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| | | Aprilia RSV 1200R, Caponord 1200, Futura 1200... |  Written: 12/05/2006 : 11:53. Read 41754 times (20/day). | Right now Aprilia is testing its brand new, in-house developed, 1200cc V-twin engine at the Noale factory.
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It is actually believed that the new engine is purely built for road use and that the engine will not be used for racing. For World Superbike racing Aprilia is developing a brand new 1000cc V4 (take a look at this article.
But to stay ahead on the roadbike market Aprilia needs a large displacement V-twin to match both Ducati’s coming 1188R and the KTM RC8 1150. So this is the reason I believe that also the RSV will benefit from the new engine and eventually the Tuono as well. The current Rotax V60 1000 would not tolerate being enlarged to 1200cc and I see a bye-bye to Rotax on the horizon. Moto Morini and Harley-Davidson were first with a 1200cc performance V-twin in the Corsaro 1200 and V-Rod. The V-twin performance engine seems to be going through a revival period now and 2007 and 2008 will see all these machines hit the roads and racetracks of the world.
Aprilia is not developing the new 1200 to be used for racing, so which other new models will receive this engine? Well, first of all the Futura and Caponord has been a bit of a sales flop for Aprilia so to revive these two models they will be the first to receive the new engine along with a softer version of the RSV. From being the top superbike in Aprilia’s range the RSV will continue as a sportsbike for the roads where it will find its place somewhere between the Futura 1200 (the new sports tourer might get a new name, but we will go along with Futura for now) and the RS 1000 V4 superbike. Caponord is not a motorcycle Aprilia feels fits to well with its “racy” image and it is heavy and bulky. If Aprilia decides to upgrade it with the new 1200cc V-twin it would be much more like KTM 990 Adventure than BMW R1200GS. Lighter, more powerful and user friendly. What is important to mention about this new engine is that it is purpose built for the road rather than strict WSB regulations. Torque will be the most important goal, where the RSV 1200R will get the most powerful version of the engine, the ETV 1200 would get a version with torque only a big 1200cc V-twin can provide.
Not enough with Aprilia. Moto Guzzi will for certain build a new sportsbike . Initial speculation has gone with either a tuned version of the air-cooled 1100cc engine from Griso or the 1200 from Norge 1200. However, Piaggio owns both companies and this new liquid cooled 1200 V-twin might be shared across the Piaggio range. If this happens Moto Guzzi will develop its sports bike alongside the engine technicians in Noale and build its own chassis and fairing in Mandello. Who would have thought that we would ever see a liquid cooled Moto Guzzi? Well, even Harley-Davidson has to convert and build brand new engines to keep tighter noise and emission regulations within the next few years. Meaning all Moto Guzzi’s will also feature liquid cooled engines in only a few years. Moto Guzzi has been a sunshine story for Piaggio since they took over and Moto Guzzi will get all the funding that it needs to build new models just like Aprilia. People were sceptical at first about Piaggio but now you just have to praise them for this huge effort, commitment and investment in Italy’s most legendary motorcycle brands.
By Tor Sagen/CG’s by: Robert O’Brien
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