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PRODUCT
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

MOTO GUZZI MGX-21 FLYING FORTRESS:
DARK, ELEGANT, POWERFUL

THE MOTO GUZZI MGX-21 CONTINUES ITS EVOLVUTION AFTER THE PRESENTATION OF A PROTOTYPE LAST YEAR THAT GARNERED APPROVAL AND INTEREST FROM PUBLIC AND CRITICS. THE MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED OF THE MOTO GUZZI CRUISERS BOASTS OUTSTANDING FITTINGS THAT MAKE IT A REAL BAGGER, WHILE ITS STYLE AND TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS STAY FAITHFUL TO AN ORIGINAL PROJECT WITH THE CAPACITY TO SURPRISE EVERYONE

Futuristic and unique, produced in a limited edition, it will soon be booked online. First contact with the asphalt from 8 to 14 August 2016 at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the most famous American bikers event, for 75 years the coolest appointment for tens of thousands of motorcyclists and to the best bikes of history

The MGX-21 is the most unconventional, rich and technological of the 1400 cc grand cruisers built at Mandello del Lario. It is the latest distinguished representative of a line begun in 1921 when Moto Guzzi started to make unique hand built motorcycles as one-off collector's items. Moto Guzzi is one of the greatest brands in the motorcycling world and in almost a century of history has produced bikes that are often ahead of their time, whose innovations are subsequently adopted by everyone. From the racing track to the streets of the world, the company has not compromised its Italian soul. Bolstered by universally recognised values, Moto Guzzi now expresses the influences and stimuli of motorcycle culture in an increasingly personal and unique style. The MGX-21 is the latest example of Moto Guzzi's tradition of originality and courage. This model is dedicated to lovers of exclusive motorcycles, to people who like to feel excited even before they embark on a journey, simply by appreciating the majesty of this prestigious Italian bike resting on its side stand. The MGX-21 seems to invite you to fasten your helmet and set off, heading wherever the map takes you. The excitement felt even before you climb on board swells when the 90° V-twin engine roars into life. From the banks of the Lario to the corners of the world, your journey is marked by the rhythm of the strokes of the huge pistons of the Moto Guzzi big block.

Miguel Galluzzi, the head of the PADC (Piaggio Advanced Design Center) in Pasadena, California, describes the genesis of this new spectacular Moto Guzzi: "How do we imagine crossing an entire continent on a Moto Guzzi? This is the first question we asked ourselves and the immediate response was, on board a California 1400, a classic that has just been renewed. But we wanted to push beyond our thoughts and dreams, to take a leap into the future. We dared imagine a different way of travelling, cooler, as the Americans would say. And we imagined that Moto Guzzi would design and build its own bagger. How could that be? How could a project like this be steeped in Italian design? This is how our thinking and inspiration turned to the masters and masterpieces of Italian design. I mean Bertone and his extraordinary Alfa Romeo BATs of the 1950s, when these crazy Italians interpreted the American taste for extreme shapes such as fins and translated the wildest dreams into precious metal, masterfully combining Italian creativity with American pragmatism. And of course we thought about infinite spaces, with straight roads heading to distant horizons, to speed records snatched on the expanses of salt lakes, to travelling aimlessly and freely. In this way a indistinct image started to take on a definite shape, and thus the MGX-21 Flying Fortress was born."

THE BAGGER STANDS OUT FOR ITS DESIGN, BUILD QUALITY AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress - Walkaround @ EICMA 2015

Presented last year as a prototype of a futuristic, seductive and powerful bagger, the current version of the MGX-21 is now very close to the final one to be delivered to dealers next year. The immediately obvious aspect of its appearance is also wholly exceptional. The technical and stylistic features of the prototype, which had surprised everyone when first revealed, have been kept totally intact. This is not a marginal detail, given that very important changes are usually made between a prototype version of a motorcycle and the final production model. Indeed, in the case of the MGX-21 a major detail has been added: the refined Moto Guzzi has become a bagger, gaining a pair of lateral motorcycle cases, which maintain intact the purity of design boasted by the prototype, harmoniously blending into the style of the tail. The design of the MGX-21 leaves little room for indifference and, like all Moto Guzzis, begins by showing off the engineering of the big 90° transverse V-twin engine. Its two large cylinders seem literally to explode out of the petrol tank, helping to significantly lower and streamline the side view. The red paint of the aluminium head covers emphasises the power this engine is capable of expressing, even in its aesthetics. With a low tail and raised front, thanks to the striking and distinctive design of the big fairing, the MGX-21 takes on the appearance of a large, technological and luxurious motorcycle able to grind out the miles with a smooth ride. It's certainly no wallflower, but rather seeks to attract people's attention with its original shape and the mysterious nocturnal appearance created by the PADC (Piaggio Advanced Design Center) designers in California. To celebrate such a personal, powerful and brave style, Moto Guzzi gave the new MGX-21 the evocative soubriquet of Flying Fortress. The Moto Guzzi bagger keeps the 21" alloy front wheel, now protected by carbon covers with small openings where the spokes intersect with the channel. This design choice also brings the technical advantage of increased stability and ease of handling due to the passage of air from one side of the hub to the other while the bike is in motion.

MOTO GUZZI’S TECHNOLOGICAL FLAG

Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress en el EICMA 2015

The Flying Fortress raises Moto Guzzi's technological flag. The new Italian bagger is distinguished by its high level contents some of which are unique and patented, helping to maximise riding pleasure and comfort, and of course safety. Behind the cowl a sophisticated instrument panel has a monochrome dot matrix display and real entertainment system. The latter includes a stereo and the intercom system. The Bluetooth module ensures full interaction with external devices such as a smartphone, which can be used as a music player or to manage the Moto Guzzi (MG-MP) multimedia platform, an exceptional source of information for the journey. The standard equipment is complemented by a sophisticated electronic engine management system, which includes the Ride-by-Wire multimap, in addition to two-channel ABS, traction control set to three different levels of operation (and excludable) and cruise control. The new Moto Guzzi also stands out for meticulous and obsessive attention to detail. The spectacular optical units use LED technology, while the electrical controls on the handlebars are made of metal. While respecting the solid century-old tradition, the MGX-21 reaches out to the future, employing materials typically used in the most advanced sports motorcycles. Indeed, many parts are made in high quality carbon, such as the front mudguard, the tank panels, the motorcycle case covers, the engine push rod and the front wheel covers.

STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY FOR MAXIMUM RIDING PLEASURE

2016 Moto Guzzi MGX-21 Flying Fortress Babe @ EICMA 2015

The adoption of the 21" front wheel brought with it a major evolution of the frame to ensure high levels of comfort and riding pleasure. Moto Guzzi worked hard to define the new steering geometry and ensure balance and ease of riding. In so doing it thus combined the comfort and load capacity of a custom with the dynamism and performance of a cruiser, two qualities that are difficult to reconcile. The new tubular structure of the closed double cradle frame adopts the ingenious elastokinematic engine mounting system developed by Moto Guzzi to eliminate vibrations transmitted to the rider when moving. However, when stationary the bike still retains the throb of the Moto Guzzi big block's two powerful 104 mm diameter pistons, which can excite even the most streetwise motorcyclist, intensifying the vibrancy of this model. The largest V-twin ever produced in Europe, which can deliver more than 120 Nm of torque with ease and precision from very low revs, has earned EU4 certification and a new exhaust unit with very long horizontal terminals. All this verve is controlled by a benchmark brake system for the category, worthy of a sports motorcycle, comprising a trio of large diameter discs and four-piston front callipers and radial connection.

INFO:
www.mgx21.motoguzzi.com/en

Product
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

MOTO GUZZI V9
AUTHENTIC SOUL

MOTO GUZZI'S MOTORCYCLE RANGE EXPANDS WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE V9, A TOTALLY NEW MID-SIZE CUSTOM BIKE, WHICH COMES IN TWO VERSIONS WITH DISTINCT STYLES AND CHARACTER. THE V9 ROAMER AND THE V9 BOBBER ARE MOTO GUZZI'S EASY CRUISERS, LIGHT, AGILE AND BUILT FOR EXCITEMENT, LIKE ALL MOTO GUZZIS, AT MANDELLO DEL LARIO. THE V9 ROAMER, AN EVOLUTION OF THE NEVADA, IS AN ELEGANT AND UNIVERSAL CUSTOM.

THE V9 BOBBER IS THE DARING AND ESSENTIAL SOUL OF THE V9. BOTH STAND OUR FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY OF THEIR COMPONENTS AND HIGH GRADE FINISHES.

THE V9 SEES THE DEBUT OF THE NEW 850 CC TWIN CYLINDER EURO 4 ENGINE, WHOSE UNPRECEDENTED TORQUE, SMOOTHNESS AND RESPONSIVENESS IMPROVE THE RIDE OF THE TWO ITALIAN CRUISERS, BOTH EXTRAORDINARY IN THE TYPICAL MOTO GUZZI TRADITION
Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber Roamer
Custom motorcycles are nothing new in nearly a century of Moto Guzzi history. Indeed this segment includes some of the most famous, best loved and biggest selling Mandello bikes, of which the California is the undisputed queen. Following in the tradition and the success of this 1971 model, Moto Guzzi designed and built mid-sized bikes to meet the demands of a growing range of users. These included the V35 Custom from 1979, later replaced by the higher performance V50, in turn superseded by the V65 Florida, and then the famous and much loved Nevada, launched in 1989 on the basis of the tried and tested V75 of 1985. This continued all the way down to 2007 with the modern and stylish Bellagio. Three essential features deriving from a unique motorcycle culture, are common to all generations of custom Moto Guzzis:
  • Highly customised design, in which the special and unique engine configuration plays a decisive stylistic role and is very much at the centre of attention, just like the sinuous tank and low exhaust pipes.
  • The legendary 90° transverse V-twin engine, introduced in 1967.
  • Riding pleasure in all conditions, due to the famous excellent ride qualities common to all the Moto Guzzis that have captured the hearts of generations of users around the world.

That same motorcycle culture inspires the two new Moto Guzzi motorcycles. The V9 Roamer is a universal easy and intuitive custom, beautiful to the eye and rewarding to ride, full of unique details and outstanding finishings. The V9 Bobber expresses an altogether darker and more nocturnal soul. It has big tyres and a total black look. The new V9s come in two models with very different personalities, one sunnier and more classic, the other more mysterious and sporty, a distinction introduced by Moto Guzzi in 2012 with the California 1400 Touring and its Custom version and, more recently, continued with the arrival of the Eldorado and Audace.

V9: FEEL THE QUALITY

With such explicit references to style and technology recurrent throughout the history of Moto Guzzi, the new V9 could only be beautiful, fun and safe. In particular, Moto Guzzi sought to create a design that would complement the sculpturesque shape of its new 850 twin-cylinder. The designers also paid attention to perceived quality: Exceptional care has gone into the finish and components on the V9 Roamer and V9 Bobber. They represent a new way of conceiving the medium-sized motorcycle. The use of top quality materials such as steel and aluminium is obvious to the touch, while plastic parts are reduced to a minimum.

The metal teardrop fuel tank on both V9s, with its 15-litre capacity, is finished with a fine coating with the Moto Guzzi logo on top, protected by clear varnish. The front and rear fenders are made of metal like all Mandello del Lario's custom motorcycles since the 1970s. However, the side panels, petrol cap and brake and clutch levers are in lightweight aluminium. The electric blocks are also made of aluminium, as are the rider's forged footrests. The welds of the new frame are immaculately finished as is the quality of the paintwork. The same goes for the meticulous details of the new 90° transverse V-twin engine, not only in the casting but also the matt black that brings out the Moto Guzzi branding milled on the aluminium cylinder head covers. It pays to look at the intimate details of these two motorcycles, which convey the entire build tradition and culture so typical of the best Moto Guzzi models.

V9 ROAMER: MOTO GUZZI’S COSMOPOLITAN CUSTOM

Versatility has always been a key factor in the success of custom Moto Guzzis. Guzzi enthusiasts have ridden the big California as well as the small Nevada down busy city streets and, with a few modifications for luggage, on long and adventurous journeys. The new V9 Roamer picks up on the legacy of the legendary Nevada 750, still in the range, with updates, after over 20 years. Glamorous, easy, convenient and rewarding to ride, like all Moto Guzzis, the V9 Roamer is the Italian custom bike dedicated to the citizens of the world. The Piaggio Group Style Centre developed the design, with input from the PADC (Piaggio Advanced Design Center) in Pasadena (California), the birthplace of motorcycle trends that spread to the corners of the earth.

2016 Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer - Walkaround - Debut at 2015 EICMA Milan

The V9 Roamer is a superb combination of a classic and essential style with high-level finishings, showing off the unique architecture of the new 850 twin-cylinder. Great care has gone into the details of the new wheel rims (19" front and 16" rear) painted in matt black and treated with a diamond-cut finish, as well as the new multi-function digital dashboard with a single circular dial. On board comfort is provided by a comfortable and relaxed riding position, which is nevertheless active and suited to getting the most out of the ride qualities of the V9 Roamer. The long padded seat, decorated with the Moto Guzzi logo stitched with grey thread has a ground clearance of just 775 mm and is combined with a raised chrome handlebar and the correct placement of the forged aluminium footrests. This triangulation thus offers all bikers riding comfort, ease of handling of the vehicle when stationary and feeling during dynamic riding. The V9 also continues Moto Guzzi's successful tradition of keeping the overall weight to a minimum. If the V7 II and California 1400 are already among the lightest bikes in their respective segments. The V9's weight of around 200 kg is a true record for its class. The reduced mass, combined with the V9 Roamer's superb riding quality and great low-end torque offered by the new 850 two-cylinder, gives feeling, handling and unique riding pleasure. The V9 Roamer is a true mid-size light motorcycle, not just for people who love and know Moto Guzzi motorcycle culture, but also for anyone who has always loved the design of custom motorcycles, but has never bought one because of the weight and poor handling of almost all models in the sector.

V9 BOBBER: MOTO GUZZI HAS CREATED A NEW SEGMENT

The name V9 Bobber evokes concepts such as essentiality of line, purity of design and thus a certain original sportiness, underlined by a total matt black look. Moto Guzzi's custom sports bike effectively creates the mid-size bobber series segment, in which the V9 is currently the only representative. Bobbers appeared in the United States after World War II, created by passionate riders who stripped away all details superfluous to their goal of running fast on dirt tracks. To compete in these conditions the riders used to mount oversized tyres, giving the bikes a wide footprint. Following this style, the V9 Bobber abandons all chrome plating and glossy finishes for matt black details. The side panels and fuel tank are pitch black, with just a few graphic details in yellow or matt red. The exhaust unit, mirrors and both metal mudguards are painted in dark matt. The mudguard has been carefully shortened and reduced in size to make a big contribution to the minimal look of the V9 Bobber as well as housing a very compact optical unit.

Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber

The 16-inch matt black rims are finely decorated with a grey Moto Guzzi logo and fit larger tyres (130/90 front, 150/80 rear). Even with these spectacular tyres and its distinctive design, the bike still provides exceptional riding pleasure and handling. Indeed the V9 Bobber is a true Moto Guzzi, and as such does not trade rideability for beauty. The V9 Bobber also differs from the V9 Roamer with its more crouched and sporty riding position, due to the low drag bar painted black and the long saddle. The ground clearance of the latter is only 770 mm, and if you add to this the exceptionally low weight of around 200 kg, you can easily imagine the level of comfort, control and rider pleasure offered by the V9 Bobber.

NEW 850 TWIN-CYLINDER MOTO GUZZI ENGINE

The V9 Roamer and the V9 Bobber have a new power unit, as usual built at the Moto Guzzi plant in Mandello del Largo. This is of course a 90° transverse V-twin air and oil cooled engine, a set-up used in all current Moto Guzzi engines, albeit with different engine capacities and performance, which provides excellent riding dynamics and a unique sound. It was developed with the explicit aim of maximising torque and elasticity, key aspects for ensuring riding pleasure and on road fun. Starting from the bottom of the engine, the new aluminium crankcase stiffened at the key points, has a new oil pan and an inertia calibrated crankshaft for liveliness and the correct engine braking. Inside the lubrication system is designed to dispose of the greater heat capacity and reduce power absorption to the benefit of both performance and fuel consumption. The ventilation system reduces power loss due to pumping within the crank chambers and a new low flow oil pump that absorbs less power. The oil pump suction pipe is new as is the bypass valve. There are new piston cooling oil jets with check valve and flow management. The alternator cover is also new and now includes the blow-by gas output. In the upper part of the engine, the thermodynamics are completely new. Aluminium heads, pistons and cylinders are designed to make the most of the engine's characteristics. Its cubic capacity is provided by bore and stroke values of 84x77 mm. Distribution is controlled by a pushrod system and there are two valves per cylinder set at an incline in the head (and no longer parallel, as on the V7 II engine). The fuel supply uses a one-piece Marelli electronic injection system. The electronic engine control unit is new. Of note is the presence in the entrance heads of the auxiliary air system, which, combined with the three-way catalytic converter, the double oxygen sensor and the total redesign of the engine, bring the twin 850 Moto Guzzi into compliance with EU4 standards. The unit is capable of 62 Nm of torque at just 3,000 revs/min, with a maximum power of 55 HP at 6,250 r/min, figures that show Moto Guzzi's commitment to achieving high levels of torque even at low rpms. This engine boasts surprising a character and responsiveness, which contribute to a really exciting riding experience. A version with the power limited to 35 kW is available, in line with the restrictions of an A2 licence and ideal for new Guzzi riders, who can also enjoy a record low total weight and the general ease of riding of both V9s. Another innovative aspect of the 850 Moto Guzzi engine is the 179 mm diameter single dry plate clutch, providing a perfect transmission of torque and power with no jerkiness or hesitation. This increases robustness and reliability over time and decreases the load on the handlebar lever, for better controllability and riding comfort. The six-speed gearbox is new, precise and with a soft clutch, which benefits from unprecedented ratios that make the most of the torque and engine power. The final transmission is carried out by a new double-jointed drive shaft offset by the increased size and the new bevel gear, which provides solid and reliable management of the powerful torque supplied by the twin engine. The cast aluminium swingarm has been designed and sized to support engine performance, as well as to accommodate the new 150 mm tyre.

