bad:
The bike has been dropped. The damage is cosmetic and most of it is confined to the left hand side plastics. It should be an easy repair. I shopped around for a complete makeover and came back with an estimate of R6500 to get the bike to look exactly what it looked like when it left the showroom floor. This included a complete respray (3 tone silver) of the bike as well as replacing plastics and a complete new (imported directly from the UK) sticker kit. I recon if you decided to just replace/repair the existing parts and get the stickers made locally, you're probably looking an amount thats considerably less. Nix graphics in Table View/Parklands does some real nice work with sticker kits and I'll definately recommend him. He's made a full set of custom stickers for my MX bike from a photo I got off the internet. I'm pretty sure he could do the same for you if you wanted a Colin Edwards or Haga replica sticker kit.

The lovely:
Packed with loads of torque it allows for an easy ride, some like to say lazy, but either way changing gears take effort. So Chapman's peak can be done entirely in 3rd gear (except for one corner) if you like and you can enjoy the view while your mates drop gears into the corners. It may not be the factory model, but it can hold it's own against tough competition. I regularly ride with a mate of mine who own's a ducati 998SP (limited edition Ohlin's suspension and tuned motor) and he only just outpaces me in the twisties. The fact of the matter is that he's probably a better rider... if only just :-)

Mountain passes are a blast. The sound of a V-Twin echo'ing off the mountains definately sounds sooooo much sweeter than a 4 stroke rider murdering his bike down a straight. In the twisties it sticks in a corner and exits beautifully. It has an agressive riding position, and it's heavily front wheel based, which gives it the great cornering it's renown for.

Just some info:
Everything on the bike is original, including the tail pipe. This bike would suit pretty much anyone, but is probably not meant for someone who's 6 foot 4 or taller) The reason for this is that it has a shorter wheel base, giving it almost 600cc cornering abilities and feel, and this requires a taller persons to duck down lower, else feel some strain on the upper back. I don't let other people ride her. I have never taken her on the track. I replace anything that is faulty with genuine Aprilia parts. I can fix her up if you want, but then it will be R6500 more than the agreed price. Aprilia Cape Town will put it on their showroom floor for R75000 after I do the repairs. But since I don't want to invest more money or go through all the trouble as I travel alot, you can make me a offer in the R60 000 range. It will be sold to the highest offer.

Why would I sell her?
It's not the kind of bike I would want to get rid of and I don't ride her to the max, but the Mrs. promised me that I can get a new bike,....... (realising her mistake)...."On condition that I sell this one of course."

I've tried to provide as much information and be as honest as possible. If I haven't answered any questions, please drop me a line on 084 3055066. I'm available pretty much all day until 10pm. If I don't answer, please don't feel offended, but I have another phone on which my work revolves around, so I may only get back to you a bit later in the day.

After we agreed to a price, I'll put on a new set of Mitchelin Pilot Powers front and back and it also comes with a pillion seat as spare. It also has a set of crash bobins and a set of clips on the rear which allows for easy tire changing when using a race stand. (Race stand not included, sorry.) I have an paperless PDF Manual on CD which is great for finding out things like setting when the RPM rev limiter light should come on and that sort of thing.

Thank you for viewing.

Nah, only joking, this is the real thing.

First coming to the attention of British race fans in the much missed Transatlantic Trophy races (which took place in the 1970s and 80s over the Easter weekend), Kevin Schwantz became a Grand Prix hero ( or Moto GP as it's called nowadays).

These were the days of the mean and nasty 500 cc two strokes when big "highsides" were a frequent occurence. With almost 200bhp and weighing only 130kg, these bikes used to bite. Wayne Rainey who was at Stafford this year is living proof of this, having unfortunately been partially paralysed in a racing incident.

Over the past 30+ years I've seen hundreds of bike events but THE most memorable was Kevin on a 500 at Assen in 1990. We sat half way down a straight and as he came round a right hander he spun the back wheel as far as where we were sitting, then it gripped, shook wildly then he peeled it into the next bend. A genius.

It was great to see this bike close up in the flesh ( erm...I mean metal) and I've given it a lomo kinda look. It could be any old number 1 of course so I've cheekily left a glimpse of the titanium expansion chambers in the bottom corner - just to prove its one of the greatest motorcycles....ever.

Yours for only ?1,500,000. Actually it maybe worth that, but it's not for sale.

Some of the major "big four" Japanese manufacturers were doing "ride outs" at Stafford and I did ask if I could have a blast but unfortunately it wasn't included in the scheme!