The Adventures of Harry

Aprilia RS125

In August 2007 I finally got my Bike License, the bike I decided to buy was an Italian beauty, a smelly 2 stroke but a beauty none the less. I got myself a 2001 model Aprilia RS125 I loved her, she loved me and my days were filled with smokey, fumey motorcylcing fun.

The Aprilia was a great bike, sounded like the GP bikes of old, smelt like a lawn mower, handled like it was on rails and you know what. I thought I was cooler than the other learners and P platers because I felt like I had something special, something different, something a little more unique. Whether or not I was, or if I was faster doesn’t matter because motorcycling to is something that should move you spiritually, it should make you feel something and the Aprilia made me feel that something.

A sports car or a sports bike should make you feel like your 7 years old, you should feel riddled with excitement over it, in love with it, it should make you feel on top of the world, if you dont smile or get a kiddish feeling when you think about your special vehicle then you need a new special vehicle. The Aprilia made me feel like this, the Aprilia made me think I was the coolest kid on the block, the Aprilia was smelly like a 2 stroke, high pitched and obnoxious, a little extreme and over the top with its racing decals and styling, but it screamed something to me that only few will understand.

However unfortunately for me the old owner of said bike decided to lean out the fuel mixture, resulting in me blowing a big end bearing, then another big end bearing. Then I found the cause of the problem… Some $2000 later.

Whilst it was off the road and my car had been written off I needed a new bike, despite my love for the Aprilia my sensible side took in an decided it needed to go, so I bought a VFR400, one of the only ones if not the only one with LAM’s approval, a custom racing exhaust, worked suspension, dyno tuned. It’s faster than the Aprilia, it handles better than the Aprilia, it’s cheaper to run than the Aprilia, it sounds nicer than the Aprilia, it’s easier to ride than the Aprilia.

But having said all of that, is it better than the Aprilia? No. Why you ask, because these are sports bikes, we don’t buy them to be responsible we buy them because of how they make you feel, all the aforementioned reasons are responsible reasons, the VFR doesn’t bring that childish glee into me that the Aprilia did, that “Yeah I got an Aprilia” mindset I had even though theres a thousand better bikes out there to have. But owning and riding and cleaning and talking about my Aprilia gave made me feel like I was a little boy again talking about his new toy, and that my dear readers is what matters about motorcycling. The way it makes you feel.