Superhawk to Futura?
07-06-2010, 01:04 AM
#1
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SuperSport
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Superhawk to Futura?
Hi y'all,
Has anyone here ridden or owned an Aprilia Futura? I'm wondering about it for my next bike as I'd like something more doable for long distance and two-up. It would be great to hear from Superhawk owners with experience on the Fut, past or present.
The Fut is legendary for ST comfort, but that may be relative to sport tourers. I wonder how it compares to more standard bikes, or even dual sport, in terms of comfort.
Thanks for any experience you might have.
Has anyone here ridden or owned an Aprilia Futura? I'm wondering about it for my next bike as I'd like something more doable for long distance and two-up. It would be great to hear from Superhawk owners with experience on the Fut, past or present.
The Fut is legendary for ST comfort, but that may be relative to sport tourers. I wonder how it compares to more standard bikes, or even dual sport, in terms of comfort.
Thanks for any experience you might have.
07-06-2010, 05:40 AM
#3
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SuperSport
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Here's something from another forum comparing the Falco with the SH:
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/s....php?p=2276102 (The middle part is interesting.)
The Futura is quite a lot larger, no? This would be the Aprilia VFR?
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/s....php?p=2276102 (The middle part is interesting.)
The Futura is quite a lot larger, no? This would be the Aprilia VFR?
07-06-2010, 10:06 AM
#5
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07-06-2010, 01:45 PM
#6
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Back Marker
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It was comfortable, had the greatest lines, sounded amazing, wanted to loft the front up constantly, turned heads all the time.
I'll have another one some day. I had enough equity in it to buy a 98 VFR outright. That was a let-down-- it's no comparison to the Falco. Don't get me wrong-- the VFR is a great bike and it's all the things folks say about VFR's.. I enjoy it, but it's taken 6 months for the disappointment to wear off. LOL, and now I'm selling it to pay state income tax and hopefully pick up a Firestorm for [insert absurdly low price here.]
EDIT: But that's for a different thread! Back to the Futura.. GET ONE.
07-07-2010, 09:30 AM
#7
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Squid
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The Futura, aside from its comfort and good sport-touring potential, is a great looking bike in my opinion, especially with a set of underseat after-market pipes. Some people find the styling odd, but I think they're cool looking bikes. I'd considered one myself, the only thing that put me off was that Aprilia doesn't seem to have the dealer/service network that other more popular brands (Honda) have. A friend had an '00 w/underseat Staintunes (see pics) and loved it. He later sold it, and regretted it ever since. From all I've heard, they're great bikes, but are becomming hard to find. Too bad they stopped production.
Last edited by oldgeezer; 07-07-2010 at 09:50 AM.
07-07-2010, 09:43 AM
#8
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Comparo between SV 1000, Superhawk and the Falco... makes a ton of sense, no? Visordown is a great mag. I love Cycleworld, but this month they compared a VFR and a Multistrada...
http://www.visordown.com/road-tests/...orm/10485.html
http://www.visordown.com/road-tests/...orm/10485.html
07-07-2010, 07:41 PM
#9
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Squid
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Posts: 13
I'm in the same boat as you Chickenstrip, but haven’t looked at Aprila yet. Looks like I might have to! I've test ridden the Honda VFR1200 and Ducati Multistrada 1200 this year. Both do what they do extremely well. The VFR is silky smooth, good ergonomics and handles lighter than it is. The VFR’s mill is incredibly smooth and strong but lacks the big twin character. However, for heading across the country and burning up a few twistys on the way it will be hard to beat. The Duc is all character, raw power and great rider position for an all around ride. This one is on my short list and it would be worth your time to get on a ride. Next on the demo list is the BMW R1200 GS and the K1200S. I have a hunch the R will be too much “adventure touring” and not enough “sport touring” for me. It will be interesting to compare the bemmers K1200S to the VFR.
That all being said, it will be hard to move away from the twins. The old Firestorm delivers a smile everyday. Now only if it would deliver a bit of relief from the gas station and my old back and wrists!
Good luck with your search.
That all being said, it will be hard to move away from the twins. The old Firestorm delivers a smile everyday. Now only if it would deliver a bit of relief from the gas station and my old back and wrists!
Good luck with your search.
07-08-2010, 05:14 AM
#10
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Location: Montreal
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I'm in the same boat as you Chickenstrip, but haven’t looked at Aprila yet. Looks like I might have to! I've test ridden the Honda VFR1200 and Ducati Multistrada 1200 this year. Both do what they do extremely well. The VFR is silky smooth, good ergonomics and handles lighter than it is. The VFR’s mill is incredibly smooth and strong but lacks the big twin character. However, for heading across the country and burning up a few twistys on the way it will be hard to beat. The Duc is all character, raw power and great rider position for an all around ride. This one is on my short list and it would be worth your time to get on a ride. Next on the demo list is the BMW R1200 GS and the K1200S. I have a hunch the R will be too much “adventure touring” and not enough “sport touring” for me. It will be interesting to compare the bemmers K1200S to the VFR.
