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Aprilia Tuareg 125

Make Model	Aprilia Tuareg 125
Year	1984 -
Production	700 units
Engine	Two stroke, single cylinder
Capacity	124 cc / 7.6 cu in
Bore x Stroke	54 x 54 mm
Compression Ratio	15.5:1
Cooling System	Liquid cooled
Starting	Kick
Max Power	18.6 kW / 25 hp @ 9000 rpm
Transmission	6 Speed
Final Drive	Chain
Front Suspension	Telescopic fork
Rear Suspension	Mono shock
Front Brakes	Single disc
Rear Brakes	Drum
Front Tyre	2.75-21
Rear Tyre	4.60-17
Wet Weight	120 kg / 265 lbs
Fuel Capacity	18 Litres / 7.6 US gal
Top Speed	130 km/h / 81 mph

PRETENDERS that's what most of the dual-purpose bikes in Italy are. Styled to look like racers, but in truth capable of only a mild pace in the dirt. Unless, that is, you're talking about the Aprilia Tuareg Rally.

The Tuareg is every wheelie-artist's dream, a genuine dirt bike with turn signals, instruments and a license-plate bracket neatly grafted on.

Ihe truth is, the bike's reason for its existance has more to do with reducing its inventory than Aprilia's desire to supply the public with the ultimate rally-replica. Last year 200 enduros were stuck in the company warehouse, the victims of a declining off-road market. This is a last-ditch move to unload the bikes. Aprilia made them street-legal and hung huge, rally-style gas tanks on their frames, and within two weeks the whole lot was in the hands of happv owners.

This year Aprilia will capitalize on that demand by making 700 Tuareg Rallys. The bike is still based on the enduro racers, with slightly shorter suspension and an engine tuned to give more midrange power: and it includes a seven-gallon, clamshell-type fuel tank that splits into two parts, just like the rally bike's, so you can continue on your way should you fall and puncture one side of the tank.

Of course, there is a price for all this rally realism - such as having to replace the piston and rings at regular intervals, just like on the racebikes. Still, that's a small price to pay for endless wheelies and the envy of all those other riders on "ordinary" dual-purpose bikes.