The return of Aprilia makes more sense than ever with the demise of KTM. It’s never good long term when one manufacturer dominates a sport, and Dakar is another good example of this. We all benefit as customers when multiple manufacturers develop machines to the highest level. The technology eventually filters down to the grass roots. Come on Aprilia, let’s goooo!!!
Thank you for putting together this video, it’s really difficult to find info about this bike but you managed to build up this amazing story! I’m a Tuareg 660 owner and very proud of Cerutti second win at the AER!! Sure would be awesome to si an other Aprilia racing in the Dakar race as well
Technically, their upcoming baby tuareg could join the dakar, as it would be really easy to fit under 450cc. That being said, I'm not sure it would be competitive, but one can only hope
Chaleco is a National hero in Chile, love the guy, met him through Ignacio Casale, another amazing rider/driver from Chile. Heard some horror Dakar stories first hand from them, not sure i'd like to do it.
I love your videos man. You're a good journalist, and a good storyteller. I like that you pick really good stories also. I also like that your plugs for raising money are short and sweet. Keep up the good work!
As always, excellent content, the way your videos spark emotions make them an experience. We all miss having the Dakar on this side of the ocean, hopefully we get to see it again at some point.
@KRANKiT made it better ) like your videos and how knowledgeable you are on the rally. How modestly and discreetly you tell viewers about the patreon thing makes me want to join in after next paycheck :)
Whatever else you can say about Italian bikes, the Italians know how to style a motorcycle. That is a beautiful looking bike. If only something like that was actually available for street use
Tus videos documentales son increíbles, recuerdo haber seguido lo emocionante que fue esa carrera de Chaleco, era Aprilia vs todas las KTM muchas gracias, un gran saludo desde Chile.
@KRANKiT unfortunately the parallel twin platform will be designed to meet the EU A2 regulation, and that means no less than 175 Kg curb weight, and no more than 35 Kw of power. I'm sure the Tuareg 457 will be best in class, but always a far cry from the rxv 450 in terms of weight and power... and reliability, hopefully.
The Tuareg 600 Wind participated in Dakar in 1989 apparently. We didn't get this one in Canada. We did get the 450 twin though. It was looking like that would make a good ADV bike.
Chaleco had a pretty good finish at this years Dakar, he is truly one of the legends of the sport at this point! This was a really interesting video, I never knew that the RXV had such awesome heritage. In the US they are a dime a dozen because nobody really understands what they're good at, aside from sounding really awesome.
I love your Chanel, no matter how bad a day can get. watching you at the end of it takes all the crap away and puts me in my happy place. Thank you.. To the guy who has a problem with you, fitting in your suscribe coment. witch is what keeps you going . mail it directly by a boot and express it rite up his a--
Thank you very much, honestly reading comments like this make me realise how much some people enjoy these videos. It's one thing seeing the views, but comments like this or meeting you guys in person makes it more real for sure :)
"chaleco was an amazing rider" makes it sound like he is no longer alive. Better to say "chaleco put in some amazing rides on the Aprilia" or something like that. Love your channel bro, keep up the good work. By the way... If you'd like some editing help on your scripts I'd love to help. Free of charge.
By no means I meant to suggest he wasn't alive... I said "was" because nowadays he isn't a dakar rider any longer, he is a driver on 4 wheels. A darn good one too
@KRANKiT for sure! I understand what you meant, it's just that English is weird. I'm a skilled writer and editor and would love to help with little things like this if you'd be interested. I love your content so if there's any way I can help refine it I'd like to do that!
Just an idea for your contant. Maybe you make a small short with some updates from the ongoing Dakar. It's really hard to finde good videos on this topic
There is a reason nobody does... and SupermotoCentral basically said it :) Think about it, because of TV rights, even Dakar's own TY channel is limited to 10 minute daily videos.
I have never been interested in the Dakar until I found your channel. I love the history and all the information your share. I've gotten interested in desert racing because of your channel. Cheers from Utah, USA
Aprilia never actually changed anything with the engine, at least fundamentally, with the Dakar versions. The biggest problems they faced on the Dakar scene was fuel capacity, these bikes have a fundamental flaw that causes oil to pool in the crankcase, causing heat due to friction, Aprilia tried to band-aid the issue by using heavier 10w-60 oil that would slow down the pooling for the oil flow to catch up, but it was not enough, and the heavier oils also created more heat and friction which reduced fuel economy. Additionally, due to the heat, they run richer fuel mixture settings, to cool down the engine, meaning they burn far more fuel than they should (25-35 MPG, should be 45-60 MPG). Whenever I hit the throttle on mine, you can actually see the black smoke of unburned fuel come out. Perhaps it was due to them carrying extra fuel and therefore weight, that caused the rear suspension to fail in the Dakar. They somewhat fixed the issue on the MXV engine, by relocating the oil reservoir, adding oil jets for the pistons, and changing the design of the oil pressure release valve, however by that time their reputation (and the 08 economic crisis), contributed to the bikes downfall. A friend of mine modified his oil passages, sort of fixing the issue, and he is now able to use much lighter oil such as 5w-30, which really unlocks more horsepower potential as well. A stock XV will have around 70-90 PSI of oil pressure when warm, the modded bike has around 15-30, it sounds bad but that high of pressure indicates a flaw. Most engines operate well below 30 PSI. Good video.
