APRILIA TUONO V-TWIN

The Tuono was a very straightforward proposition when it first appeared. Aprilia simply took an RSV Mille which had had the fairings crashed off in advance, fitted some wide bars and a headlight out of the scooter parts bin – and that was it.

Now, it sounds crazy in these days of 180bhp naked bikes, but the Tuono was in a class of its own back then. Ducati’s Monster S4 was the closest rival, but its 916-based motor only put out 101bhp, 22bhp down on the Tuono. Back in 2002, naked bikes like the Honda Hornet 900 and Kawasaki Z1000 had been deliberately gelded, with soft cams, tiny throttle bodies and lowered compression – all aimed at giving softer power deliveries. Aprilia was having none of that though, and the only power drop from the full beans RSV superbike was down to the lack of the ram-air intakes on the fairing. It was a total stunt weapon, and went round tracks just as well as its faired stablemate – the only problem was the sore neck you got from hanging on at three figures everywhere…

Aprilia also released a fancy version called the Tuono Racing, with the same OZ wheels, Brembos and Öhlins upgrade as the ‘R’ versions of the RSV, and if you can find one at good money, these are the dead-cert special investment vehicle, as it were… But even a basic Tuono is a great bike – speak to Griff at Aprilia Performance, get on to the owners’ groups online, and enjoy life with a super-cool, superexotic super-naked.