I Love My New Bike - First Review on Aprilia Futura
written by sideout
As you already know I had purchased a new bike recently. It is a 2003 Ash Grey Aprilia Futura RST 1000 with the Taylormade Racing exhaust system. Even though it’s already been a couple of weeks that I proudly own it I haven’t had a good chance to ride it. Last night and today’s morning were the first more or less real rides I did on it. First impressions - oh my God, the bike is awesome. The seat is probably the most comfortable seat my behind has sat on, ever. And I don’t mean motorcycle seats only. It is amazingly comfortable. Its smooth 1000cc V-Twin engine propels you well enough and I am yet to really push it. Last night Motodisiac and I had adjusted its suspension to be rigid, therefore more sporty (that’s right kids, adjustable suspension). We also adjusted the clutch and brake levers to be closer to the handlebars. You can do that too, it’s got 4 different settings. The handling is obviously much better than on my SV650S. After tweaking the suspension the handling became even sharper. And again I am yet to push it. As of now I am sort of getting used to the weight and size of my new toy.
Special attention in this review has got to be given to the exhaust note. I am not sure if the addition of this exhaust system added more torque and horsepower (to credit the first owner he did the installation properly with the ECU re-flash after) but the note itself is just sick. It is kind of a rumble when the rpms are low and a solid loud bass when you rev it. The stock exhaust produces a slightly higher pitch which don’t get me wrong also sounds great. We got to compare it last night when the two Futuras were standing side by side at Motodisiac’s garage. Oh, and each time I start my bike alarm goes off on a couple of cars in my parking garage :).
To briefly sum it up - looks like this bike is a great piece of Italian motorcycle engineering. So far there isn’t a thing I don’t like about it. Please bear in mind that it hasn’t been long enough for me to make a subjective statement on that. But even if I do find something I am sure it’d be minor and won’t change my mind about this bike. I love my new bike. I really do!
Hey dude, I’m glad you’re getting a kick out of your new two-wheeled friend. I don’t know much about bikes, but I think it looks really-really cool. Stay safe!
Artem
January 31st, 2008
Hey, congrats on the new toy! Hope it will serve you well.
Stanislav
February 1st, 2008
Thanks guys.
sideout
February 1st, 2008
Great to see someone across the pond who isn’t obsessed with HD. I’m in Wales, UK and had my Futura for four years and love it. May you have many a happy day riding this superb machine.
Allan Chivers
February 7th, 2008
Thanks Allan, right back at you. If you know someone who’s interested in buying my Suzuki SV650S let me know, I’ll ship it across the pond :).
sideout
February 7th, 2008
Hi ya’ll
I’m from Texas In the US.
No we really don’t talk like that everywhre here.We have a huge Italian bike folling here in Texas.Sorry to say mostly Ducati.I love my futura,and have owned it for 3 years having bought it from a guy that was told by his wife the bike or me–ouch!!
The only thing besides brakes and tires ect you will have to worry about is the regulator rectifier and the coils.My regulator craped out at 30k mlies and one coil at 33k miles.besides those two problems your futura
should be golden and give you many miles of smiles
PS:I get all my parts from a web site called AF1 racing,they are priced cheaper than a dealer and they have an owners forum where you can get tons of good advice.
Welcome to the Futura club.
By from apriliafd in Dallas Texas U.S.
Fred Darr jr
March 4th, 2008
Thanks for the info Fred. My Aprilia has 7K miles on it though, and Motodisiac’s got like 6K miles on his. So we have a long way to go before we can start worrying about regulator rectifiers and coils.
sideout
March 4th, 2008
Greetings Sideout and welcome to the world of the Aprilia Futura the best sport tourer ever made. I hopped aboard and purchased one in 02 and its still running strong wiht 30,000 miles on the odometer. I’ve done a few upgrades and just installed a Wilber rear shock. The stock Sachs shocks fine but its my street toy so adding to it just makes for all the more fun.Enjoy the ride it will never let you down , and best of luck .
Anthony in NJ
November 15th, 2008