Here’s something you don’t see every day: an Aprilia Project 108 Replica. You’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to stump me, but this little beastie had me scratching my head: never heard or it. So a quick poke around the interwebs had me thinking this was very unlikely to have been imported to North America in anything resembling quantity: all of the sites dedicated to the bike are in Italian or clearly translated using “Google Translate” and make for a pretty confusing read if you’ve had a couple beers…
At first glance, I actually thought this was a YSR50 someone had posted up under the wrong brand. Those little 16″ wheels do make it look vaguely scooter-ish, but that single-sided rear swingarm is pretty exotic, and the bike was actually powered by a 125cc two-stroke with an electric, instead of kick-start. With a slightly undersquare 54×54.5 bore and stroke, this “125” is actually 123cc’s, but who’s counting?
From the original eBay listing: 1989 Aprilia Project 108 Replica for Sale
Up for auction is a 1989 Aprilia Project 108 Replica 125cc (VIN 07149) with only 6565 km (4079 miles) on the odometer. The bike is in awesome shape as I took this on a trade from a friend who always stored it in a climate-controlled room. As far as I can tell everything is original and in pristine shape except for the right mirror broke off a while back as my friend was moving the bike (mirror is included) and a few fairing screws are replaced with zip ties. I put a new battery and fresh gas in the bike and it fired right up! If you have any questions feel free to call me at 435-241-8960 or 435-830-5980. The bike is sold as is with no warranty but I think you will be very pleased with the condition after viewing the photos and YouTube videos. Bike is for sale locally so auction may end at anytime. Title in hand!
I’ve no idea what this is actually worth, but bidding is currently just under $2,400 although the reserve has not been met and there are several days left on the auction. It’s obviously not in “pristine” shape, with a few zip ties and some surface rust, and paint chips and discoloration. But if you’re looking for an Aprilia Project 108 Replica, this might be your only shot!
-tad
Cool little bike, looks like it would be a blast to ride. You would damn sure be the only kid on the block to have one.
Striking resemblance to an RG 250 ..
That was pretty much what I was thinking, Chris. And I bet hard parts to keep it running wouldn’t be too hard to source, either… There are clips of it running and being ridden on eBay, so it looks ready to go.
Specifications in English.
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/aprilia/aprilia_af1_125_%20Project%20108%20rep%2088.htm
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/aprilia/aprilia_af1_125_%20Project%20108%20rep%2088.htm
Thanks. That made a great deal more sense than the other ones I read. Or tried to read.
The golden age of sporty 125cc motorbikes started in 1986-7 with 5 milestone models:
– APRILIA AF1 PROJECT 108;
– CAGIVA FRECCIA C9;
– GILERA KK and KZ;
– HONDA NSR 125.
In 4-5 years such motorbikes rose from 28 to over 35 HP, as well as components and prices. They were bullet in the hands of 16 years old teenager (probably not less than 90% of users). For this reason in mid 90s125 cc motorbikes were substantially banned by reducing by Italian law their max power to 15 HP.
125cc motorbikes market suffered a deadly shock. This Aprilia AF1 PROJECT 108 REPLICA is a proud representative of that golden era. Not to be confused with APRILIA SINTESI REPLICA released 2 years later.
Not easy to be found in Europe too, but prices are still very accessible. For less than 1,000.00 euro you can find many cases of such motorbikes on sales in rather good conditions.