Why a Tuono?

What made you buy a Tuono?

I've had a reason for every bike I've bought, too many to list to bore you with, like the GSXR fell into my lap for a great price after I caved 6 months after being offered 1st refusal on it. The TLS, there were a lot of reasons for that one.

Just wondering what wants / needs / emotion attraction made you get yours?

Good question.
I rode my son's TLS and fell in love with twins. I then saw the Aprilia specs and designs, fell in love again. test rode one and ........ well, the rest is history.
In cronological order, Wanted a twin, Tuono more than delivered on paper then I saw mine and just HAD to have it.
Heart over head but, 20 months later, still the best motorbike decision I ever made. I still walk into my garage just to look at it. Riding it always sees me return home with a smile on my face.

Had a ZX6R B1 and was riding quicker and quicker on the road (it was awful slow and only made sense when you upped the pace) and was starting to worry about my licence/life! Plus after breaking my shoulder blade, the 6 was causing me some problems with the riding position.

Test rode a tuono, thinking that being upright, it would slow me down a bit!


That worked for................................oooohhhhhhh about a day!!!

I now ride even quicker, but at least with the twin it "feels" slower!!!!


Used to change bikes every two years......................................................

Back in 2003, I had seen pictures of the Tuono, and had read some glowing reviews. The 'Superbike With an Upright Riding Position' aspect sounded like it was right up my alley. I had an R1 at the time, and though I loved its looks and performance, the riding position was really stating to turn me off. I live a good distance away from any decent twisties, so a long drone on the superslab is a prerequisite to any canyon excursion. That, and I'm not exactly a youngster anymore...

A local Aprilia dealer announced a demo day, and a buddy and I drove down there, only to find that it had started raining a bit. Amazingly, the dealer was still letting people out on the bikes, so we signed our lives away, and I headed straight for a waiting Tuono. Given the weather, and seeing how this would be a lead-and-follow exercise, I wasn't expecting a very high fun factor, but as soon as we got out on the open road, I got a chance to yank the throttle, HARD (I know, kinda dumb in the rain :dunno ). Oh man, that midrange hit... intoxicating, and the booming engine sound was just mean. Handling was rock-solid, and the riding position was just what I had been looking for. I was hooked, and told myself right then and there, I'd own a T someday.

Jump cut to this year. I had gotten sidetracked, between turning the R1 into a race bike, and having an FZ1 fall in my lap at a ridiculous price. The T's siren call was still there, though, and I started looking at them again. I tried hard to like the new Tuono's looks, however, but just didn't feel the love. Also, I had read that they 'fixed' (smoothed out...) the power delivery on the new generation, and that midrange hump on the '03 had been one of the things that drew me in. I was stuck, then. Pick up a new '07/'08, and live with it, or buy used, and risk inheriting someone else's problems.

Fate smiled on me, though, and I caught wind of a dealer who had a brand new '05 Factory, 2 year warranty and all, for ~$7K off MSRP. Even with $500 to get it shipped down to me, it was too good to pass up.

She's been in my garage for 6 months now, and when I'm not riding, I still go out and stare. I will probably have this bike until we run out of fossil fuels :yes

I love sporting twins and naked/upright bikes so the T would suit me just right. I don't have one yet, but will fix that situation sooner or later. Till then I'll get by with the TLS and 919.

I knew I wanted to make the jump from cruiser to sport and found nakeds more appealing than leaning forward over a bunch of fiberglass ;-)

I looked at quite a few nakeds and quite a few reviews and when it came down to it the Tuono just triggered the most significant emotional response. The only regret I have about buying it is that it's not the Factory ;-)

I am at that age where I really wanted a keeper in my garage. The main prerequisite was that it had to have that indefinable something called "soul" - it had to be special, and it was going to be brand spanking new.

I started test riding Italian and German bikes two months before I bought my T. The BMWs I rode did not light my fire at all - nice to look at, but no serious go. Then I rode a 750 MV Agusta Brutale in all its naked glory. I knew that its stance and riding position was what I was looking for.

From there it was onto another MV (a 910 Brutale R), a Moto Morini 1200 Corsaro Veloce, a Benelli TNT Cafe Racer, and finally a 2005 Tuono. This was the turning point for me.

I knew then it had to be an Italian twin. I didn't ride any Ducatis, as none of them really appealed to me (an SR4 Monster instead of a Tuono? Be real!). So it was between either the Veloce - absolutely stunning looks, but with fluffy fuelling under 4k rpm and old school Brembos up front; or a Tuono - also with looks to die for but blessed with the best V twin and sweetest chassis on the market, plus those awesome radial Brembo golds, etc, etc.

Finally, after reading many glowing reviews and comparison tests, It was the Tuono: but which one? the one I test rode had only about 450km on the clock. It had been sitting in the shop for a couple of years, unwanted. I really thought hard about this bike as I reckon I could pick it for around $5 - 6k less than a new '08 model. BUT, it was a 2005 Tuoldo, not an '06-'08 model.

So, I shopped around on the 'net and found a deal for an '08model with 'free' Akras fitted. I took this ad to my local dealer and asked him to match the deal. It turns out this deal with the free pipes is a typo - it was meant to read "all 2007 runout model Tuonos" instead of "all Tuono models". To their credit, my dealer and the Oz Aprilia importer came to the party and I got my 2008 model T with free Akras installed (along with a fuel mapping change).:thumbup

Long winded, I know. but that's how i came to buy my beautiful Tuono. It is parked in my garage, which opens into my office. I just sit and look at sometimes as well, like as I'm typing this.

