Looking for a Light Weight Motorcycle

I've been looking for a lightweight bike recently, something with an emphasis on handling.  The motard concept of a dirt bike converted into a sports bike is really appealing due to the low weight of dirt bikes and their strength.  You have to be tough to survive on dirt.  The biggest problem I've encountered in my search has been the copious seat heights of some the bikes.  Frankly, I'm short and motards aren't.

Anyway, I've been looking at the KTM Duke II, the Suzuki DRZ400SM and the Yamaha WR250X.  I want weight under 400 lbs, one cylinder and liquid cooling.  Fuel injection would be nice but is not a requirement. I'm not that interested in balls-out horsepower and I just want a corner carver.  A motard fits this bill nicely.

So, with the requirements above in mind, I bought this:

It's a 2003 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport.

Keen observers will notice that it meets none of my requirements.  It's heavy (500 lbs dry), twin cylinder and air-cooled.  At least it's fuel injected.

I was looking around the Internet and stumbled across this Guzzi for sale at Martin Eurosports in Coopersburg, PA and I was hooked immediately.  The red paint, racer position and throbbing twin sucked me right in.  All thoughts of 30 horsepower motards flew away like birds during the onset of winter.

I took the 6 hours drive a few days ago to look at the bike and was sold before I got out of the car.  It's in extremely good condition with 15,000 miles on the clock.  The previous owner took very good care of the bike, evidenced by the expensive and tasteful mods like the carbon fiber rear fender, Moto Guzzi accessory quarter fairing and Fast by Ferracci silencers.

The heart of the V11 is the 1064cc V-Twin that churns out 91 horsepower and 63 lb/ft of torque.  This engine is traditional Guzzi, from the air-cooling to the pushrod valve actuation to the rightward lurch whenever the throttle is blipped.  The sound and fury emanating from the nice carbon cans is pleasantly growling without being obnoxious.  It sounds like a muscle car.

Sitting behind the engine is a six-speed gearbox, hailed by the motorcycling press as Guzzi's best, sending power to the back wheel via Guzzi's traditional shaft drive.  Holding everything together and on the road is a steel backbone frame and fully adjustable suspension front and rear.  The front wheel gets it bounce from a 40mm Marzocchi fork and the back gets its from a Sachs Boge shock unit. 

Bringing the big red bike to a stop are Brembo brakes front and rear with Guzzi's (again) traditional linked brake system.  The foot pedal actuates the front left and rear brake while the lever control actuates the right front brake.

In all, this bike so unlike me.  Number one, it's red, a color way too flashy for me.  I like dark colors (gray, black, dark blue) and red is too ostentatious for conservative ol' me.   It's also modern in its styling, though it still has a few retro touches.  I prefer the styling of old bikes (one of the reasons I bought my Bonneville) but this Guzzi is very good-looking.

What attracted me to this bike was its Italian heritage (I'm Italian), its unique qualities and its abilities.  It hides its girth well and is just a joy to pilot down a winding road.  Its quirks, like the lurch when you blip the throttle or the rattle of the dry clutch, speak to me in a way that's hard to describe.  They give the bike its own character, something you won't find on any other bike.  Stuff like that drives me wild in a good way.

I'm looking forward to a long relationship with this machine.

Go Small or Go Home

After making a name for itself selling small to mid-size scooters, Italian firm Aprilia has been carving out quite a niche in the sport bike world.  Their initial attempts at full-on sport bikes were considered by some in the press to be cute attempts to join the big boys from Japan and Europe.  The roaring thunder emanating from the Rotax-built twin in the RSV 1000 silenced many of the critics and helped cement Aprilia as a legitimate power in the superbike wars.

But Aprilia's heart is still the small-bore segment.

And there is no more proof of this than their newest small bike, the RS4 125.  The familiar two-stroke is gone as this Aprilia is powered by a liquid-cooled four-stroke single displacing 125cc's and pumping out 16 horsepower.  It also sports a 41 mm inverted fork, four-piston front brakes and a stout aluminum frame.  Topping it off is styling reminiscent of the much larger RSV4 superbike.  The RS4 125 is aimed the teenage rider looking to get his or her feet wet in the sportbike pool. 

Let's go back and focus on something for a bit: 16 horsepower. 

Sixteen. 

Don't let that number fool you into thinking this bike is a few steps above a Power Wheels motorcycle.  This machine is full of serious engineering.


The engine features dry-sump lubrication to save weight and physical engine size.  Lessons learned in World Superbike and GP 125 found their way into the die-cast aluminum chassis, creating a stiff frame that's still light weight.  Clamping the 300 mm front disk is a radially-mounted four-piston caliper.  The exhaust is hung low in the chassis for better mass centralization.  Even the fairing was wind tunnel-tested for maximum aerodynamic efficiency.  The whole package has ready-to-ride wet weight of just 264 lbs. 

That's an amazing spec sheet for a small-bore bike.

Even though this machine is marketed toward 16-year-olds, its serious engineering can make any experienced rider take notice.  It's a bit like a road-legal (in Europe) GP 125 bike much the same way a Ducati Desmosedici is a road-legal MotoGP bike.  The stiff chassis, big brakes and willing engine all combine to get those enthusiast juices flowing. 

Now if it will only come to the U.S.

An almost dead-ringer for an RSV4, the RS4 125 has Italian good looks and charm in spades.

The LCD display mimics those found on larger sportbikes and adds a minimalist touch to the cockpit.  Make no mistake, this bike is all business.