| | | | Aprilia, to launch Shiver family with new engine range and V4 race bike on track |  Written: 07/06/2007 : 14:12. Read 7511 times (23/day). | | The integrality of this filed article is for Premium Members. | I spoke to Francesco Polimeni, Motorbike Category Manager at Aprilia in Castle Brando in the small village of Cison di Valmarino, Italy. On my piece of paper I had written down the names of three motorcycles. SL750 Shiver, SL750 Shiver Sport and SL750 Motard.
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We started with Francesco Polimeni, talking about the new Aprilia SL750 Shiver first.
TS: How do you think the market will react to RBW (Ride-by-Wire)?
FP: For sure it is difficult to appreciate it on paper. Not every biker is Valentino Rossi and we believe RBW will make it easier for everyone.
TS: With only the Pegaso 650 models to choose from between the 125’s and 1000cc models, is the Shiver the first step to close this gap?
FP: This is what I said when I started with Aprilia. We have now started to fill the holes in the range. The next three years will see a host of new Aprilia products. The Aprilia heritage is one of sport and racing. We feel that the Shiver is the closest we could do in this segment to our sports heritage. That is why we have added upside down fork, radial callipers and a high tech V-twin engine.
TS: Looking at my notes, I have worked out that the Shiver model will become a family of three different motorcycles with the same engine and frame. The SL750 Shiver, SL750 Shiver Sport and SL750 Motard. Comments?
FP: Well, there will be a Factory model based on the Shiver first. This is in the tradition of Aprilia. And yes, we will launch a Sport model with a half fairing like on the Yamaha FZ1 Fazer. This is quite obvious I think and there has been a big investment in this new engine and chassis so we will use it to create a family. Our big Supermotard is more beautiful than the Ducati Hypermotard.
TS: Speaking of holes in the model range, will you do another sports tourer? Tell me about the Futura and perhaps a brand new sports tourer with the SL1200 twin?
FP: The Futura was too far from what our customers wanted. It did well in the US, but there were no touring accessories available to the customers. This damaged sales in the end. For sure, the 1200cc version of the SL750 would fit such a package, but there are no plans at the moment for this.
We also want to broaden our range to models that are not necessarily associated with Aprilia today.
TS: Custom you mean?
FP: Maybe, but tha ...
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