You should do a video on the dominance of the cr500 an how it ruled for years in its hay day or Kevin schwants gp career an his rivalry I forgot the guys name now but be good content
BEFORE WATCHING THIS · The Aprilia twin-cylinder engines had little engine brake, which killed their chances in enduro, MX and SX. You can watch Billy Laninovich's Whiskey Throttle Show, there he explains Aprilia hired him for MXGP and he hated the bike for the very weak engine brake. · Engine brake in rally-raid is not that important... but fuel consumption is. Twin-cylinder engines can make a lot more power than single-cylinder ones BUT at similar power they're also thirstier. · Aprilia had problems getting fuel consumption to acceptable levels WITHOUT killing the power output. Riders had engine mapping at their disposal but could rarely use their advantage. Also, whenever riders used that extra power, the tyres would also get destroyed earlier as they were only designed for KTM levels of power. · In the end, the only true advantage of the Aprilia in rally-raid was that the engine was a bit more durable than the single-cylinder ones despite being more complicated. A pleasant surprise from the project was that the extra weight of the engine parts didn't matter much at all. COULD HAVE APRILIA WON THE DAKAR RALLY WITH A RIDER LIKE DESPRES OR COMA? · Probably yes. Chaleco was a great rider but there's a reason why Despres and Coma are more than happy with their rally-raid achievements while the Chilean is still trying his best, now in the UTV class. EXTRA CRAZY FACT · If you read the FIM regulations for cross-country bikes, you could race in rally-raid and international bajas with a 450cc rotary engine, it's 100% allowed. Of course those bikes have terrible fuel and oil consumption but, hey, you can still try to make it work!
Such a shame that the V twin engine was terribly unreliable out in the real world. Beautiful sounding, and cool looking, the bikes were typically Italian with mechanical failures. 😢
Like most Aprilia's it had an unfair reputation. It was a 450/550 producing 70/80hp. That's a race engine. Once a few, albeit, quite bad flaws have been ironed out the rxv/sxv is no less reliable than you'd expect.
@jamesmx7 I have a good friend who collects and repairs odd-ball bikes and has a couple of the V twin Aprilias. He's repair several others as well. The cranks are a known early failure prone item and the electrical systems are regular Italian quality. He rarely rides the bikes, and never hard as he's trying to keep them as running examples rather than have the inevitable failure to deal with.
Like your channel but when you slip in that stupid subscribe comment it just deters me from subscribing to your channel if you have a good format it speaks for itself and you should have to inject a stupid subscribe comment
Great story mate👍 Aprillia make good bikes. I’m looking forward to their new 450 adventure bike soon. Finally we can buy 450cc rally replicas for the street (?) PS: go Chucky 👍🍻🦘
It's Nice To Enjoy A Video About Motorcycling Narrated By A Real Person Who Knows What He's Talking About! Thank You. (Like #39 - Comment #5)
That XV Dakar front light placement reminds me Kove 450 Rally bike.
Agreed, I wonder if that's where Kove got their inspiration from.
Your videos are the best! Great job man/thank you.
Cheers!
FF to 2025 and Aprilia win the Africa Eco Race back to back with the Tuareg! 🔥🔥🔥
It's such a coincidence they won it right as I decided to post this :))
great narration about Aprillia's story in dakar
The return of Aprilia makes more sense than ever with the demise of KTM. It’s never good long term when one manufacturer dominates a sport, and Dakar is another good example of this. We all benefit as customers when multiple manufacturers develop machines to the highest level. The technology eventually filters down to the grass roots. Come on Aprilia, let’s goooo!!!
P.S thanks for yet another well researched and presented piece of quality content 👌👌👌
XV engines have titanium valves and dry sump from factory
Thank you for putting together this video, it’s really difficult to find info about this bike but you managed to build up this amazing story! I’m a Tuareg 660 owner and very proud of Cerutti second win at the AER!! Sure would be awesome to si an other Aprilia racing in the Dakar race as well
Technically, their upcoming baby tuareg could join the dakar, as it would be really easy to fit under 450cc. That being said, I'm not sure it would be competitive, but one can only hope
Chaleco is a National hero in Chile, love the guy, met him through Ignacio Casale, another amazing rider/driver from Chile. Heard some horror Dakar stories first hand from them, not sure i'd like to do it.