CHASSIS ARCHITECTURE: THE QUALITY OF THE MOTO GUZZI TRADITION

Carlo Guzzi was probably the first person to grasp the importance of a frame able to exploit the full potential of the engine and a suspension unit that responds perfectly to the imperfections in the road surface. Indeed, the Norge GT of 1928 was the first motorcycle with a "spring frame", equipped with front and rear suspension, bringing enormous advantages in terms of safety and riding pleasure. The Moto Guzzi tradition is replete with models recognised for their excellent ride qualities. In terms of custom motorcycles, we should really mention the California, which in 1970, under the name V7 Police, was bought by the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) after a series of tough tests. On the back of this tradition, Moto Guzzi now builds motorcycles like the V7 II and the fleet of the big 1400s, which are real benchmarks in terms of handling in their respective segments. The V9 is the latest jewel from Moto Guzzi for riding pleasure and effectiveness. The new steel twin tube cradle frame creates optimal weight distribution on the front and rear of the engine, thereby providing the rideability and dynamic balance typical of all motorcycles built at Mandello del Lario. The designers paid special attention to the front, which has gussets in the steering head and new slope and trail abilities, making for a superb ride with the perfect combination of handling and stability, as well as precision and feeling.  In addition the entire structure benefited from care and finishing of the details, including welding and painting. The suspension is also new, using traditional long-travel (130 mm) inverted forks and a new pair of spring preload adjustable shock absorbers connected to the frame, which provide a gradual and controlled response at all times. The braking system is dedicated to the V9: the forecarriage has a new pump and Brembo opposed four-piston callipers against a 320 mm steel disc. At the rear a pump with integrated tank activates a 260 mm disc and a two-piston floating calliper.

EQUIPMENT: ALL FOR SAFETY AND RIDING PLEASURE

Like all recent Moto Guzzis, the V9 also has a full set of advanced electronic systems, placed very discreetly inside the vehicle, making riding safer and easier. The motorcycles come with a standard advanced two-channel ABS, non-invasive in normal riding, but that prevent the wheels from locking when really needed and the well-known MGCT (Moto Guzzi Traction Control), Moto Guzzi's advanced traction control integrated with the electronic engine management system and adjustable in two different levels of operation and that are deactivable, ensuring better grip of the rear tyre on any road surface, reducing engine torque if necessary through a reduction of the advance of the engine. Other standard features include an immobiliser and USB port located under the steering head, useful for charging external devices. The new electronic instrumentation, with a single circular dial, is also consistent with the style of the two the V9s. The speedometer has an analogue dial, while all other information is contained in the digital box: odometer, partial trip and daily trip (with automatic reset after eight hours after shutdown), the trip time, instantaneous and average fuel consumption, clock, outside temperature, average speed, MGCT level, in addition to the gear position and shift indicator, whose idle and maximum value can be adjusted by the user. In this way the rider can keep a check on a determined range of engine revolutions, for example during the run-in, or to minimise fuel consumption. The extensive catalogue of accessories includes the MG-MP, the Moto Guzzi multimedia platform that connects a smartphone to the vehicle to provide an exceptional quantity of information useful for the journey.

VERSIONS AND COLOURS. The Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer is available in two different colour variants, both with a glossy finish: Giallo Solare with black inserts; Bianco Classico with red.

The Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber is available in two colours, both with a completely matt finish: Nero Massiccio with yellow inserts and Grigio Sport with red inserts.

INFO:
v9.motoguzzi.com/en
www.motoguzzi.com

PRODUCT
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

MOTO GUZZI V7 II STORNELLO:
A TRUE FACTORY SPECIAL

MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS AFTER ITS BIRTH, ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN AND MOST SUCCESSFUL NAMES EVER HUNG ON A MOTORCYCLE PRODUCED BY MOTO GUZZI IS BACK, SYNONYM OF CONSTRUCTION QUALITY, VERSATILITY AND INIMITABLE STYLE.

THE NEW STORNELLO STANDS OUT WITH ITS NUMEROUS PRESTIGIOUS ITALIAN MADE PARTS AND THE DEDICATED SELECTION OF COLOUR SCHEMES WHICH ENHANCE ITS CHARM AND ELEGANCE. AVAILABLE IN A LIMITED AND NUMBERED EDITION, THE MOTO GUZZI V7 II STORNELLO IS THE LATEST REPRESENTATIVE OF MOTO GUZZI'S EXCLUSIVE ABILITY TO CREATE TRULY FACTORY SPECIALS, WITH A SINGULAR ATTENTION TO QUALITY AND PAINSTAKING ATTENTION TO DETAIL. LIKE A COLLECTOR'S ITEM.

The year was 1967 when Moto Guzzi introduced the Stornello Scrambler America, a more offroad version created on the technical base of the Stornello, but less specialised than the Regolarità model and therefore intended for a truly varied range of riders. Actually Moto Guzzi had already explored the possibility of creating, based on a street model, a version suited for soft offroad, with the Lodola in 1957, the single cylinder which was also available in the Regolarità version, suited for various destinations with just a few, but select changes, such as the clawed wheels, the flat and long saddle, and the high exhaust closely attached to the vehicle. It was the dawn of a new range of motorcycles that would soon be part of the new scrambler segment. This is further demonstration of how Moto Guzzi, during its long heritage of commercial and sport success which began in 1921, has come through the years without following fashion, often paving the technical and stylistic roads which everyone would soon follow. Marco Lambri, director of the Piaggio Group Style Centre, who supervised development of the new Stornello, had this to say:“ since the '50s making street bikes which are also suited for offroad use has been a normal operation. There are those who have found it easier to take advantage of this market because they had a "scrambler" heritage within their brand and then there were those who reinvented themselves. For Moto Guzzi this is nothing new: our heritage is full of this type of interpretation”.

So the new Moto Guzzi V7 II Stornello was created with the advantage of a solid tradition of more than fifty years to take on the exceptional popular demand for a version of the V7 II with these characteristics. As always, the founding concept was observed: built on the technical base of the iconic and ultra popular V7 II, a model was created suited for riding on any type of terrain, from congested city traffic to a pleasant solo or two-up ride on the roads that bikers love best. The new Stornello completes the already wide range of V7 II motorcycles made up of the Stone, Special and Racer models. The latter provides the exclusivity of being available in a limited and numbered edition of just one thousand units, as well as the rich package of precious parts as standard equipment (all made in Italy), with painstaking attention to detail, also characterised by finishing and colour schemes dedicated exclusively to this model. Stornello is therefore the most recent Moto Guzzi special range, collector's items which are, as always, strictly hand made in the Mandello del Lario plant.

One of the winning characteristics of the V7 has always been the perfect balance between maintaining the typically Moto Guzzi stylistic values with the needs of a modern bike. A dialogue that remains intact on the V7 II Stornello as well. Just like the white/red Stornello 125 Scrambler version in 1972, the colour combination on the V7 II Stornello also plays a key role. Then, like today, the contrast created between the pastel white of the tank and the racing red of the frame, both in glossy finish, manages to strongly characterise the design, as well as enhancing the mechanics of the transversal 90° V twin engine strictly in matte black. The intense red of the frame is clearly revisited both on the tank, trimmed with a typical horizontal stripe in the same colour, with the Eagle from Mandello depicted in it, as well as on the new metallic tubular license plate bracket that uses the already refined V7 II light cluster. The laser inscribed number on the aluminium tag located on the upper part of the headstock identifies the unit number, highlighting its exclusivity.

2016 Moto Guzzi V7 Stornello

THE DETAILS OF A COLLECTOR’S ITEM

The standard equipment on the new Stornello is the result of a careful selection of parts in the complete catalogue (the most complete of any motorcycle in this segment) of original Moto Guzzi accessories dedicated to the V7; more than 110 valuable pieces, all specifically approved for the V7, designed and developed by Moto Guzzi and capable of transforming it into a unique special. The scrambler tradition is observed perfectly: Moto Guzzi V7 II Stornello stands out from the rest with its complete approved two-in-one Arrow exhaust unit that runs closely along the right hand side, fitted with ample heat shields, as well as with its beautiful long saddle with upholstery that is electrowelded and stitched to increase comfort for the rider and passenger with its special foam and low height off the ground. The spoked wheels on the V7 II Special mount must-have knobby tyres, also fully approved, ideal for riding on any type of road surface, whereas a typical pair of rubber guards can be found on the fuel tank. Many of the parts are made in valuable and lightweight aluminium, such as the injector covers and the side panels, both anodised in black; the steel handlebars are also done in the same “dark matt” finish. The offroad look is completed by the fork dust boots, indispensable for protecting the stanchions from dust along adventurous routes and by the offroad footpegs kit, fitted with aluminium extensions that provide better grip for the rider's soles during use on the road. The kit includes the rear brake terminal, also longer and made in aluminium. The number holders represent a widespread classic element on competition bikes from the ’70s era and already an element on the V7 II Racer with the number “7”, which for Moto Guzzi was dear to the 250 world champion Enrico Lorenzetti. There are three on the V7 II Stornello, made in satin finish aluminium and enhanced by a laser inscribed V7 II Stornello logo. The set of three number holders perfectly matches the fantastic pair of mudguards, also in hand brushed aluminium. These are probably one of the most prestigious and exclusive parts on the V7 II Stornello, true works of hand scribed art. The rich catalogue of original accessories also includes a set of stickers with the number “29”, designed specifically for the number holders and dedicated to the famous and unforgotten Moto Guzzi rider, “The Black Devil”, Omobono Tenni.

TECHNOLOGICAL AND INIMITABLE. LIKE ALL MOTO GUZZI BIKES

The new Stornello was built on the excellent and popular technical base of the V7 II, the second generation of the brand's best selling motorcycle, the only one in its segment that comes standard with safety systems such as ABS and Moto Guzzi traction control that can be disengaged (MGCT), as well as a six speed gearbox. Moto Guzzi V7 II, whilst keeping the stylistic personality of the previous model intact, takes a decisive and concrete step forward in terms of technical features, the engine, ergonomics, safety, construction quality, trim and riding pleasure. The technical revamping begins with the engine: launched in 2012 with the thermal part, the electronic management and engine fuel system which then continued with a new alternator and the introduction of forced lubrication with an oil pump, on the V7 II it reaches a new and further development level. The by now famous transversal 90° V-twin engine now has a new six speed gearbox with the closer first and last two ratios capable of decreasing the drop in rpm between one gear and the other, decidedly smoother, quieter and with more precise engagement. For daily riding this means a quicker response when you twist the throttle and greater comfort (thanks in part to the changes made to make the clutch softer), with lower fuel consumption.
The change that provided exceptional benefits in terms of balance, riding pleasure and on board ergonomics represented by the repositioning of the powerplant, which was inclined 4° toward the front axle and lowered 10 mm compared to the previous model. The resulting new balance of the weights between the front and rear axles gives it a much more intuitive, easy and efficient ride in sport, where the V7 II, although not designed to aggressively tackle turns, is at the top of its class. The rear axle was also made more stable, increasing the negative shock absorber travel, obtained by lowering the cardan gearbox output 50 mm (which consequently made it necessary to change the lower cradle of the frame), obtaining greater tyre grip in load transferring, braking and direction changes.
Moving the engine also had benefits in terms of comfort: three more centimetres of knee room were gained which, thanks in part to the new 25 mm lower footpegs, provide a comfortable position even for taller than average riders. The numerous and important changes did not have the undesired consequence of increasing the overall weight, which to the contrary, is still one of the lowest in the category, all to the advantage of riding pleasure and vehicle management at a standstill.

INFO:
www.motoguzzi.com

THE HISTORY OF THE MOTO GUZZI STORNELLO

Stornello represents one of the Moto Guzzi's great commercial successes, as well as being one of the longest running motorcycle models, remaining in production until 1975. The first Stornello model dates back to 1960: just as the practical car was becoming a dream within the reach of many, Moto Guzzi recognised the importance of introducing a “light bike”, in other words, an entry level model, easy to handle and manage. The design was entrusted to the skilled hands of the famous engineer Giulio Cesare Carcano and his staff. The single cylinder, 25° forward inclined engine boasted 7 HP and reached a top speed of 100 km/h; timing used a parallel valve pushrod and rockers system, whereas the crankcase was die-cast and subsequently refinished. Lubrication was provided by the presence of oil in the sump, a solution that allowed the more bulky and costly elements of separate lubrication to be eliminated. The double cradle open steel tube frame was welded entirely by a machine built specifically for the purpose. It quickly proved to be a success, first as a practical vehicle and later as a quick motorcycle as well, youthful and anti-conventional thanks to the subsequent and more advanced versions such as the Sport in 1962 with a modified engine equipped with inclined valves and a larger carburettor which put out 8.5 HP and allowed a top speed of 110 km/h to be reached.


1966, Moto Guzzi Stornello Regolarità (Photo source: www.philadelphiariders.com).

Of the many variations, the Regolarità played a fundamental role in the fame of the Stornello, also because it dominated in the most important national an international offroad competitions. An offroad version was derived from this model in 1967, called the Stornello Scrambler.

PRODUCT
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

MOTO GUZZI V7 II
2016 SPECIAL EDITION



Produced in limited and numbered edition, as shows the plaque celebrating placed on the top plate of steering, V7 II Racer is the sportiest of the second generation of a success range, which also includes the eclectic and essential V7 II Stone and V7 II Special with "Essetre" graphics inspired by the famous progenitor MG 50 V7 S3 '75.


MG V7 II STONE

MG V7 II SPECIAL

For 2016 the V7 II Racer will still have all the equipment that the previous version boasted. It will stand out, however, with its completely revamped and attractive graphics which now favour a matt finish as opposed to glossy.

This means that the 21 litres tank abandons the shiny polished chromium for a fantastic combination of satin finish black/grey colouring, both matt. The further popularity of the small red stripe that connects the grey parts to the black is also noteworthy, creating continuity with the colour of the frame. The three number holders are also matt grey now. The single seat saddle is back (although a two-up saddle and passenger footpegs are available on request), covered in Skai to match the leather strap personalised with the Moto Guzzi logo that decorates the crest of the tank.

The red frame is still spectacular, itself inspired by the legendary first V7 Sport series with CrMo frame and the result of a special painting treatment extended to the hubs, wheels and swingarm as well, which accentuates the architectural purity of the frame. Moto Guzzi is also written in red where it appears on the wheels, exactly like the most recent California Custom.
Exemplary Guzzi styling is clear in the tail fairing and tiny Plexiglas top fairing above a race number panel which is reminiscent of the front of the legendary Gambalunga. This unequivocally sporty element is in perfect harmony with the front mudguard design. Staying in the driver's seat, other new features are represented by the brake and clutch levers, redesigned in order to achieve better ergonomics, whereas at the rear you can see the black tail light assembly as on all the V7 II models.

One of the most distinctive features of this special-edition is the widespread use of anodized matt black and drilled aluminium. This hand-crafted treatment, which requires superb artisan skill, characterises the side panels, the throttle body guards and the silencer mounting brackets. Other premium components include the aft-mounted footpegs machined from solid billets, the lightened steering stem and the steering yoke guard consisting of a double chromed ring, which is so exquisitely crafted that it looks like an ornamental feature. A particularly gratifying feature, not only in terms of aesthetics, but also because of their dynamic performance, is the presence of Bitubo shock absorbers with spring preload adjustment in rebound and compression thanks to a twelve-setting adjustment knob.

INFO:
www.motoguzzi.com

Garage
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

ORIGINAL MOTO GUZZI ACCESSORIES

MOTO GUZZI OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF ACCESSORIES TO MAKE EVERY V7 UNIQUE. MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED PARTS DESIGNED, DEVELOPED AND MANUFACTURED BY MOTO GUZZI, PERFECTLY INTERCHANGEABLE WITH THE ORIGINALS AND FULLY APPROVED. IN ADDITION TO THE FOUR REFERENCE STYLES LAUNCHED IN 2015 MOTO GUZZI NOW OFFERS A FURTHER EVOLUTION IN THE V7 ACCESSORIES WORLD, INTRODUCING THREE MORE REFERENCE PROJECTS DEDICATED TO SPORT, OFF-ROAD AND FEMALE RIDERS

THE FIRST OFFICIAL MOTO GUZZI GARAGE IS NOW AT WWW.GARAGEMOTOGUZZI.COM, WHERE EVERY ENTHUSIAST CAN CONFIGURE AND PERSONALISE THEIR V7, DISCOVER CUSTOM JOBS DONE BY PROFESSIONALS AND SHARE IMAGES OF THEIR OWN SPECIAL

Moto Guzzi Eicma 2015

Moto Guzzi has never followed fashion, but on the contrary has always skilfully set new trends. In its glorious, almost centennial heritage, it has often paved the way to follow both on a technical and stylistic level. In recent history the new California 1400 represents the cruiser par excellence of the new millennium, a point of reference with its riding features, a generation ahead of its time in technical content and performance, but also with an extremely personal, classic and deeply Moto Guzzi style. On the other hand the V7 Racer also left a mark, being the first factory series special, full of precious standard parts that are generally only available as accessories.

The Spark – Commercials

Such a far-sighted spirit can also be attributed to the work done by the PADC (Piaggio Advanced Design Center) in Pasadena (California - USA), a privileged observation point which is located (not by chance) precisely where new motorcycle trends are born that are then shared with the entire world. The centre director is Miguel Galluzzi: “The desire to modify your bike and make it unique has always existed. What has changed in recent years is the selected model to follow. If in the past, for example, owners preferred undressing a sport bike and mounting a high handlebar, now bikers have embraced the value of simplicity. Enthusiasts turn to bikes rich in character, not demanding and easy to modify. Perhaps not ultra-powerful, but in any case still exciting and satisfying to ride. Bikes that are unique like the individual enthusiasts who own them. There is no longer a desire to conform, but to the contrary, to stand out. My bike is unique, like me, it reflects who I am and what I think. As has often happened in the past, Moto Guzzi was able to go back through the times, opening up this new road, introducing the V7 Racer, made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. It is the first true factory series special. However, now Moto Guzzi gives you the opportunity to modify your bike with your own hands, creating your own favourite V7, thanks to a complete range of accessories. You can transform your V7 following one of four reference worlds that Guzzi recommends or you can simply follow your own personal taste to create a tailor-made bike”.

