Remember the Roland Sands SuperSingle? It seems
that Aprilia has taken an interest in the project, commissioning Roland to build
a one off prototype based on the SXV 4.5 supermoto. Piaggio -- Aprilia's parent
company -- presented this concept at its 2008 dealer meeting earlier this month
to see if they thought there'd be enough customer interest to justify a
production run. The interesting thing about the RoadRacer is that it only
changes very few of the major components, meaning production would require very
little R&D and making it more likely that we could see a version of this bike
available at dealers in the near future.
In order to convert the supermoto into the RoadRacer, the following changes were
made:
- RSD SuperSingle fairing, fuel tank and tailpiece with custom brackets
- Rearset relocator brackets
- Revalved and shortened forks by RaceTech
- Slick tires on stock rims
- Custom exhaust
- Clip-ons
It'd be easy to point out the details on this bike that clash with each other.
The frame looks a little odd paired with the fairing and fuel tank. The spoked
wheels don't match the modern diamond-shape swingarm. But the rough and ready
nature of this bike is the point. You could build this bike in your garage right
now, or you could wait for Aprilia to do it for you. They don't need to invest
millions of dollars in new model development; you don't need to wait 10 years to
see the fruit of that project.
Demand for a sportsbike using Aprilia's 450 or 550cc v-twin has been high ever
since the engine was unveiled. The closest we've come so far is a handful of
projects -- the Tucscon BT550 Superleggera for instance -- that have either
shoehorned the engine into an RS250 chassis or had a bespoke steel trellis made.
This RSD RoadRacer is our best chance yet to get a 450cc v-twin powered
sportsbike that we can buy.