Best moto channel by far.
Another great video!
Every single video you drop in an absolute banger smashed it again mate keep em coming
I love your videos man. You're a good journalist, and a good storyteller. I like that you pick really good stories also. I also like that your plugs for raising money are short and sweet. Keep up the good work!
Best 2 wheel channel on TH-cam
As always, excellent content, the way your videos spark emotions make them an experience. We all miss having the Dakar on this side of the ocean, hopefully we get to see it again at some point.
That's my goal. Cheers!
Perfect watch for my tea on a Sunday evening
Hope the tea was good
@KRANKiT made it better ) like your videos and how knowledgeable you are on the rally. How modestly and discreetly you tell viewers about the patreon thing makes me want to join in after next paycheck :)
Whatever else you can say about Italian bikes, the Italians know how to style a motorcycle. That is a beautiful looking bike. If only something like that was actually available for street use
Given how ugly some rally bikes can get... I think they did a good job on the styling department
Great video!!!
Great timing, when they just won the Africa eco race, again
A great story, well presented, thanks to Krankit!
Tus videos documentales son increíbles, recuerdo haber seguido lo emocionante que fue esa carrera de Chaleco, era Aprilia vs todas las KTM muchas gracias, un gran saludo desde Chile.
Cheers mate!
another great video :)
Nice video, nice summary!
They should have built a tuareg with a tamer version of the RXV/SXV platform
I hope that's kind of what their future baby tuareg will be
@KRANKiT unfortunately the parallel twin platform will be designed to meet the EU A2 regulation, and that means no less than 175 Kg curb weight, and no more than 35 Kw of power.
I'm sure the Tuareg 457 will be best in class, but always a far cry from the rxv 450 in terms of weight and power... and reliability, hopefully.
@KRANKiT btw congrats for the content, you are one of the best out there!
Outstanding video, you do awesome work !
Another great video on Dakar. I share your videos all over. You should be over 100k. They are that good.
Thank you, genuinely appreciate it!
I love your videos with each video that comes out I hope you gained 10,000 more subscribers
The Tuareg 600 Wind participated in Dakar in 1989 apparently. We didn't get this one in Canada. We did get the 450 twin though. It was looking like that would make a good ADV bike.
Love your stories
Chaleco had a pretty good finish at this years Dakar, he is truly one of the legends of the sport at this point!
This was a really interesting video, I never knew that the RXV had such awesome heritage. In the US they are a dime a dozen because nobody really understands what they're good at, aside from sounding really awesome.
Great history lesson!
I love your Chanel, no matter how bad a day can get. watching you at the end of it takes all the crap away and puts me in my happy place. Thank you.. To the guy who has a problem with you, fitting in your suscribe coment. witch is what keeps you going . mail it directly by a boot and express it rite up his a--
Thank you very much, honestly reading comments like this make me realise how much some people enjoy these videos. It's one thing seeing the views, but comments like this or meeting you guys in person makes it more real for sure :)
Nice video, you should add a card whenever you mention another video!
"chaleco was an amazing rider" makes it sound like he is no longer alive. Better to say "chaleco put in some amazing rides on the Aprilia" or something like that.
Love your channel bro, keep up the good work.
By the way... If you'd like some editing help on your scripts I'd love to help. Free of charge.
By no means I meant to suggest he wasn't alive... I said "was" because nowadays he isn't a dakar rider any longer, he is a driver on 4 wheels. A darn good one too
@KRANKiT for sure! I understand what you meant, it's just that English is weird.
I'm a skilled writer and editor and would love to help with little things like this if you'd be interested. I love your content so if there's any way I can help refine it I'd like to do that!
@@therealturbofanisme Thanks! I'll keep it in mind for the future :)
Just an idea for your contant. Maybe you make a small short with some updates from the ongoing Dakar. It's really hard to finde good videos on this topic
Of course he can't because he is not allowed to use the footage 😅
There is a reason nobody does... and SupermotoCentral basically said it :) Think about it, because of TV rights, even Dakar's own TY channel is limited to 10 minute daily videos.
Interesting, the kove looks very very similar 😂
Fantastic
I have never been interested in the Dakar until I found your channel. I love the history and all the information your share. I've gotten interested in desert racing because of your channel. Cheers from Utah, USA
Aprilia truly is the greatest motorcycle brand on earth.❤❤❤
Another holeshot this vid! Thanks!!