As for motorcycle customisation, Moto Guzzi stands out by introducing a rich range of original high quality accessories capable of creating a truly unique level of personalisation based on clearly different motorcycle styles and riding experiences. All of the parts have been conceived, designed and made by Moto Guzzi and they are subjected to strict control test cycles just like any other original part on the bike in order to guarantee a quality and long-lasting product. Since they have been conceived and fine tuned by Moto Guzzi they are perfectly interchangeable with the factory parts, allowing you to easily revert your bike to its original configuration. They are also fully approved and therefore absolutely “street legal”. In order to facilitate the Guzzisti's choices, different "reference styles" have been identified: very different customisation formulas following your own personal taste and still leaving you with the widest possibilities of creating your own tailor-made V7, selecting your favourite parts from those in the entire range and mixing and matching. In fact, all of the elements that make up the various configurations are available for purchase individually in order to further exploit the Guzzisti's imagination and creativity. Another particularly important aspect is that the elements can be used both on the new V7 II and on the first generation Moto Guzzi V7 which is already on the road all over the world. The new accessories will allow those who have already owned a Moto Guzzi for a few years to change the look of their bikes, renewing it and thereby entering the world of special bikes easily and simply. For 2016 the availability of accessories for V7 expands even more, providing enthusiasts with new reference styles and still leaving the expert Guzzista with the possibility of mixing and matching. And so new inspirations arrive directly from the sport and off-road world, in addition to a project designed for the female rider.

PROJECT GUZZI CLUBBER

For the sport world new parts are dedicated in full-on cafè racer style, such as the top fairing in satin finish aluminium with smoked Plexiglas which blends perfectly with the front lines of the motorcycle, the chromium semi-handlebars with a sport bend and handlebar mirrors made from billet aluminium, also with a brushed finish. A range of components follows this style as well (fuel tank, front mudguard, injector covers, side fairings and tail fairing) made in satin finish aluminium. A new tail fairing becomes an element of unmistakeable style and combines with the premium single-seat saddle and a new rear mudguard. Last but not least, the exhaust can be enhanced by special bends for the manifolds, whereas the set-back footpegs for the rider contribute to a sportier riding position.

PROJECT GUZZI ALCE

The off-road world and Moto Guzzi's off-road heritage have new increased stroke shock absorbers dedicated to them, as well as dust boots for the fork stanchions and a black handlebar with reinforcing crosspiece. The single seat rider saddle also matches the ingenious and attractive portion of the passenger saddle which can be removed to create more room for baggage. The off-road details continue with tubular engine and leg guards, as well as a front headlight guard. Other must-have features are the exhaust unit that runs closely along the right hand side of the vehicle and the black toolbag that can be positioned on the luggage rack or on the fuel tank.

PROJECT LADY GUZZI: for the female rider Moto Guzzi dedicates a specifically designed range of accessories. Parts like the fuel tank, front mudguard and the headlamp body are painted in a particular and elegant shade. The lowered one-and-a-half seat saddle is quite handy, upholstered in two-tone leather and stitched in a rhombus pattern. The same material and treatment are also used for the side pannier. The range is completed by a chromium handlebar that is straighter and wider than the standard one, round, short shank mirrors made from billet aluminium, the special pair of horn covers in billet aluminium and the bends for the exhaust manifolds.

FOUR STYLES FOR FOUR WORLDS OF REFERENCE.

Naturally the first four styles recommended by Moto Guzzi that take their roots in the deep motorcycling heritage of the Mandello Manufacturer are still available.

STILE DARK RIDER: URBAN NIGHT

This is the first Moto Guzzi recommended reference style made up of accessories created to give your bike a Gothic look inspired by the night life scene and the city. The inspiration is nevertheless also based on Guzzi and its heritage: simply think of the nickname associated with Omobono Tenni, legendary rider for the Mandello manufacturer in the '30s, known as "the black devil". The accessories dedicated to this style include a black aluminium top fairing, aluminium side panels, aluminium mudguards, a black tank with the traditional red Moto Guzzi eagle, and wire wheels, letting you give your bike a blacked-out, but sophisticated and contemporary, look.

STILE SCRAMBLER: REBEL INSIDE

There are many available accessories to completely change the image and profile of your V7, transforming it into a bike that is perfectly suited for use on the road, but with an off-road look and a strong personality. Now there are exclusive high quality aluminium satin finish parts. The high two-in-one exhaust, the off-road knobby tyres, the handlebar cross brace and the off-road footpegs constitute the first step closer to the scrambler world. The long satin finish mudguards, the satin finish number plates the satin finish guards and the long vintage '70s saddle are the elements that complete the transformation. An extra touch of personality is also provided by the tool bag and the handmade leather side panniers.

STILE LEGEND: THE POWER OF HISTORY

Another immersion into Guzzi history interpreted in a modern key. In the '40s the Moto Guzzi Alce, a bike used by the Italian Army, was characterised by its reliability, sturdiness and great flexibility. The configuration that can be achieved with the parts from the Legend world allow you to reinterpret that extremely fascinating concept. The high “two-in-one” silencer, knobby tyres and olive green fuel tank, side panels and mudguards give the bike a strong connotation and a unique look. The high handlebar cross brace, the black luggage rack, the long saddle (comfortable for 2 people) and the natural leather side bag complete and enhance this configuration which stems more than any other from the Moto Guzzi heritage.

STILE DAPPER: RIDE THE STYLE

This includes a range of accessories developed and made to recreate the Café Racer world that attracted so much attention on the global motorcycling scene. In fact, the leitmotiv of the project is to enhance the '70s era through the creation of polished aluminium accessories (mudguards, injector covers, guards, number plates) and accessories such as the low semi-handlebar and the single-seat saddle that convey an attractive riding set-up derived directly from the racing world. Last but not least, the vintage design handlebar mirrors reinterpreted in a modern key are another prestigious and exclusive addition.

INFO:
www.garagemotoguzzi.com/en

Product
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

APRILIA RSV4 RR AND RF MY 2016:
A NEW ERA

OUT OF THE SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE GAINED IN RACING, WHERE APRILIA IS SEVEN-TIME WORLD SBK CHAMPION AND NEWLY CROWNED WINNER OF THE SUPERSTOCK FIM CUP TITLE, THE RSV4 IS BORN, THE NATURAL EVOLUTION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY AND VICTORIOUS PROJECT CAPABLE OF REDEFINING SUPERSPORT BIKE FRONTIERS. THE EXCEPTIONAL QUALITIES OF A RACING CHASSIS, FURTHER FINE-TUNED, COMBINE WITH AN ENGINE THAT HAS MORE THAN 200 HP OF MAXIMUM POWER: GREATER PERFORMANCE, LIGHTER WEIGHT, MORE EFFECTIVE ON THE TRACK AND IMPROVED RIDING PLEASURE ON THE ROAD, WITH THE BEST POSSIBLE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDED BY THE ADVANCED APRC AND RACE ABS ELECTRONIC CONTROLS. APRILIA RSV4 EVOLVES RADICALLY TO CONTINUE BEING THE BEST SUPERBIKE EVER.

THE RR VERSION ALREADY CONSTITUTES A DEFINITIVE SPORTS PLATFORM, WHEREAS THE EXCLUSIVE NUMBERED RF LIMITED EDITION ADDS EVEN MORE SOPHISTICATED SUSPENSION AND WHEELS WHICH ARE IN ANY CASE AVAILABLE AS OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT ON THE RR. AND WITH THE V4-MP, TELEMETRY ARRIVES AS WELL. NEW IN 2016: FOR THE RF A NEW ÖHLINS SHOCK ABSORBER AND V4-MP AS STANDARD EQUIPMENT; FOR THE RR AND THE RF NEW AND ATTRACTIVE GRAPHICS
2015 Aprilia RSV4 RF - Walkaround

Aprilia RSV4 is the natural evolution of a revolutionary project which managed to successfully dominate World SBK in just a few years, winning seven championship titles in six years and to win in its rookie year in the Superstock FIM Cup, the championship dedicated to bikes that are closely derived from their factory versions. Unanimously acclaimed by critics and sought after by bikers from every corner of the globe, the RSV4 has always been the undisputed segment representative, the reference point for sportiness and performance, the best example of what can be achieved by exploiting the valuable experience of a victorious Racing Department like Aprilia's which, in its brief history has taken 54 championship titles. Skills honed on the track and transferred to the factory product to provide everyone with the same excitement that the motorbikes prepared by Aprilia Racing do.
Unmistakeable in its design lucidity and applied technology, the RSV4 is conceived around a 65° V4 engine never before seen on a factory sport bike, a frame which is the heir to a dynasty that has won 18 titles and 143 Grand Prix races in the 250 GP class, enhanced by the most modern applied electronics systems to manage the engine and the bike's dynamic performance. This is a true vocation of Aprilia, which was the first manufacturer to adopt the Ride-By-Wire system as standard equipment (the multimap power management system), but above all the first to patent the APRC dynamic control system, with the exclusive self-calibration and wheelie control features.

Aprilia RSV4 2015 – Official Video

The goal of the efforts made at Noale to create the RSV4 was the same one that has set the RSV4 apart from its birth in 2009: to be the absolute best uncompromising superbike, the one that comes the closest to being a real racing bike in terms of performance and effectiveness. The Aprilia RSV4 RR version comes already equipped with all the electronic and technical refinements that a rider could want, with the possibility of making a further and definitive upgrade by choosing the “Race Pack”, which includes exclusive aluminium forged rims and professional Öhlins suspension. Aprilia also offers a more exclusive limited edition version – the RSV4 RF - characterise by the Race Pack elements and – new for this model – the new “Superpole” graphic, the V4-MP multimedia platform and a new Öhlins shock absorber.

The Aprilia RSV4 represents the most important and profound advancement ever made on this extraordinary model. A development that even involved the design. The style is the result of the perfect combination of form and function. The careful design led to the creation of the most compact full size sport bike on the market, where technical elements such as the impeccable aluminium double rail frame contribute to emphasising its racing vocation.
The front end has been completely redesigned: now there is a more protective top fairing, created after a careful wind tunnel aerodynamics study, which provides better protection from the wind for riders of any height. This choice has a positive impact not only on the track when the rider is seeking protection to achieve maximum speed, but also on the road where greater comfort is provided thanks to the lower air pressure on the body and helmet. The characteristic triple headlight is new, now with a more modern shape and an LED parking light. The mirrors were also the subject of a wind tunnel study, combining excellent aerodynamic penetration with improved visibility and built in LED turn indicators.

THE ENGINE.In terms of quantity and quality of the operations, the unrivalled Aprilia V4 has every right to consider itself a radically new unit: if there were any doubts, they are quickly dispelled by the more than 16 additional HP and the 2.5 kg less than its predecessor. This is one of the Aprilia RSV4 RR and RF elements that is most closely derived from the racing world and the one on which the Aprilia Racing Department was able to work the most with the factory production. The primary and unique characteristics of this gem of Italian technology, the ones that led to the creation of the best superbike of all times, remain unchanged. This is the world's first full scale production motorcycle with a high performance narrow V4 engine, the most revolutionary and powerful engine ever built by Aprilia. An engine that has been made unmistakeable because of the use of “total” electronics, because of its extremely compact size and exceptional light weight.
The main goals of the V4 project were clear: increase power across the board, exceeding the threshold of 200 HP maximum peak and at the same time increase the already generous torque at all engine speeds. To achieve them work was done on decreasing internal friction, improving combustion efficiency and fluid-dynamic efficiency as well as on increasing the maximum rotation speed. The Noale engineers redesigned almost all of the internal and external elements. Starting from the top, the 65° V4 has an air box with filtering elements perpendicular to the air flow, studied with sophisticated CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) systems in order to minimise load losses and maximum pressure in the intake ducts.

The upper injectors are new, whereas the variable setting intake ducts were redesigned to the benefit of an even wider range of management in terms of their travel As with previous models, each bank has a dedicated servo unit actuating the two throttle bodies of that bank only. In order to improve the fluid dynamic performance, the heads were redesigned with intake and output ducts that have new geometries and contouring on the ends machined by a numerically controlled tool. The combustion chambers are no longer obtained through a fusion process but by a finer, numerically controlled machining process. In order to improve reliability and precision under extreme loads the height of the valve seat seals was increased and the internal cooling and oil discharge circuit were consequently modified. The heads now have a triple layer of gaskets. The timing system confirms the innovative mixed chain and gear kinematics of the Aprilia V4 (with the chain camshaft driving only the intake camshaft, which in turn drives the exhaust camshaft via a gear) which allows for extremely compact heads especially in the area beneath the frame spars, much narrower than would otherwise be possible. In order to increase the maximum rotation speed a painstaking study was conducted on lightening the parts in motion of the elements included in the heads. All four valves are now in precious and lightweight titanium (the intake valves are oversized at 33 mm); the valve springs are completely new and the relative tappets and caps were lightened. The camshafts have a brand new profile and were lightened by a whole 600 grams. Moving farther downward, the crankshaft now has connecting rod pins reduced to 36 mm in diameter with 450 grams more weight, while the Pankl connecting rods are lighter by a total of 400 grams.

As in previous models, the monobloc crankcase with integrated aluminium cylinder liners ensures maximum rigidity and consistent performance. The upper half of the engine case is now made with a new shell fusion and has been lightened (-1.3 Kg) and reinforced; it also now has an optimised ventilation system in order to reduce power loss due to air pressure inside the engine crankcase. The lubrication system has also been redesigned and optimised. A brand new oil sump ensures increased draught no matter what position the engine is in (for example in the most extreme leans or in maximum acceleration/deceleration conditions) despite the oil level being decreased in order to decrease friction. The “rose pipe” is also new (oil pump intake duct), now equipped with a new overpressure valve and a filter in an optimised position. The piston cooling oil nozzles were also replaced and the gearbox now has a valve regulated direct hydraulic lubrication circuit. The latter uses lightened drive shafts and gears (-0.35 Kg), a lightened primary drive (-0.1 Kg) and takes advantage of ratios which have been optimised to fully exploit the increased engine power. The entire exhaust system has also been completely redesigned with revamped electronic valve management, now equipped with two oxygen sensors (one per bank), while a more powerful ECU contributes to more precise management of the engine in the area of maximum rotation achievable.

CHASSIS ARCHITECTURE.Aprilia is known as one of the best chassis manufacturers in the world and the RSV4 represents the synthesis of the technical prowess Aprilia has acquired in top level world championships. A particularity, which is still exclusive to the RSV4 RR and RF (and which has always been a characteristics of the previous generation RSV4 models) is the exceptional possibility of adjustments that the standard equipment chassis is able to offer. In fact, the Aprilia is the only superbike that allows the rider to adjust the engine position in the frame, the headstock angle, the swingarm pivot and the rear end height, naturally in addition to the fully adjustable suspension. Just like a real racing bike.
The highly sought after and winning structure of the Aprilia RSV4 frame has remained substantially unchanged and uses elements in pressed and cast aluminium capable of guaranteeing exceptional performance, thanks in part to the perfectly balanced torsional rigidity and flexibility values. Optimally centralised masses are just one of the RSV4 chassis strengths. To achieve this result nothing was neglected.

The swingarm the same construction technology as the frame but it has been lengthened 4 mm to guarantee better traction and to decrease the tendency for wheelies during the violent acceleration that the extraordinary characteristics of the powerplant allow. The fork advancement was increased from 30 mm to 32 mm with a consequent reduction in the trail to further increase handling. Precisely because of the V4's significant power increase the chassis and weight distribution configuration have been revamped: the engine is mounted in the lowest possible position allowed by its adjustment range within the frame, whereas the fully adjustable suspension has been fine tuned to guarantee maximum control in extreme riding.  The Aprilia RSV4 RF version reaps the benefits of a new Öhlins shock absorber with an elastic coefficient increased from 95 to 105 N/mm and consequently a different hydraulic extension calibration, more suited to sustain the work loads generated by using professional track tyres. This improves traction and riding precision, allowing the rider to take turns even more effectively.

VERSIONS AND COLOURS.Aprilia RSV4 RR represents a top shelf technical platform, ready to provide the rider with a “race replica” performance and feeling. As standard equipment it also has all of those features, which only the Factory version RSV4 had previously, such as magnesium external housings, oil sump and head covers, a wide range of chassis adjustments and the variable setting intake ducts. Aprilia RSV4 RR is available in two attractive new colour schemes, both matte, on a black and grey base (Bucine grey and Ascari black) with red wheels and a “Race Pack” is also available that includes lightweight forged aluminium wheel rims and more sophisticated Öhlins suspension (shock absorbers, fork and steering damper).
The Aprilia RSV4 RF is the exclusive limited edition of 500 numbered units which come standard with the Race Pack and stand out with a new dedicated graphic which maintains the evocative name of the previous “Superpole” version, but which has different graphic designs.

ADVANCED APRC

The Aprilia RSV4 RR and RF make perfect what was already top shelf in the previous versions thanks to a significant improvement to its already exceptional dynamic controls package designed and patented by Aprilia. APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) is the well known dynamic control suite derived directly from the winning technology in world Superbike, the most complete and refined of those currently available on the market.
On the RSV4 RR and RF, APRC has been further developed to adjust even better to the engine and chassis characteristics in order to meet the specific needs of the pleasure or professional rider. The APRC system integrates even better with the full Ride-By-Wire multimap electronic management of the powerful V4 engine.

APRC, which comes as standard equipment on the Aprilia RSV4 RR and RF, includes:

  • ATC: Aprilia Traction Control, adjustable on the fly (without having to release the throttle) to 8 settings thanks to a practical joystick on the left side of the semi-handlebar, with extremely fine tuned operating logic.
  • AWC: Aprilia Wheelie Control, adjustable to three settings, has been recalibrated for maximum performance at level 1 (the least restrictive setting).
  • ALC: Aprilia Launch Control, for use on the track only, with 3 settings.
  • AQS: Aprilia Quick Shift, a system for extremely fast gear changes without shutting the throttle and using the clutch.

In addition to the second generation APRC system, RSV4 RR and RF come from the factory standard with the highly advanced “Race ABS” antilock braking system, designed and developed by Aprilia in collaboration with Bosch to guarantee not only extreme safety on the road, but also the best possible performance on the track. The ABS 9MP unit constitutes the maximum point of distinction and technology available today: the system, weighing in at just 2 kg, can be disengaged and adjusted to 3 different levels by easily accessing the sophisticated instrumentation control menu:

  • Level 1: dedicated to the track (but also approved for street use), it acts on both wheels and guarantees maximum possible performance, even in the most intense braking situations at any speed. This setting takes nothing away from the pleasure and performance of “pushing the envelope”.
  • Level 2: dedicated to sport riding on the street, it works on both wheels and is combined with an advanced tip over system (RLM - Rear Lift-up Mitigation) which has progressive action based on the vehicle speed.
  • Level 3: dedicated to riding on surfaces with poor grip, it acts on both wheels and is combined with the advanced tip over system.

Each of the 3 setting levels for Race ABS can be combined with any one of the 3 engine maps to allow riders with varying experience and skill levels to find the best possible combination.
The powerful engine ECU now provides easier management of the three maps, each one of which corresponds to a different engine power output and now also to a dedicated engine brake management map. The two classic engine management logics Track and Sport are now joined by the new Race map, the most extreme and suited for professional use of the bike on the track with engine braking control reduced to a minimum in order to support more abrupt braking. All three maps are more manageable and less aggressive than the previous version, therefore allowing perfect correlation between throttle control and the torque sent to the wheels. This reduces rear tyre wear and makes it possible to better manage the power that the Aprilia V4 is able to develop.

INFO:
www.aprilia.com/en

ACCESSORIES
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

FULL RANGE OF ORIGINAL ACCESSORIES
DEDICATED TO MOTO GUZZI V9 ROAMER AND BOBBER

The new V9s can be widely customised from the vast range of genuine Moto Guzzi accessories. Moto Guzzi designs and engineers the parts that undergo strict testing cycles, like any other original motorcycle component, in order to ensure quality and reliability.

They are perfectly interchangeable with standard parts and allow for easy restoration of the motorcycle to its original state. They are rigorously approved and thus totally "street legal", allowing you to customise your bike without voiding the warranty.

The more classic style of the V9 Roamer is customisable with a range of accessories for tourism, such as the set of leather saddlebags and a single bag (always in leather) to be fitted on a dedicated chrome luggage rack.

There is also the protective fairing, a twin seat with gel inserts and a set of additional lights for the ultimate in ride comfort. There is a wide range of choice of parts in special high-quality aluminium billet, including the tank cap with lock, grips, brake and clutch levers, the covers of the rider and passenger footrests, the gear and rear brake pedals and the pair of rear-view mirrors. Another feature is the authority-approved exhaust unit that makes the sound of the new 850 twin-cylinder even more attractive.

The more essential style of the V9 Bobber deserves a range of specific accessories. The most prominent of these include the rider seat (with option to mount the passenger portion, if necessary), which makes the lines of the rear even lighter.

Moto Guzzi has designed an authority-approved sportier exhaust system for the V9 Bobber with the total black look and deep sound. There are many details in aluminium billet that add more charm and exclusivity, but there are also practical accessories, also for the city, such as the urban style fairing and luggage sets, which blend very well with the design of the V9 Bobber.

MOTO GUZZI MEDIA PLATFORM CONNECTS THE V9 TO THE WORLDO

An optional multimedia platform is available for Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer and V9 Bobber riders. MG-MP is an innovative multimedia system that allows you to connect the bike to your smartphone and consequently to the web. With this application, downloadable free from the App Store and Google Play, your smartphone (iPhone or Android) becomes an actual sophisticated on board multifunctional computer and the link between the vehicle and the Internet.
The wireless connection allows you to simultaneously view a set of vehicle information on a smartphone screen, so you can constantly have an eye on the travel parameters. The “Eco Ride” feature helps to limit fuel consumption and to maintain eco-compatible riding conduct, providing a brief assessment of the results obtained during the trip.
You can record trip data and review them on your computer or directly on your smartphone, analysing the distance covered together with the vehicle's operating parameters.  The system also allows you to easily locate your vehicle when you park in a strange place, automatically saving the position where it was switched off. MG-MP includes the “Grip Warning” function which replicates the indications on traction control operation for maximum visibility and provides information in real time on your riding performance with relation to the road surface conditions. A dedicated indicator light warns in the event of excessive use of available grip. Thanks to the synergistic use of gyroscopes and the information coming from the vehicle, the smartphone becomes a sophisticated instrument to measure the lean angle in turns thanks to algorithms developed specifically for the new Moto Guzzi. The limit thresholds can be set both for lean angle as well as vehicle and engine speed. When these limits are exceeded the relative indicator lights will come on or the virtual dashboard will flash.

INFO:
www.motoguzzi.com
www.garagemotoguzzi.com/en

ACCESSORIES
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

MOTO GUZZI V7 II STORNELLO
THE ORIGINAL ACCESSORIES TO MAKE IT UNIQUE



The level of personalisation that can be achieved is exceptional, choosing from the vast range of accessories available for the Moto Guzzi V7 II Stornello. All of the parts have been conceived and designed by Moto Guzzi and they are subjected to strict control test cycles just like any other original part on the bike in order to guarantee a quality and long-lasting product. Since they have been conceived and fine tuned by Moto Guzzi they are perfectly interchangeable with the factory parts, allowing you to easily revert your bike to its original configuration. They are also fully approved and therefore absolutely “street legal” and they let you personalise your bike without voiding the factory warranty.
There are numerous Moto Guzzi accessories particularly suited for enhancing riding pleasure and the possibilities for use of the new V7 II Stornello, but selecting from the vast catalogue of optional equipment compatible with the V7 range, you can reach a truly unique level of personalisation.

Short shank black mirrors: made from black anodised billet aluminium, they give the bike an even more prestigious and sporty look. Performance Shock absorbers: this pair of Bitubo shock absorbers with separate gas bottle has been designed specifically for the V7 and its particular needs. They are have adjustable hydraulic spring preload in rebound and compression. Thanks to the increased travel and the possibility of personalising the calibrations, they are capable of ensuring greater comfort and better rideability, besides giving the bike a truly unique and distinguished look, thanks to the red colour that highlights the sporty and offroad spirit of the V7 II Stornello. Black leather side pannier: genuine leather bag with about 20 litres of carrying capacity, fitted with a chromium steel fastening buckle. It can be mounted on the side of the vehicle using a special high resistance steel fastening frame. An optional removable internal bag is available to make transporting the contents even easier. Tank cover: Tank cover band in waterproof genuine leather, featuring handy pocket and hole for refuelling. It fastens on with 2 screws under the tank rear edge, by removing the saddle, and a front belt. Small black luggage rack: this prestigious article performs two important functions. On one hand it is a luggage rack and on the other it is a solid passenger grab handle. Thanks to its compact dimensions it becomes an excellent support for your toolbag or small luggage needed for short trips and in offroad outings. Black leather toolbag: made in water repellent genuine leather, it can be fastened to the dedicated luggage rack using straps or onto the fuel tank using the included pre-drilled strap.
Motorcycle cover: this is made in black scratch resistant fabric and is enhanced by the Moto Guzzi logo on both sides. Also available in the  “Eagle” and “Shape” versions. Tank bag: Nylon and waterproof genuine leather tank bag featuring 2 side pockets and an upper map holder. Fastened with quick hook-ups to the tank cover which can remain mounted on the tank thanks to refuelling hole, it is also easily detached and can be carried using the convenient handle. Comfort gel saddle: dedicated to those who demand maximum comfort, this saddle has a gel insert arranged both in the rider and passenger seating area. Thanks to the tapered sides it also provides a better position when the rider has both feet on the ground. The covering recalls the style of the standard saddle and is enriched by the punched “Comfort gel” logo. Lowered comfort gel saddle: in this saddle the comfort of the cushion with gel inserts combines with the practicality of the revised and profile lowered by 20 mm to allow secure footing on the ground. The covering. The covering recalls the style of the standard saddle and is enriched by the punched “Comfort gel” logo.

INFO:
www.garagemotoguzzi.com/en

AN EVER-WIDENING RANGE

In order to facilitate the Guzzista's choices, different "reference styles" have been identified: very different customisation formulas following your own personal taste and still leaving you with the widest possibilities of creating your own tailor-made V7, selecting your favourite parts from those in the entire range and mixing and matching. In fact, all of the elements that make up the various configurations are available for purchase individually in order to further exploit the Guzzista's imagination and creativity. Another particularly important aspect is that the elements can be used both on the new V7 II and on the first generation Moto Guzzi V7 which is already on the road all over the world. The new accessories will allow those who have already owned a Moto Guzzi for a few years to change the look of their bikes, renewing it and thereby entering the world of special bikes easily and simply. In the Garage column of this issue: the styles Dark Rider, Scrambler, Legend and Dapper and 2016 novelties 2016, Clubber, Alce and Lady Guzzi. Besides the formulas of customization, Moto Guzzi offer a wide range of accessories that allow the customer to personalize his or her V7 and make it more in tune with their aesthetic tastes or to the different needs.

SEMI-HANDLEBARS: available for Stone and Special, this kit lowers the riding position, making it just like the V7 Racer. It includes the accelerator control cables and the dedicated front brake lines.TWO-SEATER PACKAGE FOR V7 II RACER: made for the Racer, this kit includes everything needed to make the bike a two-seater. SINGLE-SEATER SADDLE: single-seater saddle to set up the bike in racer mode. PERFORMANCE SHOCK ABSORBERS: this pair of Bitubo shock absorbers with separate gas bottle has been designed specifically for the V7 and its particular needs. They have adjustable hydraulic spring preload in rebound and compression. Thanks to the possibility of personalised calibration they are able to guarantee greater comfort and better rideability, as well as standing out with a truly unique look. ALUMINIUM SIDE FAIRINGS: The brushed and anodized aluminium side fairings contribute to making the V7 II profile even more tapered. In this case, the style is once again reminiscent of the hand-crafted creations that were used in ‘70s era racing. TOP FAIRING: this includes a moulded, unpainted plastic top fairing and aluminium brackets as well as the mounting hardware. FUEL TANK COVER: these are two soft rubber covers that are applied on the sides of the fuel tank where the rider's knees rest in order to increase riding comfort. MOTORCYCLE COVER: this cover is made from black scratch proof material and is made precious by the Moto Guzzi logo on both sides, and also in the "Eagle" and "Shape" versions. TOURING WINDSHIELD: this is designed to provide greater aerodynamic protection without compromising the attractive aesthetics of the V7. It is type-approved to the strictest standards (DOT and TUV) and road tested in all weather conditions by Moto Guzzi test riders. INJECTOR COVERS: these are made in aluminium and provide protection of the injectors area from accidental contact with the rider's knees. SIDE PANNIERS: this kit includes a pair of rigid nylon panniers with an approx. volume of 20 litres. The bags are covered in genuine waterproof leather and have chromium steel buckles. This includes the high resistance steel mounting frames and a pair of removable internal bags. LUGGAGE RACK: this valuable item serves two important purposes: on one hand it is a luggage rack and on the other it provides a solid hold thanks to the two built-in handles. This accessory is made of high resistant steel, TIG welded and subsequently chromium plated. It mounts in place of the original passenger grab handles. TOP BOX BAG: this attaches to the dedicated luggage rack with belts and is made of genuine waterproof leather. It can be easily transported thanks to the rear handle. TANK COVER: tank cover band in waterproof genuine leather, featuring handy pocket and hole for refuelling. Fastens on with 2 screws under the tank rear edge, by removing the saddle, and a front belt. TANK BAG: nylon and waterproof genuine leather tank bag featuring 2 side pockets and an upper map holder. Fastened with quick hook-ups to the tank cover which can remain mounted on the tank thanks to refuelling hole, it is easily disconnected and transportable using the handle. SEMI-RIGID PANNIERS KIT COMPLETE WITH MOUNTING BRACKETS: with a load capacity of about 42 litres, this pair of semi-rigid panniers is ideal for those who do not want to give up transporting items on their V7. Made in technical Skai, they easily hook onto the brackets that are included. The reflective profiles also increase nocturnal visibility. COMFORT GEL SADDLE: dedicated to those who demand maximum comfort, this saddle has a gel insert arranged both in the rider and passenger seating area. Thanks to the tapered sides it also provides a better position when the rider has both feet on the ground. The upholstery is styled like the original saddle and is enhanced with the punched “Comfort gel” logo. LOWERED COMFORT GEL SADDLE: this saddle combines the comfort of the cushion with its gel insert and the practicality of the revisited profile, lowered 20 mm to provide any height rider with secure footing on the ground. Upholstery. The upholstery is styled like the original saddle and is enhanced with the punched “Comfort gel” logo.

INFO:
www.motoguzzi.com

ACCESSORIES
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

APRILIA RSV4 RR E RSV4 RF
THE THRILL OF CUSTOMIZATION



Aprilia has designed and developed a wide range of accessories so you can personalise your RSV4 RR and RF. High quality selected items to increase performance, make them more attractive or more comfortable.

Slip-on racing exhaust: manufactured by Akrapovič, and fitted with a carbon fibre muffler, it is approved for road use. Complete racing exhaust: this is an exhaust system complete with headers made by Akrapovic. the muffler is in carbon. Öhlins TTX shock absorbers: the TTX line is the most prestigious of the products offered by Öhlins (top and bottom attachments are in billet aluminium). They allow full and fine adjustment in all shock absorbing functions. They can be fitted with linear sensors to install telemetry. Öhlins steering damper: the fine adjustment of this item's hydraulics provides a front end that is always solid even during the most violent acceleration. Components in carbon: fairings, tail fairings, side fairings, mudguards and heel guards. Made in matte finished carbon fibre. They guarantee a sporty look and lower overall weight. Mirror plugs: made from billet aluminium, these are applied in place of the mirrors when using the bike on the track. License plate bracket cover: made of laser cut steel, this is applied after removing the license plate bracket when using the bike on the track. Frame guards: made of billet nylon, these are useful to prevent damage to the frame in the event of a sliding crash. Racing rider foot-pegs: completely machined from billet aluminium and adjustable to 9 different positions, these pegs allow micrometric calibration of the gear shift and brake controls. They are installation ready to lodge the rear brake light switch and the inverted gear lever. Racing semi-handlebar: made from billet aluminium, these handlebars provide an even sportier riding position. Inverted racing gear lever: this is a mechanical element that inverts the gear shifting mode in order to improve performance on the track.

Forged rims: made from aluminium with a forging process, these provide maximum resistance at a light weight, essential for increasing handling. Tank bag: available in two sizes, this bag is made of technical fabric with carbon-look inserts. They are tested and approved to resist oil, fuel, UV rays and not to compromise stability even at high speeds. Adjustable license plate bracket: made in laser cut steel. Includes the LED licence plate light. Motorcycle cover: made of breathable Lycra, this cover was designed to protect your bike from dust. V4-MP kit: this is the installation kit for the multimedia platform dedicated to the Aprilia V4 models made up of a Bluetooth control unit and all the wiring needed for installation. This comes as standard equipment on the Aprilia RSV4 RF version.

AND THE TELEMETRY ARRIVES WITH V4-MP

now find a highly advanced version of the Multimedia Platform which transforms your smartphone into a semi-professional tool with exceptional information capacity. V4-MP comes as standard equipment on the Aprilia RSV4 RF version. Everyone knows that the Multimedia Platform is the innovative multimedia platform offered exclusively by the Piaggio Group which allows you to connect your vehicle to your smartphone and consequently to the web. With this exceptional application your smartphone becomes an actual sophisticated on board multifunctional computer and the link between the vehicle and the Internet. This is a window to the future which lays the foundation for a new way of looking at communication on two wheels. Thanks to further development of this fascinating system that Aprilia has fine tuned, communication between vehicle and smartphone becomes active: from his or her mobile phone the rider can change the settings on the RSV4, plus get tips in real time on how to improve track performance in complete safety.

Some of the more prominent features of V4-MP include:

  • Active electronic setup: this is as close as you can get to the “corner-by-corner” electronic management used in racing. Using the GPS feature of your smartphone, the system recognises the position of the bike at any given time on the track and automatically changes the electronic adjustments (traction control and anti-wheelie) based on rider selected settings, corner by corner. This allows you to increase safety and effectiveness on the track, adjusting the control parameters at every point on the circuit and without distractions.
  • Adaptive race assistant: this feature provides tips in real time to safely take the best advantage of your RSV4. The application compares rider performance to the best lap on the track in real time and assists by immediately indicating how to gradually improve performance.
  • Advanced telemetry dashboard: this is a “virtual” dashboard that lets you use your smartphone's display to see, not only all the information on the standard instrument cluster, but also numerous other parameters acquired by the bike's telemetry such as, for example: instant power distributed to the driveshaft; instant torque distributed to the driveshaft; percentage of power available; rear wheel thrust; rear wheel slippage; longitudinal and lateral acceleration (G-G diagram); lean angle.

Racing
EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

NEW: THE “FACTORY WORKS” VERSION
OF THE AWARD WINNING APRILIA RSV4

THE APRILIA RACING TEAM USES ITS EXPERIENCE IN THE TOP WORLD COMPETITIONS TO CREATE THE NEW “FACTORY WORKS” VERSIONS OF THE APRILIA RSV4. AN EXTRAORDINARY RANGE OF “SPECIAL” HIGH PERFORMANCE BIKES PRODUCED AND SOLD DIRECTLY BY APRILIA RACING: THE RACING DIVISION WITH 54 WORLD TITLES WILL ALSO PROVIDE FIRST-HAND ASSISTANCE

The Aprilia RSV4 has the ultimate racing history for a single production-derived model. This extraordinary 1000cc Italian V4 has won 7 titles in the Superbike World Championship from 2009 to today, besides winning the Rider and Manufacturers titles for the FIM Cup Superstock 1000, in 2015. An exceptional racing career which stems from technical leadership, the model has consistently proved its worth as it keeps winning comparative trials organised by the world's top bike magazines.M Aprilia Racing, the Racing Division that has earned the Noale-based manufacturer 54 World Titles, introduced a program today to make the same technology that was developed for the championship winning bike available to anyone who wishes to compete in factory derivative championships or who wants an RSV4 with racetrack optimised performance.

Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Director comments on this extraordinary project by the racing division in Noale: “The RSV4 racing versions we are presenting at EICMA are, first and foremost, a unique opportunity that Aprilia Racing is making available to those who want to own a real race bike. At the Aprilia Racing Division we worked to pack all the know-how behind the RSV4 into these exceptional bikes: know-how which has made the RSV4 one of the top winning bikes in the history of production-derived bikes.

The SSTK Championship victory this year is an addition to 7 world titles we've won in the SBK. Now all the experience we have acquired through these victories is available to whoever wants to race with our bike: both those who want to participate in championships and those who want to ride a real Aprilia Racing bike on the racetrack. We're making several levels of sophistication available. This is a racetrack optimised RSV4, from the SSTK version (in every way the bike that dominated the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup) all the way to the top, a full-fledged Superbike”.

The program will create “Factory Works” bikes compliant with Superstock and Superbike Championship regulations in each country, with various levels of preparation in the engine and electric components and with a maximum configuration that exceeds 230 hp. All versions start with the already exceptional technical base of the Aprilia RSV4 RR.
RSV4 R-FW Stock1 MM Race. An Aprilia RSV4 with Race Pack (Öhlins suspension and forged rims). Standard electronic system with an extra light lithium battery. ECU reprogrammed to Race version with race maps for engine and bike management, developed by Aprilia Racing. Settings reprogrammed for race use. Braking optimised and weight reduced, ABS removed. Engine weight reduced without the water thermostat, with a simplified water tubes kit and secondary air system closed. Optional: Akrapovic exhaust kit, complete fairing kit, dedicated suspensions setting and complete engine optimisation.

