Andy
Aprilia a good thing but spare parts a bad thing (at least in Greece). Who exactly owns Aprilia?
R12S (got mine brand new - now 6K miles):
Pros: simple (well, you know...at least with modern standards), useful torque, Telelevel (break AND steer), brakes (ABS can be off), good real-life power, general set-up, dealer support/resale value, brand name, last standing hero.
Cons: vibrations (1923 designed engine), tractor gearbox ((better than other boxers), no rear hugger, nasty Ohlins-BMW deal (search the Ohlins sites for R12S > nothing),
AWFUL ergos (a trad BMW stuff that one), 1st gear a bit long (town), not linear throttle kinematics, questionable build quality (see bolts on cam covers), CAN-bus (lot's of failures here in Greece), DEAD OEM battery (
crap stuff), flimsy bodywork (panels).
All in all : best real-life sports bike around (viewed as a whole + long term).
Mods1 (power): HPE full system (NOTE: NO bellypan worth the name possible) + RapidBike3 + iridium sparks + filter = 128/129 rw ponies.
Mods2 (aesthetics): Hugger (Ilmberger), Cam covers (ditto), Motronic cable(s) covers (ditto), bellypan (ditto - but not OK with some pipes).
Mods3 (well...you know): WP (
no emulsion types) = 2K (euros), Custom Ohlins (
no emulsion types) = 3.5K (US dollars), Wilbers = 1.7K (euros).
Best Source for everything :
https://eshop.t-online.de/epages/Store. ... 200%20S%22