Aprilia never actually changed anything with the engine, at least fundamentally, with the Dakar versions. The biggest problems they faced on the Dakar scene was fuel capacity, these bikes have a fundamental flaw that causes oil to pool in the crankcase, causing heat due to friction, Aprilia tried to band-aid the issue by using heavier 10w-60 oil that would slow down the pooling for the oil flow to catch up, but it was not enough, and the heavier oils also created more heat and friction which reduced fuel economy. Additionally, due to the heat, they run richer fuel mixture settings, to cool down the engine, meaning they burn far more fuel than they should (25-35 MPG, should be 45-60 MPG). Whenever I hit the throttle on mine, you can actually see the black smoke of unburned fuel come out. Perhaps it was due to them carrying extra fuel and therefore weight, that caused the rear suspension to fail in the Dakar.
They somewhat fixed the issue on the MXV engine, by relocating the oil reservoir, adding oil jets for the pistons, and changing the design of the oil pressure release valve, however by that time their reputation (and the 08 economic crisis), contributed to the bikes downfall. A friend of mine modified his oil passages, sort of fixing the issue, and he is now able to use much lighter oil such as 5w-30, which really unlocks more horsepower potential as well.
A stock XV will have around 70-90 PSI of oil pressure when warm, the modded bike has around 15-30, it sounds bad but that high of pressure indicates a flaw. Most engines operate well below 30 PSI.
Good video.
Aprilia just won in the Africa Eco 2025 rally with the Aprilia Touareg so who knows, they might go for dakar again :)
You should do a video on the dominance of the cr500 an how it ruled for years in its hay day or Kevin schwants gp career an his rivalry I forgot the guys name now but be good content
🔥🔥🔥
BEFORE WATCHING THIS
· The Aprilia twin-cylinder engines had little engine brake, which killed their chances in enduro, MX and SX. You can watch Billy Laninovich's Whiskey Throttle Show, there he explains Aprilia hired him for MXGP and he hated the bike for the very weak engine brake.
· Engine brake in rally-raid is not that important... but fuel consumption is. Twin-cylinder engines can make a lot more power than single-cylinder ones BUT at similar power they're also thirstier.
· Aprilia had problems getting fuel consumption to acceptable levels WITHOUT killing the power output. Riders had engine mapping at their disposal but could rarely use their advantage. Also, whenever riders used that extra power, the tyres would also get destroyed earlier as they were only designed for KTM levels of power.
· In the end, the only true advantage of the Aprilia in rally-raid was that the engine was a bit more durable than the single-cylinder ones despite being more complicated. A pleasant surprise from the project was that the extra weight of the engine parts didn't matter much at all.
COULD HAVE APRILIA WON THE DAKAR RALLY WITH A RIDER LIKE DESPRES OR COMA?
· Probably yes. Chaleco was a great rider but there's a reason why Despres and Coma are more than happy with their rally-raid achievements while the Chilean is still trying his best, now in the UTV class.
EXTRA CRAZY FACT
· If you read the FIM regulations for cross-country bikes, you could race in rally-raid and international bajas with a 450cc rotary engine, it's 100% allowed. Of course those bikes have terrible fuel and oil consumption but, hey, you can still try to make it work!
Such a shame that the V twin engine was terribly unreliable out in the real world.
Beautiful sounding, and cool looking, the bikes were typically Italian with mechanical failures. 😢
Like most Aprilia's it had an unfair reputation.
It was a 450/550 producing 70/80hp. That's a race engine.
Once a few, albeit, quite bad flaws have been ironed out the rxv/sxv is no less reliable than you'd expect.
@jamesmx7 I have a good friend who collects and repairs odd-ball bikes and has a couple of the V twin Aprilias.
He's repair several others as well. The cranks are a known early failure prone item and the electrical systems are regular Italian quality.
He rarely rides the bikes, and never hard as he's trying to keep them as running examples rather than have the inevitable failure to deal with.
@@Danger_mouse which V twin Aprilia has a known problem with crank shaft failure?
@@jamesmx7 the 450 & 550 mentioned in the video, otherwise I would not have mentioned them.
I have 44 thousand kilometers on one of mine.
Like your channel but when you slip in that stupid subscribe comment it just deters me from subscribing to your channel if you have a good format it speaks for itself and you should have to inject a stupid subscribe comment
Come on mate.... Pretty much every single channel does it and there's no advertising in the video.... He deserves the sub
So you're not subscribed to any youtube channels then?
Francisco "chaleco" lopez🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽🤟🏽
Great story mate👍
Aprillia make good bikes.
I’m looking forward to their new 450 adventure bike soon.
Finally we can buy 450cc rally replicas for the street (?)
PS: go Chucky 👍🍻🦘