Aprilia Blue Marlin divides opinion

Some strong opinions are being expressed on our bulletin boards in the wake of Aprilia unveiling its Blue Marlin.

The RSV Mille 1000cc V-twin-powered prototype is targeting the Ducati Monster. The firm wants to hear your views and if there is enough support for it they will announce a decision to put it into production at the Paris Show from September 27.

Cugel said: ” Hideous! One word sums it up so nicely, ” while 955aaahee commented: ” Ugly! It reminds me of a Hesketh. ” Kungfoobob said he had printed the picture out and was using it to scare children off his lawn.

But Janz, currently a Monster 900 owner, said: ” This looks like a real motorbike to me. They’d handled the’60s look nicely. ”

And Streetfightscotty said it was one of the finest factory streetfighters ever.

So follow the link (right) to have your say and we’ll make sure Aprilia gets to hear of your verdict.

Aprilia has gone all-out to reduce the bike’s weight, there’s barely a gram of unnecessary flab.

In fact, the bike is the work of both Aprilia and French bike builder Thierry Henriette – the man behind the Boxer firm which created the Voxan-based VB1 superbike.

Aprilia claims the bike was inspired by its first sports bike – the 1968 Colibri 50 – which was the brainchild of Ivano Beggio, now Aprilia’s boss. The Marlin’s slightly retro lines – demonstrated by the long, flat fuel tank, clip-on bars and minimalist seat – hark back to late 1960s European designs.

But while the bikes that inspired it were small capacity machines, usually powered by single-cylinder motors, the Blue Marlin has a full-power RSV Mille motor between its frame rails.

While most manufacturers detune their sports bike engines to fit to naked machines, Aprilia has left the RSV’s 130bhp, 998cc V-twin untouched. And since the Marlin is smaller and lighter than the RSV, its acceleration is set to be in the true superbike league.

Top speed will be limited by the rider’s stamina more than the bike’s own ability – but if you’ve got arms of steel, you could expect to see the far side of 150mph with ease.

However, Aprilia claims speed was not at the top of its priorities – handling was. And the firm has taken an unusual route to meeting its requirements.

Where most bike firms would reach straight for the alloy beam frames when asked to produce a machine with top-notch handling, Aprilia has opted for an apparently old-fashioned perimeter frame.

The main rails of the frame are made of chromomolybdenum – the stiff, light material used on expensive bicycle frames. They’re bolted to an alloy section that carries the swingarm pivot and rear subframe, and provides a top mount for the rear shock.

As well as providing all the rigidity the bike needs, and keeping weight to a minimum, the chassis allowed the stylists to show off the RSV-based V-twin – one of the main aspects of their brief.

One of the problems with showing the engine was hiding its oil tank. The motor is a dry sump design and needs a huge tank to store the oil – on the RSV it’s kept in an ugly plastic bottle bolted to the side of the engine. But Aprilia’s designers have found a solution – keeping the excess oil inside the tubular frame rails, a design common on off-road bikes.

The swingarm continues the tubular theme – using cross-braced aluminium tubes to provide rigidity and keep the weight down.

It’s bolted straight to an innovative rear shock that dispenses with the usual spring, instead using gas pressure to provide both the springing and the damping effects.

At the front, there’s a pair of 43mm Ohlins upside-down forks – like those on the RSV-R. The RSV-R also donates its light, OZ alloy wheels – giving the Marlin a 180-section rear tyre.

The Brembo brakes will also be familiar to RSV owners, as the bike shares the same four-pot calipers, twin 320mm floating discs at the front and single 220mm disc at the rear.