RSV4 R-FW Stock2 APX Race. An Aprilia RSV4 with Race Pack (Öhlins suspension and forged rims). Simplified, lightweight, racing version electronic system with dedicated bike and engine wiring and a lithium battery. APX2 logic unit developed by Aprilia Racing: ignition and engine control parameters may be programmed with the included hand terminal. Data acquisition system allows logging of original sensors as well as optional sensors allowed by FIM Superstock 1000 rules.  Special Aprilia Racing instruments. Special engine with Aprilia Racing preparation. Optional: Akrapovic exhaust kit, complete fairing kit, dedicated suspensions setting.

RSV4 R-FW SBK. An Aprilia RSV4 with Race Pack (Öhlins suspension and forged rims).
Simplified, lightweight, racing version electronic system with dedicated bike and engine wiring and a lithium battery. APX2 logic unit developed by Aprilia Racing, complete with GPS module, ignition and engine control parameters may be programmed with the included hand terminal. The unit includes a data acquisition system with optional telemetry sensors kit. Special Aprilia Racing instruments with racing buttons. Electronic gearbox with assisted shifting (blipper). Special Aprilia Racing tools. Special engine with SBK preparation by Aprilia Racing.
RSV4 R-FW W-SBK. Replica of the RSV4 Superbike used by the official Aprilia Racing Team in the SBK Wold Championship. Both the bike and the level of assistance may be tailor made in accordance with the budget and ambitions of each rider and team. It is the best that can be desired and allows one to have a star role in the Superbike world championship.

RSV4 R-FW “MISANO”. The bike presented at EICMA is a demonstration of the level of preparation possible through the “Factory Works” program and is the entry level for the W-SBK line. In true Aprilia Racing style each component has been optimised to offer the best in performance while maintaining elevated overall balance and reliability. It is a bike that can do well at any competitive level, while remaining “within reach” of enthusiasts who desire an extraordinary bike to exercise their racing skills, knowing that nothing can come closer to the rush felt by SBK World Championship champions. The colour scheme is a celebration of Aprilia's first victory in a “road racing” competition and underscores the exclusivity of the model.

A DEDICATED WEBSITE

THE FACTORY WORKS PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE TECHNICAL TRAINING AS PART OF THE PRICE OF EACH MODEL. SUCH TRAINING WILL PROVIDE THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO BEST ADAPT THE MODEL TO THE RIDER AND TRACK. A TEST SESSION ON THE TRACK WITH APRILIA RACING'S “TEST TEAM” IS ALSO INCLUDED AND WILL VERIFY THE VALIDITY OF THE TRAINING PROVIDED.

By accessing the special web area – www.serviceaprilia.com/public/racing – riders, collectors and teams can enter in the exclusive world of Aprilia "Factory Works" and get more information and more technical details about the Aprilia RSV4s prepared by Aprilia Racing.

INFO:
www.serviceaprilia.com/public/racing

RIDERS-WITNESSES ON TRACK: BAUTISTA AND SAVADORI

The top witnesses to the exceptional racetrack performance of the Venetian V4 are the riders, of course. Alvaro Bautista rode the Aprilia RS-GP, a bike that has never been shy about its origins as a street-based project, in the MotoGP World Championship this season.

The Spanish champion provides an overview: “The RSV4, including the street version, is truly a race bike fit for everyday driving. I've tried it and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The racing versions are bikes optimised for the racetrack and for competitions. What Aprilia is offering riders and advanced enthusiasts is a rare opportunity, a chance to own a real race bike, one that is prepared for championship racing. The V4 is a full-fledged racing engine, one that even we members of the MotoGP team race against pure prototypes”.


From left: Alvaro Bautista and Lorenzo Savadori at Eicma 2015

Lorenzo Savadori won this season's SSTK World Championship with the RSV4: “I raced in the Superstock 1000 World Championship with the Nuova M2 Racing team supported by Aprilia this year. My RSV4 RF was prepared by Aprilia Racing itself in compliance with Stock regulations. The standard version of this bike is exceptional in and of itself, but, with Aprilia Racing doing the preparation, the competitive level went up and we won the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup in our debut season! Who better to optimise this engine for a victory in any championship than Aprilia Racing?”.

Racing
INTERVIEW

MOTOGP 2016 – THE APRILIA RACING STRATEGY
ACCORDING TO ROMANO ALBESIANO: “CLEAR THINKING AND INNOVATION”

From Superbike to MotoGP: a challenging transition for Aprilia Racing, led by Romano Albesiano, the manager of the Aprilia racing division. An engineer with a background as head designer of Piaggio Group road motorcycles (Aprilia and Moto Guzzi), in 2015 Albesiano took up the MotoGP gauntlet by drawing up a program based on continuous growth. After an initial “exploratory” year, he is now working on the new prototype Aprilia will be launching on the circuits in the 2016 MotoGP season.

Aprilia Racing - 2015 season

What’s your verdict now the season is over?
“2015 has been an important experimental year for us. We have committed to what for us is a new championship, and found ourselves up against new types of problem. It hasn’t been easy but I think it’s been essential for the long-term development path we’ve set ourselves. Tests are important, but taking part in an entire season, and competing against the top MotoGP teams, speeds up the learning curve. The experience we’ve acquired during the season is the basis on which we’ve developed the 2016 prototype.”


MOTOGP 2015: IN THE APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI PIT

Can you give us a few hints?
“I can say the bike will be completely new, philosophically consistent with our most recent projects but a total redesign compared with the RS-GP 2015. In terms of footprint and weight in particular, it marks a major advance, from which we shall proceed with development. The engine retains the V4 architecture, but presents substantial differences compared to the current engine. It will feature pneumatic valve distribution and our seamless gearbox, technologies we’ve been working on this year with very encouraging results.”

What does Aprilia have to focus on to stand out in MotoGP racing?
“First of all, we need clear thinking. The first step is to lay the foundation for a solid project, both technically and with regard to the organisation of the team. The 2016 prototype optimises the concepts we’ve examined over this first year, in line with the regulatory changes to be introduced next season. As we develop, we shall try to introduce something unconventional, innovative, in perfect Aprilia style. History shows that when you’re up against adversaries with more experience than you, you should look at new solutions, something where we Italians excel.”

VisGiven the level of the category, it isn’t likely to be an easy undertaking…
“Aprilia is a factory historically linked to racing and is part of a major group, Piaggio. So we meet the requirements to aim for a leading role in MotoGP. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be plain sailing, but it gives us confidence as we start out on a tough challenge where our resources and structure will have to be up to the task. We are expanding the racing division with the introduction of new figures, both from the racing world and from universities. So in addition to the consolidated expertise we already possess, we are bringing in fresh new ideas to give extra impetus to our project.”


NOVEMBER 2015, VALENCIA TEST: TEST RIDER MIKE DI MEGLIO JOINS BAUTISTA AND BRADL ON THE CIRCUIT

Spec electronics and a new tyre supplier: what impact will this have on the current balances in MotoGP?
“It’s certainly an important re-set for all the manufacturers. A change of this magnitude forces everyone to review a host of parameters and in my opinion it should level the playing field. Obviously, the more experienced teams will still have an advantage, especially at the beginning of the season, but the gap will narrow significantly.”


ALVARO BAUTISTA

Let’s talk about the riders: how do you rate their performance?
“Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl have made an important contribution. They knew it wouldn’t be easy, for riders of their calibre having to battle in every race to gain a few points certainly isn’t ideal, but they understood the importance of our project for the future. They are two professionals with solid experience and they are helping us improve our performance. Their indications provide part of the input for the development of the new prototype, which I am sure will give them a great deal of satisfaction. Since the recent tests in Jerez, we have added Mike Di Meglio to our line-up as a test rider, a decision that goes hand in hand with the beefing up of the Aprilia Test Team. I know his assistance will give further impetus to the project.”


STEFAN BRADL

A difficult question, but one we have to ask? What’s your forecast for 2016?
“We ended 2015 with a steady place on the scoreboard. We shall be present at the start of the new season with a completely new project, so things won’t be easy at first. However, we aim to make the top 10, a challenging result but consistent with our tradition and the effort we’re putting into this.”

APRILIA TESTS IN JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, A POSITIVE VERDICT: BAUTISTA, BRADL AND DI MEGLIO COLLECT INFORMATION ON THE 2016 TYRES AND ELECTRONICS

Jerez (Spain), 27 November 2015 – The MotoGP tests at Jerez have come to a close after three days of hard work for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, as well as test rider Mike Di Meglio. The preparations for the 2016 season are decidedly demanding for the Italian team, given the change in both tyre supplier and the electronics.

In the run-up to the debut of the new Aprilia prototype, the riders used the RS-GP bikes, continuing their apprenticeship with the new Michelin tyres and spec electronics. Confirming all the work of the mechanics and the riders, they clocked up an impressive number of laps, 135 for Alvaro and 140 for Stefan.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager):: "Our tests on the new tyres and the 2016 electronics package are continuing. We still have a lot of work to do on both fronts, but things look promising. At this stage, it’s essential to understand the reactions of the new package to the changes. We need to create an entirely new starting point that gives the riders a good feeling on the bike, trying to get the tyres to work as well as possible. The test schedule went according to plan, but it was a shame that Alvaro had to stop on the last day. In Jerez, we also began our official cooperation with Mike Di Meglio as a test rider, which goes hand in hand with the beefing up of the Aprilia Test Team. Mike is a world champion rider with a lot of experience, and we’ll need it considering the hard work that lies ahead.”

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager): “We finished the last tests of 2015 on a positive note. These three days were important to continue the work we’d begun in Valencia, above all to get to know the Michelin tyres and the new electronics package better. We took the best possible advantage of the time we had available, collecting a great deal of data with Alvaro, Stefan and test rider Mike Di Meglio, who rode alongside the two team riders. The winter break starts now, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be putting our feet up: we’ll be working hard at home, using the experience and info we collected during the season to prepare as well as possible for the debut of the 2016 prototype, which will take place in the February tests.”

ALVARO BAUTISTA: "I managed to complete one test on the circuit with the new electronics and it was better than during the last test at Valencia. Now I’m going to relax after this long season so I can come back even more pumped up for the 2016 Sepang tests.”

STEFAN BRADL: “We focused on the new electronics and there really is a lot to learn. This sort of job is different to our usual work. It may seem boring because of the long breaks, but right now it’s important, to provide information for the mechanics and build a base for the Aprilia Test Team to work on during the winter break. We certainly weren’t concerned with lap times. It still didn’t feel right to push hard but I’m confident the work we’ve done over the last few days will help us in 2016. Now I’m looking forward to a holiday and to getting into top form for the new season.”

Racing
INTERVIEW

STEFAN BRADL: “I’M DELIGHTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE APRILIA BIKE FOR MOTOGP 2016”

Stefan Bradl’s arrival in Aprilia did not follow the usual route. The German rider, the 2011 Moto2 world champion, joined the Italian project when the season was in full swing. Although he mounted the RS-GP for the Indianapolis race without having the chance to make any test rides, Stefan didn’t take long to blend into the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, where his great professionalism was immediately appreciated. Winning points on two occasions, he secured his best result in Malaysia when he made the first 10. He and teammate Alvaro Bautista will be working on the development of the new Aprilia prototype, and setting out on the 2016 season with the intention of acquiring a stable place in the championship top 10. We met him at the end of the last 2015 tests in Jerez de la Frontera, the perfect occasion to review the season and look forward to next year.

How would you describe your 2015 with Aprilia?
“I’m really happy. When I arrived, in what were certainly not very traditional circumstances, the team gave me a great welcome. Everyone immediately made me feel I was part of the team and the project, even though we had very little time to get to know one another because I had to get straight on to the bike for the first round in Indianapolis. They’re a group of highly professional people, who gave me great encouragement from the start. Some results might have been better, but given that I joined them during the season, and the lack of tests, I think I’ve done a good job.”

This was your first season with an official team, how did things go?
“I certainly felt the difference. It was particularly satisfying to work on the Aprilia project, knowing that this was the preparatory season for the debut of the new bike. I’m delighted to contribute to the development of a brand new project, and I can’t wait to try out the 2016 bike and ride it to the best possible result.”

Do you feel you can call it "your" bike?
“It will certainly be my bike in part, because I’ve been involved in its development and will continue to be involved over the next season. It’s a marvellous feeling.

Have you already seen something of the new bike?
“Not yet, the plan is to wait until the January tests in Sepang. Of course, I’m in close contact with my head mechanic Diego, who’ll keep me up to date on developments. The Aprilia team have a lot of work to do to be ready for the new season, I don’t want to disturb them. And if they need me, I’ll be there any time.”

You said test riding was a new job for you, how was it?
“Obviously it might seem boring for a rider to race without going all out. The fact is, given the new regulations, we really have to start again from the beginning, which is very difficult. You can’t push the bike to its limits, first you have to understand how the new tyres and new electronics work. It takes time to get to know them, you have to go one step at a time. There are long breaks during the tests, when the mechanics re-configure the bike. So it’s a very different pace compared with race weekends.”

The RS-GP you rode this year was still a “hybrid”, is there anything you’d like to keep for the 2016 bike?
“The new bike will be better in every way. I can say that although the bike was a lab vehicle, with many parts taken from the Superbike and the factory bike, we’re proud of the results we achieved. MotoGP is a very high level, but we managed to display excellent potential, given the circumstances.”

Do you think the changes (tyres, electronics) will change the competitive stakes?
“To be honest, it’s difficult to say at the moment. We’ll see at the start of the season, when everyone’s completed their tests and preparations. Some teams will have prepared better, others will have more problems, but I don’t think you can make any forecasts before Qatar.”

What did your German fans make of your move to Aprilia?
“They were really enthusiastic. They knew my situation wasn’t wonderful in the early part of the season, I was really down because of the accidents and the events at my old team. Joining Aprilia, a real team factory, a major name in the racing world, gave me new impetus. Everyone congratulated me, they realise the importance of the Aprilia MotoGP project and what this could mean for my career.”

And how are you getting on with the Italian language?
“Not very well, to be honest. Although I’ve been involved with Italian teams for years, English is the universal language in the racing community. I’d like to learn: at the moment I only have a few words of Italian… many of which it’s best not to repeat!”

INFO:
www.stefanbradl.com

BRADL’S BIKE…ASSEMBLED IN 1 MINUTE

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini: in the first episode of the MotoGP Off Season Show, which goes online on motogp.com on 8 January, Dylan Gray of Dorna helps our two mechanics, “Beto” and “Tocco”, to assemble from scratch the Aprilia RS-GP ridden during the season by Stefan Bradl. How do you think they got on? In the meantime, enjoy the assembly of the bike… compressed into less than a minute!
Event
SPECIAL REPORT

THE PIAGGIO GROUP AT EICMA 2015:
“A FORWARD-LOOKING MULTINATIONAL”

The Piaggio Group was present at EICMA 2015, the 73rd World Motorcycling Exhibition (19-22 November, Fiera Milano-Rho), with a series of extraordinary new products from Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, Vespa and Piaggio, as well as a rich collection of accessories.

Piaggio Group at Eicma 2015

At the most important event in the international motorcycle industry’s calendar, the protagonists on the large Piaggio Group stand (inspired by the Motoplex concept store) were the Aprilia and Moto Guzzi brands: the former an emblem of cutting-edge technology and sporting passion, the latter a symbol of Italy’s great motorcycling style and traditions with an unrivalled 95-year history (the anniversary of the Eagle brand will be celebrated next year in Mandello del Lario). There were many new products to admire too: the Vespa with a livery to mark its 70th anniversary (which falls in 2016), together with the widely publicised 946 Emporio Armani; Piaggio with the new generation of Liberty scooters and a brand new product, the Medley, as well as the widely admired standard version of the advanced, hyper-connected Piaggio Wi-Bike.

PRESS CONFERENCE. ROBERTO COLANINNO: “A GROUP THAT IS EVOLVING IN RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE.” The Piaggio Group’s eagerly awaited press conference was held on 17 November, with Chairman and CEO Roberto Colaninno offering a picture of a constantly evolving, forward-looking multinational, and outlining its strategies in response to the rapid pace of change in world mobility. He was joined on the stage by journalist and TV presenter Fabio Caressa, who coordinated a compelling event with a distinct television style (for Sky, Caressa is working on a program on the world of custom motorbike builders). Here are the highlights from the 2015 exhibition, in the Group’s 130th year of activity (a full article in the Anniversary column).

MOTOPLEX: THE HOME OF THE PIAGGIO GROUP BRANDS. The first two concept stores was born in 2014, in Mantua and Milan, followed this year by new openings around the world (New York, Shanghai, Beijing, Pune): the Motoplex stores are tributes to the Group brands and their worlds of products, accessories and entertainment. “These stores are like boutiques,” said the chairman and CEO, “a new way to sell scooter and motorcycle products, which used to be associated with the romantic idea of the salesman in oil-smeared overalls in oil-impregnated surroundings… Today the world has changed: customers already know what they want to buy, they’ve already decided, and when they come in they know more than the salesman; they want stylish, good-looking, efficient products, sold in welcoming locations that reflect this atmosphere …”. So the Motoplex stores, boutiques in a city lounge format, are places where customers can enjoy a unique purchasing experience (including technical assistance), where they can return, meet up with friends, shop for branded accessories, find out about new products and compare notes on the fascinating world of two-wheelers.

PIAGGIO FAST FORWARD: IDEAS AND VISIONS. Talking about the future, chairman Roberto Colaninno mentioned the extraordinary initiative set up by the Piaggio Group a few months ago and launched on 2 October in Milan with the event “The shape of things to come” (features in Wide issue 5-2015).

PFF Manifesto

“PFF developed from an idea of mine,” said Colaninno. “This is a time of enormous change, which will affect our lives in the future; think of a metropolis like Shanghai: in 30-40 years, it will have 80 million inhabitants, Hong Kong 40 million, and then the Turin, Milan, Bergamo area…” What will our daily lives be like? And not just in terms of mobility? “I started talking about this with a few friends (including international “brains” specialising in various areas, such as Nicholas Negroponte, Doug Brent, Jeff Linnell, Jeffrey Schnapp, Gregg Lyn, Beth Altringer and Sasha Hoffmann who coordinate brilliant students at Harvard and the MIT, ed.). Together with these people, who have no ties with the world of engines, we decided to study means of transport for the future, hopefully to identify solutions to the difficulties created by change. With these ‘visionaries’, we have attracted the interest of leading US groups such as Google and Trimble, and other people keen to take part in idea laboratories and innovative projects.”

