Duken4evr

Funny how that is and so true. What Aprilia appears to have wrought is pure fun. I am a middle aged guy who has reached his level of "competent mediocrity" as a rider. Good enough to go well on and off road, but no illusions of grandeur, espeically after watching a crazy talented Graham Jarvis dirt bike vid or any form of road racing.

Yep, I just wanna have fun. This bike is pure unadulterated undistilled no compromise fun. Such a rarity in today's sanitized for our protection world, where some bikes are so neutered that they all but come with one of those paper ass gasket things on the seat as delivered.

No wonder you make allowances and look for ways to make this Aprilia work that other bikes are not worthy of.

proheli

I love aprilia. I really wanted one of these. I waited for 18 months, and yes the performance IS there, but the great failure of Aprilia, again, is being Italian, but producing unattractive motorcycles. The motorcycling world was ready to be swept away, to trade in our duc streetfigters, and aging triumphs - to finally jump off of your crotch rocket into something more comfy, or drop into race mode from one of the higher touring segments.

Yes, we will see these around, and ne excited for a test ride, but with no beauty or inspiration - to the level of reaching somones soul (duc, triumph - yes you can feeel them, or mv) there will be no mass appeal.

Its just going to be another great "could have been so much more" motorcycle.

Kevin_Duke

Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, but anyone who calls the Tuono uninspired simply hasn't ridden one. I ridden more than 600 different motorcycles, and this new Aprilia is easily in my top 10.

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sarnali2

I prefer my Italian 'Guzzi style. This transformer look just doesn't work for me, throw in a 2x4 for a seat and while it may be a fun bike I'm just not interested. My personal opinion only of course, I hope they sell a few boatloads of them. More Italian machinery is always a good thing.

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Duken4evr

Inquiring demented minds would like a loosely enunciated list of those 10 motorcycles.

Here are a few of mine. The are not even necessarly based on the bike's actual abilities or goodness as a machine, it is more based on the time of my life I rode them and the experiences I had on them. My favs, and the reasons why:

1) My 2010 Husaberg FE450 dirt bike.

Turning 50 next month and this bike is magic - the perfect serious trail bike for a vet class experienced old guy. Smooth and nimble. Makes me feel like a kid, and it does sick wheelies. I love it.

2) My 2006 FZ1

Total turd in stock form, a comfortable beast with a smooth hard revving motor from hell in modified form. I like the underdog projects. Comfy, fast and fun, and more reliable than my refrigerator. The bikini fairing reminds me of the GPZ1100 I lusted after but could not have as a broke college student too.

3) 1986 GSXR1100

My best friend's bike. It fried my brain back then. Did my first over 100mph wheelie on that bike. It was a freight train - so fast, so stable and pure sports, no BS. A landmark bike.

4) 1983 Honda XL600

This was a time of life bike. I went everywhere on it. Rode down the highway to the trails, rode the trails and rode home. It easily did 5 gear wheelies. What a hooligan bike. It was way more fun than the sum of it's modest parts. Makes me wonder how much I would love a Husky TE610 today...

5) 1992 Honda CR500

Went desert racing on this. Open class 2 strokes are rude and fun beasts. Perfect...

6) 1974 Suzuki TM400 Cyclone

I was a kid and my neighbor let me ride his TM400. Probably qualified as child endangerment. That hand of God wheelie filled ride warped my young mind and change the course of my life forever.

7) 2008 Husky 510SMR

My buddy, who still owns the GSXR1100 by the way, owns one of these. Spent a wheelie and stoppie filled week on it while visiting him in CA. Burned the better part of a tank of gas on a Sunday in a large empty parking lot in a business park. Laid out a course, complete with curb jumps, and felt like Jeff Ward in no time. The SMR is a ridiculous bike - the seat is a plank, it vibrates, it can't go far on a tank of gas. But in the right environment it shines like nothing else I have ridden. A pure experience for sure. That and explaining it to a Harley guy at a local hangout was priceless

8 ) 1977 BMW R100/7

This was a modest bike, but I did it up like the "S" model with a Fast Glass GS1000S fairing and a pretty paint job. It hauled me on a 2 week tour up the west coast to Canada and back with a gang of buddies. I was discussing starting a family with my young wife at the time. She said "of course you can go. Get it out of your system honey". So the "get it out of your system tour was born". She did not mean bikes, she just meant taking off for 2 weeks on them with friends

Did some "dirt tracking" on the Beemer while camped out at an empty dirt oval racetrack in Canada. It did surprisingly well. Good times.

9) 2002 Suzuki DRZ 400

I had low expectations for this bike. It was supposed to ease me into my "mellower years". Could not help myself. Wound
up respringing and revalving both the front and rear suspension and having Eddie Sisneros do some light motor work to it. Another more than the sum of it's parts bike. Rode that thing in the deserts of SoCal to the mountains of Colorado. It never missed a beat.
There are more, but this is all I have time for, for now. Oh well. It has been a fun ride so far

10) Biesse chassis CR125 powered shifter kart.

It is not even a bike, although powered by a bike engine. Pure adrenaline on wheels!

Honorable mention - 1972 Kawasaki H2 750. If Satan rides a bike...

Kevin_Duke

Sounds like something that might make a decent article. I liked reading your list. I agree that it can't just be "based on the bike's actual abilities are goodness as a machine." That would leave out anything old and would discriminate against bikes that were limited in versatility and overall goodness but ultimately highly memorable. A ZX-14 turbo I blew up at a dragstrip comes to mind...

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"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell