I have had quite a few people ask about purchasing one of the Aprilia RS125s that was brought in the US a couple of years ago. Many people think they are buying a World GP bike for $6,000 which is very far from the truth!

The Aprilia you are looking at is just one their street bikes. If you are planning to do track days it will be acceptable but if you plan to race against the Honda RS125 and Yamaha TZ125 you will be very disappointed. They dumped 600 of them in the US two years ago to clean out a warehouse and plan to hopefully sell them off as track day machines. Some people have purchased the parts that were removed before the bikes were imported which made them street registerable in some countries. They were then were able to register them in some states here. Check out one of the bike a buddy of mine has registered and put up for sale http://www.rscycles.com/Bikes/customersbikes/customer.htm.

The parts were removed to sneak these bikes through the EPA Racing Exclusion approval because they were not legal for street use here. A real Aprilia GP bike for last year’s season would set you back $250,000.00 (yes, that is 1/4 of a million US dollars) The race version puts out 55 hp and weighs around 130 pounds and will reach speeds over 140 mph. This street bike puts out about 34 HP and weighs almost 300 pounds (not much lighter than a new 600 which puts out 105 plus hp). A properly set up RS125 Honda will put out between 40 and 50 hp and weighs 130 pounds and can reach 130 plus mph. (A bargain price wise compared to the Aprilia GP bike and you can actually purchase the parts to maintain it).

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/27/1925/Motorcycle-Article/2009-Aprilia-RS125-First-Ride.aspx
“The bike which Rossi rode was the Aprilia RSW125. It is the GP version and is in a whole different league. For example it makes approximately 55 bhp and can go over 140 mph. The RS125 street bike is a watered down version of it and can be used reliably and without a lot of maintenance costs”

If you are planning on racing competitively you should continue looking for a Yamaha or Honda GP bike that fits your price range. The price for a good one will continue to rise because, as of this year, they are no longer being produced by Honda or Yamaha.

If you do decide to look into the Honda try to find a 1998 or newer which will be the newest motor, carburetion and electronics setup.

The two yellow and black RS125s on our customer’s bikes For Sale page have been completely rebuilt and have approx $6,000 in additional items on them. Ram air box, Samba exhaust (they make all the Aprilia race pipes) and PVM wheels.

I hope this information gives you some understanding and helps in your decision to purchase the bike that best fits your needs.

If you have any other question please fell free to contact me.