THE FUTURE TODAY: THE INNOVATIONS AT THE PIAGGIO GROUP. The new e-bike, motorcycles and scooters presented by the Piaggio Group at EICMA already are the “future”, based on great brands and industrial success stories (beginning with Moto Guzzi and Vespa, which have been successfully re-inventing themselves for decades and capturing the interest of entire generations). “We are proud of our brands and products,” said Roberto Colaninno. “We have two factories (Mandello del Lario and Pontedera, ed.) that have been making extraordinary products for decades, which are technological milestones in the mobility sector. The Vespa is an Italian product that I believe UNESCO should protect, because ideally it belongs to the world, and has been a source of joy, happiness and pleasure for almost 70 years. Its inventor (Corradino d’Ascanio, ed.) could not have imagined it would become the world’s most popular scooter, yesterday and today.” Today, Piaggio is a multinational organisation, added Colaninno: “We have production facilities in India, Vietnam, China and Italy, and branches and dealerships all over the world… The Group is shedding its skin… undertaking a re-organisation process, a new vision of the Piaggio system… It isn’t easy to understand the direction in which the various markets are evolving, how scooters and motorcycles should meet the needs of different markets; but it’s wrong to impose a product: you have to try and understand, it’s a great cultural exercise, and you have to be open-minded.”

BEAUTY ON A BICYCLE: FILIPPA LAGERBACK & PIAGGIO WI-BIKE. Next up on the stage was former Swedish model Filippa Lagerback (who also took part in a Vespa campaign), now a TV presenter and impassioned testimonial of an ecological lifestyle and the bicycle.

Filippa had the pleasant task of presenting the Piaggio e-bike, called Wi-Bike because “it has superpowers. This is a truly revolutionary product, the pedal-assisted electric bike is one of the means of transport of the future (and ideal for travelling the so-called ‘last mile’ in the city; it gives you zero emissions mobility and is good for your health). I can connect the Wi-Bike to my smartphone, choose the type of workout, how many calories I want to burn, post my training on the social networks; and with the GPS system and satellite anti-theft system, a text tells me in real time where to find the bike”. Filippa went on to describe the endless possibilities offered by a product that can hardly be called a bicycle: the Wi-Bike is nothing less than a personal trainer on two wheels. Visitors to EICMA were able to try it out in a special test area.

LIBERTY AND MEDLEY: MORE TECHNOLOGY, LESS CONSUMPTION. The new Liberty and Medley are the essence of our best technology, said chairman Colaninno, and designed to meet customer requirements: an innovative design philosophy, style and performance, safety (the Liberty is the only scooter with ABS on the Vietnamese market; the Medley holds two helmets below the seat), and reduced fuel consumption. “To be competitive on Asian markets, you have to qualify the product, it can’t just be low cost, just a question of price: it has to provide technology offering solutions for pollution (which has reached very high levels in Asia), noise and safety, three universal technical elements. All this with our Italian capacity to make stylish high-quality products: we believe that if we work hard, we can beat competitors who focus on price”. Filippa, a cycling addict (but also a keen Vespa rider), added: “I’m glad to hear you talking about eco-sustainability in connection with motorised two-wheelers.”

2016: WE’LL BE RACING IN MOTOGP. Fifty-four world titles make Aprilia one of the most successful names in motorcycle sports. Will they be enough? No: Aprilia wants to go on winning. It returned to MotoGP racing in 2015 and will be back on the circuit in 2016. Chairman Colaninno explained: “You have to be very careful, a passion for racing is not enough; you have to be calm and concentrate on technology development. In other words, you manage racing as a fundamental laboratory for live testing, on the racetrack, of technology – performance, safety, etc. – for subsequent transfer to the motorbikes customers will be riding on the road… This is why we decided to bring forward our return to MotoGP, with results that have not disappointed, which give us hope for 2016.” The emotion of a victorious Italian motorcycle (combining passion and technology made in Italy) is what the chairman wants and what every Aprilia fan dreams of.
Colaninno was then joined on the stage by the Aprilia MotoGp riders: Alvaro Bautista (“we improved in the second half of the season, 2015 was a useful year for collecting data, running tests and gaining experience; we’re wired up for 2016. The Aprilia RSV4 RF road bike is very powerful, a real top bike”); and Stefan Bradl (“in MotoGP we aim to be in the MotoGP top ten in 2016; I’m enthusiastic and happy with the project, the development of the engine for the next MotoGP has got off to a good start”.) They were flanked by the Superstock 1000 riders: the new world champion Lorenzo Savadori (“we are riding factory-derived bikes in the Superstock category, so everyone can experience the thrills of racing, and the RSV4 offers plenty of those”) and his teammate Kevin Calia, who was enthusiastic about the new entry for customers looking for sporty bikes: the “Factory Works” motorcycle with a top configuration of 230 hp, then he added: “The RSV4 is a complete bike, I know because I rode it for Aprilia in France, for a review comparing supersport bikes.” The V4 has come out top in many comparisons.

THE FUTURE MOTO GUZZI: A TAILOR-MADE FACTORY. Moto Guzzi: 95 years of activity, a religion for bikers all over the world, with its own “church”: the factory in Mandello del Lario where the Eagle motorcycles have always been built. Roberto Colaninno said: “We have a very original idea of Moto Guzzi; we know Mandello is an extraordinary place, which has created extraordinary motorcycles; we want it to be somewhere where devotees and their families can spend a weekend in an attractive lakeside setting and in an open factory where the Guzzi bikes are built. We have retained the old factory building and the museum with all the models, but with an eye to the future: we commissioned a project from the Yale faculty of architecture, from young students who know nothing about Mandello and Moto Guzzi. We asked them to design a factory, staffed not by robots but by men and women who work in the same way as bespoke tailors. A group of students and the faculty chair visited Mandello and then presented a project, which is part of Piaggio Fast Forward. The project is a blueprint for the factory of the future, combining old and new.”

Attention then turned to the new Moto Guzzi motorbikes, the V9 Bobber and the Roamer and the stunning MGX-21 “Flying Fortress”, which will be “landing” in the USA, in Sturgis, South Dakota, in August 2016. And if all this left everyone astonished, Colaninno promised: “In the last ten years we’ve done great things, and we have to continue… but what you’ve seen so far is nothing… we have to make things that don’t exist yet.” Thoughts immediately turn to the MP3, the world’s first three-wheel scooter, created by Piaggio in a move that heralded the future, inventing a new form of mobility. That was in 2006, less than ten years ago.

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EICMA 2015 SPECIAL REPORT

PIAGGIO GROUP: ALL THE NEW ENTRIES

MOTO GUZZI: FOUR BRAND NEW MOTORCYCLES TO CELEBRATE THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2016. NEXT YEAR ALSO MARKS THE VESPA’S 70TH ANNIVERSARY. PIAGGIO: TWO BRAND NEW HIGH-WHEEL SCOOTERS. LAUNCH OF THE PIAGGIO WI-BIKE. APRILIA PRESENTS THE FACTORY WORKS PROJECT TO CELEBRATE 54 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES AND ITS SUPERSTOCK 1000 SUCCESS. WATCH THE VIDEO FROM THE PIAGGIO GROUP STAND
Piaggio Group EICMA 2015
(Video by WeLovePlaza Entertainment).

The European leader on the two-wheeler market, the Piaggio Group came to EICMA 2015 with a host of new entries marking 130 years of activity: the Group was established at the end of December 1884. Two important anniversaries will be coming up in 2016, too: 70 years of the Vespa (patented on 23 April 1946 and taken into production immediately afterwards) and 95 years of Moto Guzzi, founded in 1921 at the legendary factory in Mandello del Lario, where the headquarters and production lines of the "Eagle" are still located today. "The Piaggio Group today boasts a range of extraordinary brands, each of which represents a different way of achieving the highest levels of quality and technology," said Group chairman and CEO Roberto Colaninno (seen above during the Group press conference at EICMA 2015, ed.). "We have the strength of a great brand portfolio, offering solutions for all market segments and opening the way for new categories, forms and areas of mobility.

“And with the launch of the Piaggio Fast Forward project in the Group’s 130th year of activity, we have taken on the mission of thinking for the future, of designing and producing solutions that combine distinctive style with cutting-edge technology, to improve the way people travel in the future and also their quality of life.” The solidity of the brands in the Piaggio Group portfolio, each with its own mission, prestigious heritage and distinctive style and technical features, was reflected in the large stand organised by the Group for EICMA 2015.

A stand whose architecture and details echoed the world of the new Motoplex multibrand flagship stores recently opened by the Piaggio Group in cities around the world, including Milan, Manhattan, Shanghai, Beijing, Pune.

MOTO GUZZI: MAJOR ADDITIONS TO THE RANGE FOR 95TH ANNIVERSARY

EICMA 2015 marked the debut of a number of brand new motorcycles. First up is the Moto Guzzi V9: a new V-twin 850cc engine, with cardan shaft, new frame and design, with two models targeting two new segments: the V9 Bobber, light and easy, with large tyres, which looks Stateside, and the Roamer, a magnificent medium-size custom bike.

America’s Route 66 and great coast-to-coast trips are the inspiration for the MGX-21, a stunning 1400cc bagger, whose transposition from show bike to standard model (to be presented in August 2016 at Sturgis, South Dakota) has been achieved without compromise.

Meanwhile, the new V7 II Stornello is firmly rooted in Moto Guzzi history, reprising the name, style and technology (colours, knobby tyres and high exhaust) of the very first Italian motorbikes to be transformed into scramblers in the 1960s and 70s, beginning with the original Stornello.

70 YEARS FOR THE VESPA: 1.5 MILLION SCOOTERS SHIPPED SINCE 2005

With the Vespa, the Piaggio Group has successfully carried the legend forward, introducing a number of brand new products such as the 946, the Primavera, the Sprint and the new versions of the GTS. The design, technology and quality challenge has been accompanied by the challenge of turning a product regarded as a symbol of Italy into a global name. Piaggio’s success in meeting that challenge is reflected in the numbers: 1,500,000 Vespa scooters shipped worldwide since 2005, with a 2015 year-end forecast of an additional 166,000 shipments. A preview of the events the Piaggio Group plans to celebrate the Vespa’s 70th anniversary can be seen in “Vespa Settantesimo”, the versions and special colours unveiled at EICMA for two of the latest models – the Primavera and the GTS – and for a Piaggio evergreen, the PX, in production since 1977.

APRILIA: MISSION RACING. BESPOKE BIKES AT MORE THAN 230 HP

The Aprilia world means racing. EICMA saw the debut of the RSV4 RF model year 2016, a further refinement of an already perfect motorcycle, which this year, adding to its seven world Superbike titles, secured a double championship triumph with the Riders title (Lorenzo Savadori) and the Manufacturers title in the Superstock 1000 class. Victories that join the 54 world championship titles won by Aprilia in 20 years (28 since joining the Piaggio Group).
In the more esoteric segment of supersports bikes comes the Aprilia Factory Works project: the Aprilia championship technology is now available for everyone.

For professional riders, collectors or racetrack-Sunday devotees, Aprilia Racing is offering custom bikes developed and built to customer requirements, in accordance with the regulations of the Superstock and SBK championships in the various countries, with different chassis, electronics and engines, whose top configuration will exceed the 230 HP threshold.

PIAGGIO: HIGH-WHEEL REVOLUTION WITH THE LIBERTY AND THE MEDLEY

As well as the Vespa , the scooter exhibit presented two completely new entries for Piaggio, the brand that stands for instantly recognisable, technologically advanced, cutting-edge urban and metropolitan mobility, exemplified by the success of the revolutionary Mp3, the first three-wheel scooter and by far the best-selling product in its category, year after year. EICMA 2015 saw the debut of two brand new entries for Piaggio high-wheel scooters. After the extraordinary success of the first Liberty generation, with nearly one million sales, Piaggio introduces the new generation of its high-wheel scooter. Unmistakably a Liberty, but with superior quality and in line with current values, available with a new range of 4-stroke electronic injection engines (Piaggio iGet 50, 125 and 150cc) for eco-sustainability and low fuel consumption, and with ABS as a standard feature on the 125 and 150 versions.

The second announcement marks a new product and a new product segment. The Medley is equipped with the most powerful liquid-cooled version of the new Piaggio iGet 125 and 150cc engines, with a start & stop function. Slightly larger than the Liberty, more compact than the robust Beverly, the Medley is a new segment in the Piaggio Group offer, intended for a young male and female user with a normal driving licence. The exceptionally spacious underseat compartment has room for two helmets, a unique feature in this category of scooter.

PIAGGIO WI-BIKE, THE NEW TWO-WHEEL “PERSONAL TRAINER”

Rounding off the main new entries from the Piaggio Group (which also showed many model years and new versions for a number of brands, as well as additions to the Moto Guzzi Garage range of special components for custom bikes) is the Piaggio eBike. The Piaggio Wi-Bike, presented in the standard version at EICMA, and designed and developed entirely in Italy by Piaggio, is available in four different outfittings. Always connected to the world via the web, this is the eco-friendly vehicle of the future, connected to the net and to smartphones to deliver a huge range of services, from fitness to geolocation.

FOR INFO AND TO REQUEST BROCHURES:
eicma.piaggiogroup.com/en/piaggio-group.html

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SEEN AT EICMA 2015

VIPs AND OTHERS
ON THE PIAGGIO GROUP STAND


From left: Giorgio Squinzi, Roberto Colaninno, Roberto Maroni and Antonello Montante

On 17 November, the opening day of the EICMA 2015 show, a large number of distinguished figures visited the Piaggio Group stand, where they were welcomed by Chairman and CEO Roberto Colaninno, accompanied by Michele Colaninno (CEO and Managing Director of the Immsi Group, the holding that controls the Piaggio Group, also Director of Piaggio & C. S.p.A. and Chairman of Piaggio Fast Forward). The guests included Giorgio Squinzi (President of Confindustria, the association of Italian industrial enterprises), Roberto Maroni (Chairman of the Lombardy Regional Authority) and Antonello Montante (EICMA President).

The new Moto Guzzi motorcycles attracted special interest: the V9, the superb MXG-21 “Flying Fortress” and the V7 II Stornello.

Admiring the Italian bikes, produced in Mandello del Lario for 95 years, Mr. Roberto Maroni was keen to find out more about the models and their features.

FANS BESIEGE THE APRILIA RIDERS

A sea of people were waiting for the Aprilia MotoGP riders Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, and the Superstock 1000 riders Kevin Calia and Lorenzo Savadori (the neo world champion), at the “Meet & Greet” event on the Piaggio stand on 21 November, an opportunity for fans to see the riders from the 2015 season in the flesh. Autographs on posters, photos and selfies, endless questions, and even a cake for Alvaro, who was celebrating his 31st birthday. Many happy returns!

AND THE BIKE MAGAZINES… SHOW MOTO GUZZI AND APRILIA

The Piaggio Group stand was not the only exhibition area with displays of Moto Guzzi and Aprilia bikes: many of the leading trade magazines embellished their stands with the Italian two-wheelers, gladly loaned for the occasion. The “Moto Sprint” stand had a row of Aprilia GP bikes, summing up the brand’s success in top-category motor racing: the AF1 250 ridden to victory by Loris Reggiani on the Misano circuit for the San Marino Grand Prix, the first GP won by Aprilia; the RS 125 R ridden by Alex Gramigni, who became world champion in 1992 and gave Aprilia its first world title; also, the RS 250 on which Valentino Rossi became world champion in 1999; the RSW-2 500 that took Jeremy McWilliams to the Donington podium in 2000; and, last, in a tribute to Aprilia’s return to MotoGP racing, the RS-GP 2015 ridden by Stefan Bradl.

Meanwhile, the “InMoto” stand displayed two champion bikes, the 2014 RSV4 Superbike ridden by Sylvain Guintoli and the RSV4 Superstock 2015 used by Lorenzo Savadori. The “SuperBike” stand showed the Aprilia RSV4, the winner of the magazine’s comparative tests on 1000cc sports bikes. The Aprilia Caponord Rally had a place on the “Mototurismo” stand, as the protagonist of a travel report in Africa (Photo: F. Gilardenghi).

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INDIA, THE PIAGGIO GROUP OPENS
A MOTOPLEX FLAGSHIP STORE IN PUNE


Motoplex Pune, India

On 5 November 2015, the Piaggio Group opened its first Motoplex flagship store in India, in the city of Pune (State of Maharashtra). Situated about 120 km south-east of Mumbai, Pune is India’s fourth-largest industrial city and ninth-largest for number of inhabitants. It is a major university and research centre with nine universities and more than one hundred schools and scientific bodies, as well as a key location for the automotives and IT industries.

The Motoplex store in Pune offers the vehicles marketed in India for the Group’s most prestigious brands: Vespa, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. Motoplex is an innovative multibrand flagship store model, developed as part of the new global in-store experience strategy being developed by the Piaggio Group in major world cities. The Group recently opened Motoplex stores in Milan, Shanghai, Beijing and New York.


Motoplex Shanghai, Cina

Stefano Pelle, managing director of Piaggio Vehicles Private Ltd. (PVPL, the Indian subsidiary based in Pune with factories in Baramati), said: “We are very proud to open southern Asia’s first Motoplex store in India. Motoplex is a forward-looking concept enabling dealers to work with a variety of brands and products in a single location, and to offer customers an exciting overview of the two-wheeler world reflecting the innovative vision of the Piaggio Group.

“The store is not just a showroom for Vespa, Piaggio, Moto Guzzi and Aprilia motorbikes and scooters, it is also a fascinating journey in the style, technology and historic heritage of the two-wheeler brands that proudly stand for Made in Italy. After Pune, we shall be opening a number of other stores throughout India.”

INFO:
www.motoplexpiaggio.com/pune

PORTUGAL, LISBON:
WELCOME TO “OFFICINA MOTO”

The new C. Machado “Officina Moto” multibrand store that opened on 11 December in Rua Fernando Palha 29, central Lisbon, offers the full range of top Piaggio Group scooters and motorcycles, and related accessories: Vespa, Piaggio, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. The new Portuguese showroom offers two-wheeler devotees a unique experience, aligned with the new global in-store concept the Piaggio Group is developing in major metropolitan areas around the world with the Motoplex stores that opened recently in Milan, Shanghai, Beijing, Manhattan, Singapore, Jakarta and Pune.

