Living with excess: Aprilia SXV5.5

Aprilia SXV5.5

Special excess: race bike on the road
Lived with: Jon Urry

I've been riding the Aprilia for less than 20 yards, in fact I haven't even made it out of the office car park, and I've already got into trouble. A lady is waggling her finger and shouting something about a speed limit. I choose to ignore her rants. How could I possibly be speeding? Can't she see I'm pulling a stoppie?

There is absolutely nothing sensible about the Aprilia SXV5.5, and there's no sensible way of riding it. You get some bikes that claim to be race-reps, modern 600s for example. Yes, they look like race bikes, but the truth of the matter is that they are only shadows of their race track brethren. The SXV isn't a shadow,
it's a full frontal assault.

This Aprilia is the closest thing to a fully road legal race bike that you can buy. Take off the mirrors, lights and number plate, stick on a race can (£900 from your local dealer) and hit the track. That's all there is to it. Okay, top teams will do a bit with the engine, but not a hell of a lot. This little 549cc V-twin already rips out 75bhp in road trim.

I've been gagging to have a go on this bike since I first saw it at the end of last year. It's beautiful in a way only a race bike can be. Purposeful, aggressive and hard. But as a quote I once heard goes, "no matter how beautiful she is, someone, somewhere, is sick of putting up with her shit."

Click next to continue