The fact that it’s offered by a SoCal preparation shop specializing in Suzuki might be a reminder that the Aprilia RS250 used the 249cc two-stroke twin from the RGV250. As enhanced by Aprilia’s intake, top end, and exhaust, the RS250 had power that put 4-strokes with triple the displacement to shame. This first-year race…
To the uninitiated, Honda’s alpha-numeric naming convention can get confusing, and it’d be easy to mistake this RS250R for something like a garden-variety NSR250R with a set of track-day fairings. But unlike the road-legal, race-replica NSR250R, the RS250R was a production race-bike, a Grand Prix machine in miniature. With the fairings removed, the elegant simplicity…
A mix of sleek styling and proven Japanese power, the Aprilia RS250 was the Italian company’s entry into the hotly-contested quarter-liter sportbike class battles and intended to take the fight to Honda’s NSR250, Yamaha’s TZR250, and Suzuki’s RGV250. The monochromatic style was a far cry from the vivid speedblock and tiger-stripe designs of the Japanese…
Aprilia took an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it mentality” when motivating their RS250 two-stroke race replica, and packed Suzuki’s proven RGV250Γ “Gamma” engine and six-speed gearbox into their machine, albeit with extra tuning for a claimed 70hp. While that number may be theoretically possible, it seems pretty optimistic and might make for a short-lived…
Early 2000’s the two-stroke open range was contracting, MotoGP rulemakers made the 500cc two-strokes obsolete, and the EU’s transition from Euro2 to Euro3 basically cut allowed emissions in half. Aprilia’s successful line of small bikes, which had brought them 1990’s championships in Moto1 and Moto2, were breaking camp. The company produced a Final Edition of…
Although for many, the second-generation Aprilia RS250 captures the essence of lightweight, two-stroke performance, I prefer the earlier versions, like this Chesterfield replica: the later bikes are just a little bit bulbous in the tail, and that techno-futuristic dash just look a little bit too “1980s Dodge Daytona” for me. Not that I’d pass up…
The Aprilia RS250 was the first two-stroke I actively lusted after. Keep in mind that I grew up in an era when two-strokes, at least here in the US, were basically found in off-road bikes and really annoying yard-care equipment. Not really the sexiest of associations. I still think that the sound of a two-stroke…
The last Aprilia I saw in these colors for sale was listed as a “Rossi Replica,” but this particular paintjob in fact marked the Loris Reggiani replica RS250. Reggiani raced for Aprilia from 1985 through 1995 in the 250 and 500cc classes, the latter on a bored-out 380cc v-twin intended to compete based on its…