Like the other stores, the new showroom in Lisbon offers customers the opportunity to experience the distinctive Vespa style, the Aprilia world of sport and adrenalin, the innovative technology of Piaggio, the legendary appeal of Moto Guzzi. A world of style and passion, in a superlative original location.

INFO:
www.officinamoto.pt

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NEW YORK, MOTORCYCLE FILM FESTIVAL:
AWARD FOR THE “STELVIO2STELVIO” DOCU-FILM

FILMED AND PRODUCED BY ANDREA LIVIO, THE “SHORT” DOCUMENTS HIS WORLD TOUR ON A MOTO GUZZI STELVIO NTX 1200

Five days of screenings, 36 films and a public of thousands of bikers: the third edition of the Motorcycle Film Festival, a celebration combining passion for the movies with passion for motorbikes and travel, was a great success. One of the award winners at the festival, held at the Littlefield in Brooklyn (New York City), was “Stelvio2Stelvio”, a docu-film recounting Italian Andrea Livio’s world tour on a Moto Guzzi bike, starting and finishing at the Stelvio Pass. Almost 100 days and 100,000 km of on-the-road adventures and emotion, which thirty-year-old Andrea Livio from the Valtellina wanted to share with the world biker community through the documentary film (which he wrote, directed and produced himself).

ANDREA LIVIO: “WHY I LOVE MY STELVIO NTX 1200”


Andrea Livio astride his MG Stelvio NTX 1200: South Pacific coast, Nicaragua

He calls it: “The Mastellona: it’s my motorbike. A Moto Guzzi Stelvio NTX 1200. It was built in Mandello, about 20 minutes from my hometown. It’s my favourite bike: I call it the Mastellona [an affectionate nickname, translator’s note] because of its size.” Andrea Livio, a professional moviemaker, committed traveller and motorbike devotee, is passionate about his “hefty” and reliable travelling companion, which took him to difficult, beautiful and unforgettable places. He completed his round-the-world trip in 30 months, leaving from the Stelvio Pass bound for France, where he set sail for South America.

Stage 1 Stelvio2Stelvio:
from the Stelvio Pass (Italy) to Bogota (Colombia).

From Patagonia he travelled to Canada, through Alaska and down to Vancouver, where he missed the boat for Japan. So he returned to South America, to Bogota. He then went to Peru travelling eastwards, before heading home through Russia, and reaching his final destination, the Stelvio Pass, where the journey began. That explains the title of the film “Stelvio2Stelvio”, an award winner at the festival in New York.

INFO:
www.stelvio2stelvio.it

IN MILAN A NON-STOP MARATHON OF THE BEST MOTORBIKE TRAVEL MOVIES

During the EICMA 2015 motorcycle show, the Leica Theatre at the Deus Ex Machina Italy location in Milan hosted a non-stop marathon of the best biker travel movies from the three editions of “The Motorcycle Film Festival” in New York, selected by Italian distributor Rodaggio Film. The event began at 7 p.m. on 16 November and ended 48 hours later, at 7 p.m. on 18 November. A must for cinema buffs and bikers, with a total of 61 films (shorts, feature-length movies and documentaries). The “Stelvio2Stelvio” docu-film by Andrea Livio (photo below, taken from his video), an award winner at the 2015 Motorcycle Film Festival, had the honour of opening the movie marathon.

Anniversary

PIAGGIO GROUP:
130 ENTERPRISING YEARS



A COMPANY WHOSE NAME HAS GONE DOWN IN ITALIAN AND WORLD INDUSTRIAL HISTORY. AN UNINTERRUPTED COMMITMENT TO RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. ROBERTO COLANINNO: “WE HAVE THE STRENGTH OF A GREAT BRAND PORTFOLIO OFFERING SOLUTIONS FOR ALL MARKET SEGMENTS AND OPENING THE WAY FOR NEW CATEGORIES, FORMS AND AREAS OF MOBILITY”

2015 marks the 130th anniversary of the Piaggio Group, which was established at the end of December 1884. Two other major milestones follow close behind: in 2016, the Group will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Vespa (patented on 23 April 1946 and put immediately into production) and the 95th anniversary of Moto Guzzi, founded in 1921 in the legendary factory in Mandello del Lario, where the “Eagle Brand” facilities and production lines are still located today.
“Today the Piaggio Group boasts a range of extraordinary brands, each of which represents a different way of achieving the highest levels of quality and technology," says Group chairman and CEO Roberto Colaninno. "We have the strength of a great brand portfolio, offering solutions for all market segments and opening the way for new categories, forms and areas of mobility. And with the launch of the Piaggio Fast Forward project in the Group’s 130th year of activity, we have taken on the mission of thinking for the future, of designing and producing solutions that combine distinctive style with cutting-edge technology, to improve the way people travel in the future and also their quality of life.”


PFF, from left: Roberto Colaninno, Sasha Hoffman, Jeffrey Schnapp, Nicholas Negroponte, Beth Altringer, Gregg Lynn, Doug Brent, Jeff Linnell

The wealth of brands in the Piaggio Group portfolio, each with its own mission, prestigious heritage and distinctive style and technical features, is reflected in the large stand organised by the Group for the EICMA 2015 motor show, on which this issue of Wide provides extensive coverage. The two-wheeler brands are flanked by Piaggio commercial vehicles, in three- and four-wheel model ranges.

BEGINNINGS: SHIPS, TRAINS, AIRCRAFT, RADIAL ENGINES. The Piaggio company was established in Sestri Ponente, Genoa’s industrial district, at the end of 1884, by Rinaldo Piaggio (the son of Enrico, owner of a modern mechanised woodworking plant); the Piaggio carpenters produced the fittings for the finest Italian and foreign ships built at the end of the century. The company then expanded into railcar construction, at the time a more innovative sector with important growth prospects. Subsequently, with the opening up of the new frontier of aeronautics, from 1917 Piaggio workers began building aircraft wings and fuselage. Looking for a new site, Rinaldo took over a Pisa-based company and set down Piaggio’s first roots in Tuscany. The end of the First World War brought severe economic repercussions as the reconversion from war production to a peacetime economy took a heavy toll. The Piaggio company did not suffer unduly, however, or at least much less than other companies active in mechanics. Piaggio’s diversified production in the various fields of transport protected it from the impact of the postwar crises. It made rapid and significant progress in railway construction, taking important orders on both the domestic and the international market, including the construction of the “royal train” in the early 1920s and the manufacture of electrically powered trains whose design and steel weldings, based on original Piaggio research and patents, gave them a “futuristic” look. This was followed by production of the P2 (Piaggio 2) fighter monoplane, the first of a long series that included highlights such as the P7 – the Piaggio racing hydroplane – and the four-engine P 108, the last great Italian plane built before the Second World War.

A STORY OF CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION. Having identified a new business opportunity in aircraft engine production, in 1924 Rinaldo bought Costruzione Meccaniche Nazionali, a small workshop based in Pontedera that had been started up before the war by the engine section of the local agrarian consortium. Pontedera continued to produce aircraft engines, and within a few years had been joined by a number of expert engineers, notably Corradino d’Ascanio (1891- 1981), a gifted inventor from Popoli, in the Abruzzo region, who developed the variable-speed propeller as soon as he began working at Piaggio (1934). Corradino d’Ascanio is famous as the inventor of the helicopter; he held the flight duration and altitude record (1930) for years, at a time when the helicopter was unknown.
The story of Piaggio is a story of creativity, of technical objects conceived by innovative talent. In 1938, Rinaldo Piaggio died; production in the company’s four cutting-edge factories in Liguria and Tuscany was worth more than 160 million lire. His two sons split the business: Enrico took over responsibility for the Tuscan factories in Pisa and Pontedera, while Armando took charge of the facilities in Sestri and Finale Ligure. The company continued to grow and its advanced technology in both engine and aeronautical production reaped rewards: between 1937 and 1939, Piaggio radial engines set 21 records, including altitude (17,083 metres) with the PXI piston engine on the Caproni 161, piloted by Colonel Mario Pezzi. In this period, in addition to trains, naval fittings, aircraft and aircraft engines, Piaggio was building lorries, trams, buses, funicular railcars, and aluminium door and window frames, often reaching levels of excellence as with its 21 engine records or the famous P108 aircraft.

CORRADINO D’ASCANIO: DRAWING THE VESPA
Video’s English translation, the engineer Corradino d’Ascanio is speaking about his draw of the Vespa scooter: “I put a mudguard below the seat to cover the wheel… I aligned the steering column with the front wheel, automatically the scooter takes shape. Another new feature was to provide wheels that could be taken off, not in the same way as normal motorcycle wheels (which are mounted on a fork with a cross axle, so if you have a puncture you have pull out the axle, dismantle and remove the wheel). Whereas here the system is similar to that widely used on aeroplane undercarriages, where the wheels are cantilevered, so they can be taken off, as easily as on an automobile”.

DEBUT OF THE VESPA, A WORLDWIDE SUCCESS. With the end of the Second World War, Armando Piaggio slowly resumed aeronautical production and the manufacture of naval and rail fittings in the Ligurian plants, while Enrico was looking for a completely new business direction; his ambition was to help Italy overcome its postwar transport difficulties. He ventured into the complexities of Italian reconstruction with a specific idea: to build a simple, low-cost means of transport that would consume very little and could be ridden by men and women alike. In the Piedmontese town of Biella, where Piaggio had relocated its Pontedera production lines during the war, the company engineers had been building a small scooter: the MP5, nicknamed Paperino – Donald Duck – for its unusual shape. During a trip to Biella accompanied by Corradino d’Ascanio, Enrico Piaggio saw the Paperino: he liked the idea of a small vehicle, but was not convinced by its design. So he gave d’Ascanio a few weeks to come up with a new design for a nimble general-purpose vehicle. D’Ascanio was an aeronautical engineer (and a professor at Pisa University’s engineering faculty) and took up the scooter challenge. He did not like motorcycles; he thought they were uncomfortable, limited in use due to the difficulty of changing a tyre, and dirty because of the chain transmission. He came up with a completely different vehicle. Within a few weeks, he had designed a two-wheeler with a load-bearing body, a 98 cc engine, a direct-drive system, the gear change on the handlebar for easy riding, no fork but a side stand to facilitate tyre changing in the event of a puncture. The scooter frame protected the rider, who would be seated as though he or she were on a chair: indeed, when he presented the idea, d’Ascanio began by sketching a person in a comfortable sitting position, and then drew the scooter beneath him.

The final distinguishing feature of the design philosophy behind the new vehicle was the use of lightweight materials: another feature taken from aeronautics, where materials had to be light but strong. With these innovations, in September 1945, Corradino presented his prototype, the MP6, and in early April 1946, the final version, the legendary first Vespa 98cc. Inspecting the vehicle, Enrico Piaggio took an instant liking to it. Hearing the buzz of the engine and observing the ample seat in contrast with the narrow centre and tail, he exclaimed “It looks like a wasp!”, and a wasp – Vespa – it became! At midday on 24 April, a patent was registered in Florence for a “motorcycle composed of a rational group of parts and elements with a frame combined with mudguards and a casing covering all mechanical parts”, the Vespa. In a show of entrepreneurial daring, Enrico Piaggio immediately put a run of 2,500 scooters into production. The arrival of the Vespa was a watershed moment in the history of the Piaggio company, compared with its first 60 years of activity. The Pontedera factory abandoned its aeronautical projects and production to make the decisive move into the scooter business.
The Vespa made its debut in Rome, at an event attended by US General Stone representing the allied military government. The presentation was covered by the US cinema newsreel Movietone: Italians would see the Vespa scooter for the first time in Motor magazine (24 March 1946) and on the black and white cover of La Moto on 15 April 1946. They had the chance to see the futuristic vehicle for themselves at the Milan Fair in 1946. The press and the trade immediately realised the importance of the Vespa’s innovations and inventive engineering content. The international markets also showed interest in the scooter, which aroused admiration and curiosity among the public and the press. The Times called the Vespa “a completely Italian product such as we have not seen for centuries since the Roman chariot”. In 1947, a new product went into production: the Ape –officially launched in 1948 – a three-wheel van for the goods transport needs of postwar Italy, which adopted the same approach and philosophy that had inspired Enrico Piaggio for the Vespa. Like the Vespa, the Ape was immediately taken up for daily use; it was available in different models for a variety of applications, including the Ape Calessino passenger van.

AN EVERGREEN: FREEDOM AND THE PLEASURE OF TRAVEL. The story of the Vespa is fascinating from many points of view: technical, customs, innovation, style. The scooter also broke new ground in communication, with women as the focus of the message of the first advertising campaign. Piaggio’s extraordinary invention soon spread across the world, enjoying a commercial success and visibility that continues to this day, offering independence and the pleasure of mobility to whole generations. In 1988, Piaggio reached a milestone when the 10 millionth Vespa left the production lines. Worldwide Vespa sales around the world since 1946 – with more than 130 models – have now exceeded 18 million scooters, of which 1,500,000 in the last ten years alone (2005-2015). The story continues…

THE PIAGGIO GROUP TODAY: MULTINATIONAL, MULTICULTURAL.

Piaggio PFF Roberto Colaninno
The Piaggio Group is the largest European manufacturer of two-wheel motor vehicles and one of the world leaders in its sector. It is also a major international player on the commercial vehicle market. Roberto Colaninno is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Piaggio Group, Matteo Colaninno is Deputy Chairman. Piaggio (PIA.MI) has been listed on the Italian stock exchange since 2006. Since 2003, the Piaggio Group has been controlled by Immsi S.p.A. (IMS.MI), an industrial holding listed on the Italian stock exchange and headed by Roberto Colaninno, who is Chairman. Immsi’s Chief Executive Officer and MD is Michele Colaninno.

THE RANGE. The Piaggio Group product range includes scooters, motorcycles and mopeds from 50 to 1,400 cc marketed under the Piaggio, Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Gilera, Derbi and Scarabeo brands. The Group also operates in the three- and four-wheel light transport sector with its Ape, Porter and Quargo (Ape Truck) ranges of commercial vehicles. In 2014, the Piaggio Group shipped a total of 546,500 vehicles worldwide. The Piaggio Group brand portfolio contains some of the most distinguished and historic names in the motorcycling world: these include Gilera (founded in 1909), Moto Guzzi (founded in 1921), Derbi (1922) and Aprilia, which in just over twenty years has established itself as one of the most successful manufacturers in the world of Speed and Superbike championships. The Piaggio Group has a formidable record in motor racing, with extraordinary names such as Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Gilera and Derbi that have gone down in sport history. Together, these Piaggio Group brands have won an impressive total of 104 world championship titles: Aprilia: 54 titles; Derbi: 21 titles; Moto Guzzi: 15 titles; Gilera: 14 titles.

LOCATIONS. The Piaggio Group is headquartered in Pontedera (Pisa, Italy) and has production plants around the world: Pontedera, where the Group technical HQ is located, which produces Piaggio, Vespa and Gilera branded two-wheelers, light transport vehicles for the European market and engines for scooters and motorcycles; Noale (Venice), a technical centre for the development of motorcycles for the entire Group and the home of Aprilia Racing; Scorzè (Venice), which produces Aprilia and Scarabeo branded two-wheelers; Mandello del Lario (Lecco, Italy), which produces Moto Guzzi vehicles and engines; Baramati (India, in the state of Maharashtra), which produces three- and four-wheel light transport vehicles for the Indian market and for export, the Vespa scooter for the local market, diesel and turbodiesel engines for the Group’s commercial vehicles; Vinh Phuc (Vietnam) which produces Vespa and Piaggio scooters for the local market and the Asia-Pacific area. The Piaggio Group also operates in China through a joint venture (Zongshen Piaggio Foshan Motorcycles, based in Foshan in the province of Guangdong) in which it holds a 45% stake and which is therefore not included in the Group’s consolidated results. In the USA, Pasadena in California is home to the Piaggio Group Advanced Design Center for R&D. Also in the USA, Piaggio Fast Forward Inc. (PFF), a Piaggio subsidiary established in June 2015 to develop innovative mobility and transport solutions and technologies, is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

INFO:
www.piaggiofastforward.com
ANNIVERSARY
1895-2015: CINEMA CELEBRATES 120 YEARS

APRILIA IN HOLLYWOOD MOVIES


USA: Aprilia on the Road America circuit at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

MEGAN FOX & THE APRILIA RSV 1000 IN TRANSFORMERS 2

To mark cinema’s 120th anniversary, let’s remember some of the movies where Aprilia motorbikes take a co-starring role. One of the most famous is “Transformers 2 – Revenge of the Fallen” (2009), the second film in the sci-fi series inspired by the globally successful Transformer toys. The second episode was directed by Michael Bay, with a certain Steven Spielberg as executive producer. Bay and Spielberg both worked on the first movie in the series (which then continued with Transformers 3 and Transformers 4 – Age of Extinction).
The star of “Transformers 2” is Megan Fox, seen riding a red Aprilia RSV 1000 in some scenes, with co-star Shia LaBeouf on pillion.

A BADDIE ON THE RACE CIRCUIT, WITH “DECEPTICON” STYLE FAIRINGS

The film went on general release in the USA on 24 June 2009. For the launch, Aprilia and Hollywood met up… on the race-track! At the AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike championship, during the race on the Road America circuit (Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin), Aprilia fielded a special RSV 1000 Factory, with Transformers-branded fairings painted in the style of the Decepticons, the baddies in the film. Take a look at the photogallery of the Aprilia “baddie” on the US circuit.

TORQUE: THE APRILIA RSV 1000 WITH THE ORIGINAL LIVERY

Five years earlier, the rugged Aprilia RSV 1000 “played” in another American movie, made by the producers of “The Fast and the Furious”, “S.W.A.T.” and “XXX”. The film was “Torque” (2004), directed by Joseph Kahn and set in the biker community. The main character, Cary Ford – played by Martin Henderson – rides his Aprilia to get away from gangs and the FBI. He also wears Aprilia leathers, and of all the bikes in the film, his is the only one to appear in its original livery: red-black with touches of white. A beauty that had no need of make-up and costumes!
MOTO GUZZI IN THE MOVIES IN WIDE NO. 5-2015:
wide.piaggiogroup.com/archive/wide5_15

THE ORIGINS OF CINEMA: THE FIRST PUBLIC PROJECTION IN PARIS

The first motion picture seen by the public, and for this reason regarded as the starting point in the history of cinema, 120 years ago, was “Employees leaving the Lumière factory” (original title: La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière). With a running time of 45 seconds, shot by French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, it shows a group of workers leaving the company factory on the outskirts of Lyon.


