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In 2017 Ioda Racing Aprilia was the official satellite team for Aprilia in the World Superbike Championship. With rider Tati Mercado, they recorded a number of Top-10 finishes against much better funded teams.
Ioda Racing Aprilia helped in the development of our Pulse IPT line of batteries. Having worked with several Aprilia teams in the FIM World Championship as well as MotoAmerica, we were able to carry out long term testing and validation in a race environment. This is usually the final step in our validation testing for our consumer products.
Beyond the development product in the 2017 Aprilia RSV4RF, there was plenty of slick hardware on display. Everything from the electronics, to the chassis is completely custom. Just try to find this lower triple clamp and the related sensor and hardware in your Parts Unlimited.
There is very limited space to mount all of this cool hardware. Here is the data and power port. The red AMP connector is for hooking up and auxiliary battery. This is used to prevent the main battery from being drained during data transfer and diagnostics.
In 2017 Aprilia used its own electronics hardware (APX2) and software on the RSV4RF. Despite the majority of the grid using Magneti Marelli, Aprilia has forged ahead with their own parts. It clearly works well, as their results have proven, but how long with that last?
The wiring loom is also a work of art. Designed for ease of service and replacement, the engineers take great pains to make sure these parts do not fail. This is no small task, and requires the best parts combined with thoughtful design.
Tati's Ioda Racing RSV4RF is not the latest spec of machine. As a satellite team, they often do testing and development for the factory, while at the same time racing on older, proven components. Two steps forward, one step back? Still, much of the chassis is beautiful, hand formed art. This swingarm is a good example.
So, what does something like that cost? Well, if you want one, be prepared for a 5-figure bill, once you factor in all of the parts needed to bolt one onto your chassis. These bikes are not a collection of bolt-on parts- they are designed as a system, and that system is complicated and expensive.
On bikes at the World Superbike level, there are very few *customer* specification parts. You can't simply log onto Revzilla and order a pair of rearsets that you would find on this bike. I don't know what these cost, but I would guess it would be north of $1000. Worth. Every. Penny.
Tati's 2017 bike uses an earlier version of the Ohlins Superbike fork. As a privateer team, it is often the case that some components will see more than one season of service. The valving changes and improvements found during the season are easily applied to the older forks.
Of course the team will have several sets of spares for the forks as well as the shocks. This case provides for safe transport of the suspension parts, and is then used as a service center at the track.
We find the solutions that teams employ to be quite elegant. Lots of thought goes into most every aspect of these bikes to make them fast, reliable, easy to service, and easy to transport around the globe.
Ultimately, our role as a technical supplier is something we take very seriously. It is a great honor- and responsibility- to have anyone relying on our service, support, and products. For nearly a decade, we have given this role the utmost importance.
