FACT: IF IT'S AN Aprilia, it's gorgeous — gorgeous and probably daubed in the
united colours of Benetton and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Pegaso is an Aprilia
all right, but with a difference.
It sits in Italy's most flamboyantly styled line-up unembellished by lurid
paint and gaudy graphics; it is massively restrained and subdued selling
itself with no more than intrinsic gorgeousness. "One look tells you it's in a
very different market to the Futura," says Steve Reynolds of Aprilia Moto UK.
"The Pegaso is aimed at riders who've been through a few bikes."
Free from having to attract colour crazed teenagers, a deep metallic
raspberry finish is punctuated only by distinctly undaring splashes of silver on
the bars, steel tubed frame, placcy "bash" plate and filler cap. Admittedly the
word Aprilia appears at least 15 times on the Pegaso's saucy bodywork and the
'Flying Mythos' bit across the dummy tank cum frame-mounted fairing goes to show
that people will fiddle. Otherwise Italy's challenge to Japan's nominator is
acutely elegant in all the right places, businesslike where it matters.
It debuted at the NEC show with a downbeat single headlight inserted for
prior twin beams (Italy has had Pegasos for 18 months) and a non-homologated
plastic fuel tank which is earmarked for replacement on the first batch of 40
bikes to be imported. It was permanently obscured by smitten admirers, fuelling
Aprilia Moto UK's mushrooming confidence in the bike.
All this restrained class surrounds a Tuareg-proven, four-valve, air-cooled
Rotax thumper. Austrian by birth, it's a real rough diamond; several pops, bangs
and tingles less refined than the Japanese middleweight trailies but equally
quick (is good for 100 mph) in the thumper-puncher tradition.
The factory claims an unexciting 36 lb-ft of max' torque but a very
competitive 46 bhp at 7000 rpm, one blip more than the Dominator, the same as
Suzuki's DR650 and only a whisker off Kawasaki's and Yamaha's liquid-cooled
singles. Giving away over 80cc to that lot, the Pegaso's quota of grunt may
fill short of the class average but it fights back into contention by redlining
late 7500 lrpm and weighing-in light 148kg compared to the Suzuki's 170.
Although the engine runs a dry sump its deeply finned barrel and head fairly
pack out their allotted space in the frame, dominating the heart of the Pegaso,
flying in the face of its delicate design. It's harsh — running a compression
ratio of 9.4:1 (compared to the nominator's 8.3:1) and revving high like it
could slot straight into a Sound of Singles racer. Its camshaft is belt driven
(maintenance free until replaced at 18,000km); a large oil-cooler sits behind
the fairing's right hand grill. waiting for revs.
This aggressive nature has to be put into context and, relative to virtually
everything else on the street, the Pegaso is just another big softie. Below
3000rpm its delivery is typically snatchy and confused then smooth and grunty as
the beautiful tacho heads towards 4000rpm. This is where clutchless wheelies are
born, where the 34mm DeH'Orto sorts itself out, where the countershaft balances
the vibes perfectly where everything about the Pegaso feels soft and lazy.
It chuffs around town in a land of cotton wool and sweet shortshifts.
As the pace picks up, so do bar and peg borne tingles. Our Pegaso was 60 km
new and well tight to boot but with each passing metre loosening and smoothing
its engine, the vibes moved further up the rev range until they only became
intrusive at 6000rpm plus, blurring the antiglare mirrors which had previously
just wobbled about. Power, meanwhile, had climbed straight and stepless tar more
appetizingly than the marginally faster but slightly flaccid KLE500 twin.
As a pure road bike (and the Pegaso is even less dirt orientated than the
Tuareg) it is just quick enough for everything bar madness. It's easy to wish
for more but more entails extra weight, another cylinder, maybe a desert tank,
sledgehammer styling and suddenly its appeal is gone. The chassis, though, needs
sorting before it can live happily with either that sporty engine or that LOOK!
I AM A BRILLIANT MOTORCYCLE styling.
Initially all is well. The seat is deep, long and comfortable. And high.
One-foot-on-the-ground nerves are tempered by an immediately apparent lack of
bulk. Steering lock is ample, it only stalls occasionally and that horrible
kickstart lurking by the gearshift can be ignored: the battery being strong and
the start button true.
It gets better. The pegs sit you toward and the bars, the trailie equivalent
of ace bars, are not much higher than your knees which in turn squeeze against
the dummy tank. It feels dead mean, very racey and the screen deflects most of
the airstream away from your chest. Dial in 3000rpm, release the slightly
juddery clutch, go laugh at some road decay and a few ZXR pilots. Eight inches
of front and rear suspension-travel combines with very plush, non-adjustable
forks and slightly firmer APS monoshock to make deep shag pile carpet out of the
most catastrophic examples ot urban underspending.
As the Rotax lump begins to chuff harder, the chassis begins to puff. On slow
turns there's no problem: the raked and slowish steering is chivvied along by
those wide bars and the Pegaso drops in, the steering movement damped and
controlled by knees. It squats down on its springs then bursts out in burps of
satisfying shortshifts.
Faster stuff is lower on laughs and reveals a trailie chassis trying hard to
be a roadster but not quite making it. The suspension simply fails to relay
enough information — its inherent vagueness leaving me stone cold on wet tarmac,
especially as the front wheel felt like it wanted to tuck in on a couple
of left banders. Pirelli MT6()s have a sticky reputation, and, regardless of the
famine of information I experienced, grip was probably available. 1 still slowed
down though.
Stiffer suspension is what's required. That the front 39mm upside-downers
need more compression damping and stiffer springs is confirmed by excessive dive
on the twin-pot Gremeca front caliper. The braking action is strong enough but 1
couldn't exploit the slotted disc's potential so great was the forks' reaction
to even gentle braking.
For 90 per cent of the time, though, the Pegaso remains boss. It is rare,
just 50 quid pricier than the Dominator and only when its pushed like a true
roadbike do its limitations show, and even those could be lifted with some
careful fettling. Italy is about to receive the 650 Pegaso with Aprilia's long
awaited five-valve, liquid-cooled single and uprated suspension. We won't get a
sniff until '93 at the earliest, but it's some prospect.