“La sortie de l’usine Lumière”, 1895

The film was one of ten shown at the first public cinema screening, on 28 December 1895, in the Salon Indien of the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris.

At the event, the Lumière brothers presented their patented cinématographe, a machine that could project on to a white screen a sequence of separate images recorded on a photographically printed film, giving the effect of motion. A few years earlier, in 1889, Thomas Edison had developed a motion picture camera (the Kinetograph) and a peep-hole viewer (the Kinetoscope): the camera was used to take a series of photographs in rapid succession on a 35 mm film, while the viewer enabled the sequence of images to be watched as a motion picture, by one person at a time.

The Lumière brothers had the idea of projecting films, so that the show could be seen by large numbers of spectators. Cinematographic film was invented 130 years ago: it dates back to 1885 and was the brainchild of George Eastman, while the first filmed material (of a group of friends walking in a garden) is believed to be Roundhay Garden Scene, a 2-second film recorded in Britain on 14 October 1888 by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince.

People
ON THE ROAD MEMORIES

CALIFORNIA LOVERS: MANUELE BIONDI
30 YEARS AND 700,000 KM AROUND THE WORLD ON MOTO GUZZI


Manuele Biondi with his Moto Guzzi California 1400, in front of the Piaggio Group factory in Pontedera, Tuscany

True love: a commitment to the Eagle brand is forever, indestructible, a never-ending passion, an eternal bond. That’s what it’s like for true Guzzi bikers. Bikers like Manuele Biondi, a youthful 55, born in the Tuscan town of Piombino (where he works in the steel plant), a lifelong traveller and biker: in over thirty years on the road, so far he has ridden more than 700,000 km, and always on a Moto Guzzi California. He first fell in love with the “Cali” when he was a young man and has owned a variety of models over the years, but two names have always been proudly displayed on his bikes: Moto Guzzi and California.


From left: Maurizio Pandolfo with his California Vintage 1100 and Manuele Biondi with his California 1400

On a rainy day in November, Manuele was the guest of the editorial staff of Wide Piaggio Magazine (at the Piaggio Group offices in Pontedera, near Pisa). He was accompanied by a friend from Grosseto, Maurizio Pandolfo, aka “Mad Pandy” (the founder of the Roadrunners Gang 1983); more than 20 years ago, in 1994, Manuele and Pandy set up the “California Crew” Guzzi club (as club president and secretary respectively). The pair arrived for the interview on their fantastic Guzzi bikes: Manuele with his California 1400 from 2013 (in an elegant white livery, with matching crash helmet, also by Moto Guzzi); Pandy on his black California Vintage 1100 with white details, like his two-colour helmet by Moto Guzzi. The athletic duo certainly didn’t go unnoticed: leather jackets, boots, studs, chains, Moto Guzzi patches, eagles everywhere, even on an earring. In short, the typical look of the die-hard biker, but with a typical touch of Italian style, given that they’ve been riding the elegant bikes made in Mandello del Lario for decades. “We like riding comfortably, with an accommodating seat and broad handlebar, so we can enjoy every single kilometre: and the Moto Guzzi California bikes are just perfect, in every detail. And very Italian.”

“ALL THE MG BIKES OF MY LIFE: I’VE INVESTED IN HAPPINESS”

Manuele tells us about himself: “Moto Guzzi was a family passion, my grandparents were Guzzi bikers too. I got my first California II in 1984, a California III injection in the 1990s, then the California limited edition from 1995, of which only 750 were produced; this was followed by a California Special in 1999, and now I’m enjoying the California Touring 1400 second series, which I bought in 2013.” Manuele has travelled widely, covering the length and breadth of Europe before heading for the States; his most important trips include: 1985 North Cape, 1986 Morocco, Scotland, 1992 Russia and Moscow (where he met army trucks refuelling along the way); then two trips to the USA, coast to coast from New York to San Francisco and back. Plus countless rallies, including such extreme events as the Elefantreffen, and those organised through California Crew’s ties with the US Moto Guzzi National Owners Club (info: www.mgnoc.com); the MGNOC also has a European Division (American David Smith is one of its founders), which organises rallies in May and October.

Moto Guzzi National Rally Parade July 2011

And where have you been in recent years? “I’ve competed in the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man, continued travelling around Europe, and taken part in Moto Guzzi rallies everywhere: Norway, the UK, Belgium… Yes, I really have spent my life on the road, and I’ve never had a serious problem, except this summer when I needed the excellent technical assistance of the Moto Guzzi Bäcker dealer in Laer, Germany, for a welding job on the silencer.”

When he was a bit younger, says Manuele, he rode from Piombino to Berlin almost “without stopping, 1,300 km, then back again; that was a really satisfying trip, a real thrill.” And his most recent expedition, this summer, was no mean feat: he rode 8,500 km to St Petersburg: “It was a great journey: from Piombino to Trieste, then Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, towards Russia, Moscow and St Petersburg, then back through the Baltic states (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia), via Finland, from Helsinki, then Warsaw and Berlin. In Germany, near Laer, I met up with my friend Mad Pandy, with whom I’ve ridden on many trips and rallies, and he in turn had met another Guzzi biker from Tuscany, Carlo Alberto Duè, riding a vintage Guzzino V35 II, who was on his way back from Russia (see the article in Wide 5-2015:
wide.piaggiogroup.com/archive/wide5_15/moto/index_en.html#/Adventure).

COAST TO COAST ACROSS THE STATES TO THE STURGIS MOTORCYCLE RALLY

Among Manuele’s most memorable journeys were his two coast-to-coast trips in the USA, including a stretch along the legendary Route 66. “The first time I went was in 1994,” says Manuele, “with my friend Gianmario di Bergamo on our Guzzi bikes: me with my California 1000 II and Gianmario with a Spada 1000 (“the predecessor of the Norge”), because we didn’t want to hire a motorbike when we got there, as many people do. I contacted a shipper in Livorno, Savino Del Bene, about sending the bike to New York: I built the case myself, all in metal (dimensions: 2.50x1.30x1.10 metres). My Cali travelled by sea for 16 days and I flew to New York to pick it up. After all the customs and insurance procedures (they gave me a provisional number plate to put in front of the windscreen), and a visit to see the “Big Apple”, from Manhattan to Long Island, we left for Pennsylvania and the Niagara Falls, and on to Michigan, Detroit, Chicago, Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, we parked our bikes in front of the Harley-Davidson factory, and the employees who saw our bikes came out for a chat. Then we rode to Minnesota, Nebraska and a stopover in Sturgis, South Dakota, for the great August rally (it was the 54th edition) where thousands of bikers come in from all over the world.”


2015: Stargis Motorcycle Rally, 75th edition

And he wants to go back there, having heard that the next edition of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (8-14 August 2016), America’s most important biker event with half a million participants, will provide the launch pad for “The flying fortress”, the spectacular new Moto Guzzi MGX-21, which had its world preview at the recent EICMA motor show in Milan.

The trip continued: “Monument Valley, Death Valley, where I launched my Guzzi on the Bonneville salt flats. A fantastic journey: more than 13,000 km NY-San Francisco-NY”. What about the second trip? “That was with a friend, with the same itinerary as before, but we had an unexpected – and unfortunately sad – experience: on Monday 10 September 2001, at 9 in the evening, we passed the Twin Towers on a 180 km stretch towards the Appalachian mountains; the next morning, heading for Pennsylvania, we saw scores of police and fire-fighter vehicles going the other way, towards NY. We still didn’t know anything: in the afternoon we stopped near Niagara Falls and heard about the attack on the towers when we went to an Italian restaurant. People were frightened, for a month the country was isolated, you couldn’t fly. Apart from that – and the difficult stretch through Death Valley, 83 metres below sea level with temperatures of 50°C – during the second trip I also reached Canada. It was a real thrill, plus meeting other bikers, seeing wonderful places (including Hollywood, I felt as though I was in a film): travelling with my California has always been an investment in happiness.”
Unlike other Guzzi bikers, Manuele is not nostalgic about the past; he follows the stylistic and technological advances on Moto Guzzi models, especially on the California. “I dream about it without any plastic parts, there are light, strong alloys you can use to avoid increasing the weight of the bike,” he says (and as a Piombino steelworker he should know), “and I’d also like a version with more displacement, up to 1600 or 1800cc.”

MAD PANDY: “MY HEART BELONGS TO THE STORNELLO”

Manuele’s friend Maurizio Pandolfo, 66, from Grosseto (he was born in Venturina), otherwise known as Mad Pandy, is another authentic Guzzi biker: “I’m a monogamist: in my life I’ve only ever owned Moto Guzzi bikes, from the 1972 Stornello, then the new Falcone 500 Idroconvert, the California III, the California 1100 Special, and most recently a California Vintage 1100 purchased in 2008 (when I retired), on which I’ve ridden 112,000 km in seven and a half years, and taken part in dozens of rallies.”


Mad Pandy with Karin, from the Austrian Moto Guzzi Club, at the Kirchberger rally

“Among the recent Guzzi models, the Eldorado is a great bike, and when I saw the new V7 II Stornello at the EICMA show in Milan, it reminded me of the historic Stornello scrambler, and my heart started racing.” You never forget your first Moto Guzzi.


The Moto Guzzi Stornello Scrambler, from the 1970s


The Moto Guzzi V7 II Stornello presented at the 2015 EICMA show in Milan

Style
SEEN AT EICMA 2015

MAD ABOUT ACCESSORIES!
GIFT IDEAS FROM APRILIA AND MOTO GUZZI

Aprilia and Moto Guzzi accessories and merchandise offer countless ideas for gifts for biker friends. At the 2015 EICMA show in Milan, the showcases on the Piaggio Group’s large stand presented endless possibilities: clothing, accessories, helmets, gadgets, all of the highest quality and with attention to detail. Gifts for your friends and… for yourself!

APRILIA #BE A RACER COLLECTION

For your sporty friends, the “racing” collection has irresistible ideas, for him and for her. Besides t-shirts, hoodies and caps (“replicas” of the Aprilia Racing Team) and sturdy full-face helmets, Aprilia has a host of other new entries with the #BE A RACER logo and colours (white, red, black): t-shirts and caps with the Italian flag, a sport umbrella, a smartphone cover, a round earphone holder, a tablet case, a practical power bank in the shape of a motorcycle handlebar, a multi-purpose bandana (neckwarmer, headband…), a black mug: you’ll want to snap them up. Plus sunglasses (black or red) and even a bath-towel for the gym. Info: www.aprilia.it

MOTO GUZZI COLLECTION

Smart but practical, with that tempting vintage look: the Moto Guzzi collection is an appealing range of high-quality goods dominated by the Eagle logo. The extensive offer captures the biker style and look, for him and her, in every detail: leather jackets, gloves, hoodies, bandanas, sunglasses, belts, bags, stainless steel mugs, one-shoulder backpacks, caps, studded leather keyrings and wallets. Moto Guzzi also offers the mini The Clan collection (hoodie, cap, patch), an outright declaration of membership of the Eagle community. The Moto Guzzi symbol also appears on the impressive collection of helmets, including new demi-jet models whose graphics and colours are coordinated with the colour schemes of the V7 II and V9 bikes.
Info: www.motoguzzi.it

THE BEST VIDEOS OF THIS ISSUE

FIM STK 1000 WORLD CHAMPION
LORENZO SAVADORI ON AN APRILIA RSV4 RF:
“MY GREATEST SEASON”, IN 8 CLIPS

Having dominated the championship, on 4 October 2015 he won his first world title, on the Magny Cours circuit in France, at the last race of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, and notched up yet another win for Aprilia together with the Manufacturers title. Lorenzo Savadori, 22, from Cesena, riding with the Nuova M2 Racing team, has had a splendid season culminating in a final victory after four first places (Assen, Imola, Donington, Misano) and three podiums (2 second places, Portimao and Aragon, and 1 third place, Jerez) in the eight races of the fiercely fought championship, which attracts a particularly youthful public.

So let’s go back over the season with the new champion, in this selection of mini video clips about Savadori (filmed at the Aprilia location in Noale) and the milestones (and emotions) of his unstoppable progress at the top circuits, on the Aprilia RSV4 RF no. 32, beginning with his victory at Magny Cours.

Lorenzo Savadori FIM STK 1000 Cup Winner: Magny Cours‬, France, 8th Round

JEREZ, SPAIN, 7TH ROUND

MISANO, ITALY, 6TH ROUND

PORTIMAO, PORTUGAL, 5TH ROUND

DONINGTON, UK, 4TH ROUND

IMOLA, ITALY, 3RD ROUND

ASSEN, GERMANY, 2ND ROUND

ARAGON, SPAIN, 1ST ROUND

SAVADORI LORENZO 32 OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE:
www.facebook.com/Savadori-Lorenzo-32-OfficialPage-261203807399985/

MY BIKE MOVIE

MR. BOOTH: “MY FANTASTIC
MOTO GUZZI AMBASSADOR FROM 1968”

my bike movie

Booth's Bike / 1968 Moto Guzzi / Motocycle Enthusiast
An affair to remember: she is a splendid Moto Guzzi Ambassador V7 750, from 1968, restored and cherished down to the tiniest detail, he is Booth, a biker with a boundless passion for his two-wheeler, which, like all Moto Guzzis, was built in the Mandello del Lario factory, a stone’s throw from Lake Como. The pride and the passion of owning a rare vehicle many collectors would give their eyeteeth for (another perfectly restored model is owned by actor and director Ewan McGregor, the Moto Guzzi testimonial). Here, this cheerful Guzzi biker from the other side of the pond tells his story to Mr Love (the author of this great little video entitled “Booth’s bike”), and describes how he restored his wonderful Italian bike to its original splendour. In Italy, the model was known as the Moto Guzzi V7 Special 750, in the USA it was marketed as the V7 Ambassador, with the gear change lever moved to the left and a choice of different colour schemes.

Moto Guzzi V7 Special 750 (Italy and European Markets)

my bike movie

A restored Moto Guzzi V7 Ambassador 750 (US market) from 1969, by Peter Scott

my bike movie

1969 MOTO GUZZI AMBASSADOR 750

Booth says: “My name is Booth and what we’re looking at here is a 1968 Moto Guzzi Ambassador. It’s the eighth one out of a hundred and it is fairly unique in that they only made a hundred because they shipped them very quickly from Italy. This bike was made by a company that’s still in business, it’s a very old marque called Moto Guzzi. They tend to be hand built especially back then, so they used whatever parts were around and were eager to get it on the market. They hadn’t developed the new body style with the tank for the 750 yet, so they simply used the 700 body. My first thought on it was it was in ramshackle shape, it was on its last legs, but it was the only bike I could afford at the time and I really did love the styling, I actually fell in love with it. The speedo mount is beautiful, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and it matches the front end perfectly, the brake at the front end is gorgeous, I’m quite used to it, I’m not used to the more modern front-ends any more, I can’t really ride them. If you look at the head bucket, it’s got this long draw, a couple of years later the buckets, the headlight buckets, became quite a bit fatter and squatter. The tank is gorgeous, I really like the detailing and how they decided to style the sharks, the rear suspension. I love the alloy rims with the stainless spokes and the hubs are fantastic as well. I like the simplicity of the colour scheme. In its time, it was like going to the moon, it had hardened chromed cylinders. The posters at the time said think big, go Guzzi, and it was for touring. This was a four-speed, for touring, in 1968. And it really did have a fantastic sensibility.

American advertisements from the 1960s

Moto Guzzis tend really to be gentleman bikes, they’re not nasty, this one is really just an old friend for me. It took me the first ten years to rebuild it, to finally restore it. I’d taken it apart and put it back together, but I never had the money to do the proper bodywork to it and the paint job and all that. I did that about ten years ago again, and now it’s pretty much ready for another restoration because I use it as a daily rider. Initially the parts were very hard to find and you couldn’t get pipes or mufflers or anything, and that’s when I started rebuilding it. Now with the advent of the internet it’s fairly easy to get parts all around the world, somebody always has something you can use. The engineering involved in the early Guzzis was baffling, the wiring was terrible and the cable management for the throttle and the brake and the clutch and the choke was just a mess. I didn’t understand charging batteries and stuff like that and I used to have to run and jump start it all the time. I’ve managed to streamline all of that; actually I’ve just got rid of all the electrics except for the headlight and the taillight. Well, how it feels when I start up my bike, if I haven’t started it up in a while, it’s exhilarating, because you know you’re in for a ride. I associate good times riding it, so emotionally it’s great to ride. Physically, I groan when I get on it now as opposed to when I was 25. It’s a very rigid ride, it’s very stiff, because the suspension isn’t very good because I never changed it, I’d rather have the looks. The motorcycle itself handles really well, it’s fairly nimble. The way the gearbox is, it’s almost like an automatic, third gear basically does everything. It’s a four-speed, I’ve spent most of my life looking for the fifth speed on it, constantly trying, it’s got to be there… Now I’ve ironed all the kinks out of it and it’s quite reliable, but it’s still old, it’s a 42-year-old bike and it’s starting to show its age. Other bikes have got their own charm but I’ve come to really love this particular one and it’s the styling, it’s almost perfect. I mean personally it’s just an old friend I’ve had for a long time and I can’t imagine not having it, I would be very sad as a matter of fact at the loss. The worst part about owning this bike is that my dad still thinks it’s a hunk of junk, he doesn’t understand why I don’t have a Harley or BMW.”

Dear Mr. Booth, thanks to your testimony as true Guzzista!

my bike movie
Booth on his vintage and much loved MG Ambassador

VIDEO SOURCE “Booth’s Bike”: Mr. Love Films, Vancouver, Canada; Michael Love/Lil’Devl Film & Video Productions Inc.

INFO:
www.lildevl.com

YOU AND YOUR MOTORBIKE
ON WIDE!


For true bikers, their motorcycle, whatever its age, is a cult object to be treasured, cared for and kept proudly for years; a faithful companion for travel and adventure. The new WIDE feature “My Bike Movie” is dedicated to everyone who rides off to work on a brand new bike in the morning, to everyone who fondly conserves a bike handed down in the family from generation to generation, to everyone who lovingly cherishes a vintage motorcycle.

MAKE YOUR
BIKE MOVIE!

Make a short video of your Aprilia or Moto Guzzi motorbike to tell us what it means to you. You can tell the story of your bike or recount a trip you’ve made together. You can include shots of daily life, or evoke the emotions you have shared.
The videos we select will appear on Wide, in the new feature “My Bike Movie”, to present you and your motorcycle, the most special bike in the world, to bikers all over the globe. Because every bike’s story is unique.

Send your video clip to: wide@piaggio.com