That all being said, it will be hard to move away from the twins. The old Firestorm delivers a smile everyday. Now only if it would deliver a bit of relief from the gas station and my old back and wrists!
Good luck with your search.
That all being said, it will be hard to move away from the twins. The old Firestorm delivers a smile everyday. Now only if it would deliver a bit of relief from the gas station and my old back and wrists!
Good luck with your search.
07-09-2010, 11:10 AM
#11
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Posts: 293
Boy, you read the Aprilia forum and sure get the impression that the ol' Superhawk is a flying lump of ****. For a few minutes, I even started doing the mental math at what I could get if I put mine all back to stock, sold it and sold off all the tasty bits to get something like a Falco. There's certainly a few Falco's around here for sale... But at the end of the day, all the writing about the Superhawk in the Aprila forum is pretty blatantly biased...just as it is on this forum. Viewed objectively (as much as I personally can, having owned many great and not-so-great bikes, The SH delivers on many fronts. It's got reliability in spades. Not something I can say about my wifes Aprilia Atlantic 500. It's a damn good thing I can wrench on that thing myself or I'd be over a barrel $-wise. Shattered output case that wiped out all the tranny shafts...crapped out throttlebody...many other minor things. In any case...at 45k, the Honda has yet to screw me over, other than a R/R issue that cooked a battery and caused an acid leak.
It's got personality...something you can't say about a lot of Hondas. Is, it the fastest thing out there? Nope. Certainly not. Does the chassis have "tuned flex" in it? Yup. That's either desirable or not, depending on how you look at it. On the crater-strewn streets of Seattle, I'll take a little chassis flex... My TL was brutal to ride on the streets by comparison, and that's not even taking into consideration the ergonomics of it. At the end of the day, I don't see the Falco walking away from a well ridden, well modded Superhawk and they are after the same niche of market. Yet the fuel range issues are valid, but with my oversize tank, I can live with the crappy fuel mileage. Wow, I sure love to get off topic.
Now, the Futura has always appealed to me. A big GT bike capable of sporty-touring, with more emphasis on Sport. Kind of reminds me of my old Seca 650turbo. But it is a physically larger bike. Not quite FJR1300 big, but close. And I WANT to like Aprilia...The local dealer is certainly nice enough.
It's got personality...something you can't say about a lot of Hondas. Is, it the fastest thing out there? Nope. Certainly not. Does the chassis have "tuned flex" in it? Yup. That's either desirable or not, depending on how you look at it. On the crater-strewn streets of Seattle, I'll take a little chassis flex... My TL was brutal to ride on the streets by comparison, and that's not even taking into consideration the ergonomics of it. At the end of the day, I don't see the Falco walking away from a well ridden, well modded Superhawk and they are after the same niche of market. Yet the fuel range issues are valid, but with my oversize tank, I can live with the crappy fuel mileage. Wow, I sure love to get off topic.
Now, the Futura has always appealed to me. A big GT bike capable of sporty-touring, with more emphasis on Sport. Kind of reminds me of my old Seca 650turbo. But it is a physically larger bike. Not quite FJR1300 big, but close. And I WANT to like Aprilia...The local dealer is certainly nice enough.
07-09-2010, 06:04 PM
#12
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SuperSport
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: In a van down by the river (I wish!)
Posts: 617
I think that link Supermarto posted is spot on.
I think forums -- like the Aprila one; certainly not this one! -- are echo chambers in a lot of ways, and too many people pick up a random piece of tech data (flex-prone frame?) and amplify it out of proportion.
Take the big thread next door to this one about the cam conspiracy... No offense to them folks trying to squeeze 2.1 extra HP out of their fat, bloated, non-97 SH, but I think it probably doesn't matter that much in the real world. At least for most of us, who get one track day a year, if that, and ride our bikes daily.
I've seen the tail lights of old BMWs too often... Last summer I toured with my brother on a Buell S3, a friend on a F650 and me on a Sprint ST 955, and at the end of the day the best rider was on the slowest machine. On the roads I like to ride, 2.1HP isn't going to make a difference. Getting my a$$ out on the road more often? Yeah, that will do it.
Maybe I need to readjust myself... Go to bike week or something. Get one of those 'Busa's with the stretched swingarm. Gain 100 pounds...
CR
I think forums -- like the Aprila one; certainly not this one! -- are echo chambers in a lot of ways, and too many people pick up a random piece of tech data (flex-prone frame?) and amplify it out of proportion.
Take the big thread next door to this one about the cam conspiracy... No offense to them folks trying to squeeze 2.1 extra HP out of their fat, bloated, non-97 SH, but I think it probably doesn't matter that much in the real world. At least for most of us, who get one track day a year, if that, and ride our bikes daily.
I've seen the tail lights of old BMWs too often... Last summer I toured with my brother on a Buell S3, a friend on a F650 and me on a Sprint ST 955, and at the end of the day the best rider was on the slowest machine. On the roads I like to ride, 2.1HP isn't going to make a difference. Getting my a$$ out on the road more often? Yeah, that will do it.
Maybe I need to readjust myself... Go to bike week or something. Get one of those 'Busa's with the stretched swingarm. Gain 100 pounds...
CR
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