Cheers

Dave

I travelled a similar road. I started lusting for a 1997 Green TLS. I wanted one badly, but they were $9000.00 FFS! So I bought a GPZ 1100 for $7000. I crashed it, and bought a ZRX, it had just come out in 1999 and I had to have one, I missed out on the ELR in 82. :banghead. So I loved the ZRX until I went to the track for the first time with it in 1999. It was too everything, too heavy, too flexible, too hard to turn and stop, etc.



So I bought a 2000 TLS, for $7000.00 new off the showroom floor in 2001. This bike started my track riding and fueled my V-twin lust. I loved it, then it got stolen. So I bought a 2002 TLR, new, for $9000.00 or so. Got the TLS back and sold it to modify the TLR.



The TLR ultimately got about $16000.00 of my money including purchase price. But I loved it, until I got tired of fixing the thing :banghead It was the first bike I got my knee down with.



Then I traded mr TL for a DR-Z400SM. A fabulous bike, I missed the big bike on the highway, but I loved the DR. Traded it for a TLS to ride to work :lol Which I added an Ohlins to, I revalved the compression and rebound in the front, added a Single sided exhaust and rearsets. Great bike, but being an old TLS, it broke a lot, so I traded it and my SV I had at the time for my 07 Gixxer 750. Immediately it was a better track bike by 50% than even my TLR with all the mods :banghead

Finally I was down to one bike, the Gixxer and I loved it. But I wanted more. A Buddy bought a K1200RS and needed to sell a 2003 Tuono. Well friends, I had lusted for an Aprilia for a long time, a Tuono mostly, but I loved me some Mille too. Anyway, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and BAM, I own a Tuono.

Hands down, this is my favorite bike ever. It is a perfect blend of TL fun and Gixxer handling. I always enjoy riding it. I love to work on it (very few opportunities unless I am modding it :banghead) and I am going to paint it black I think. The sound is awesome, it will wheelie on a mere thought, it has brakes that are way better than my Gixxer. The suspension is pretty dang good. I will probably find a way to get another so I can have a factory or an R. I think any year is good, I have a 2003 with serial number 22, so I would bet they were good from the start.

while planning what bike to buy after passing my test i knew i wanted a naked bike,and after settling on a triumph,i then went out and bought a zx 7 r!!GREAT BIKE & if poss i am going to keep it,so after running about on it i started looking for a change that roulette green speed triple beckoned,but i saw the touno racing from the showroom door and i just had to have it.After finding out a bit more about it,it ticked all the boxes superb looks and rare,i know i won't loose it in a sea of cbr/gsxr/etc when i go out.

I fought the family battle for a couple of years for a last m/c.(I'm 62 and my wife is pushing the "no More" stuff) I tend to keep my stuff for a while, just sold the '78 GS1000 I've had for 28 years. Decided I wanted a big twin and wanted something that handled great and was a bit exotic. The duc is an obvious choice, but the maintenance was more than I wanted to put up with. The Tuonos were just out and I was getting ants'y. The genIIs came out and I said enough is enough, the Rotax is a rock that requires only normal maintenance, the T handles better than anything else available, parts are available thru AF1 lets go.

Pulled the trigger and got an 07. Wow, it is more than I'd hoped for. Fast, smooth, wonderful fit and finish, not much more one could ask for. The first ride down the the county office to get a tag (in Alabama we call license plates tags) with the db killers in the Akras, was a thrill, thought "what the He__ have I done". The exotic Italians do get in the blood.

T

PS Had a Laverda SFC for a couple of years so shoold have known the Italians were going to win the search for a big twin.

Post some pics of that Laverda when you get a chance:drool

Went from a full race bike to a cruiser. That worked for about a year... just wasn't me. The Tuono Factory seemed like a nice cross between race bike (ohlins, brembo & Oz) and a street bike that it got me and the more upright seating position is nicer on the street. I may go back to the track at some point, but this is a pretty nice street bike.

Every bike I have bought I read all the mags I could find & knew I wanted it before it came to the US. My 2003 Tuono has a VIN # of 4!!!!! First bike here.

This time last year I hadn`t a clue what a Tuono was. Aprilia`s to me was high insurance racing bikes for them with money to burn. august 07 I was looking at a new black Tuono demonstrator ( I didn`t know what it was at first but it looked pretty good ) when a guy came over and said he had just had 140 mph out of it. This got me thinking and I wanted a test ride. I went home and told my son (20 yrs) what I`d seen and we went back a few days later . I saw a 2005 factory , traded my 600 bandit in and THEN had a test ride on the black one , how can I wipe this wide grin off my face. I like all the Tuono`s but I am not keen on the gold frame

the gold frame does kinda grow on you though, doesn't it?

-:banana

I got mine .. it seems for the same reasons that everyone else did... I was looking for something to slow me down after the Gixxers i owned er no ...in fact i got faster and pulled more wheelies and i was looking for sumit that wernt 'Just another Jap multi' found it and six months on ....still smiling....

crashtd said:

the gold frame does kinda grow on you though, doesn't it?

-:banana

Click to expand...

Err, not yet. :eek

Tuono

1] It's not a ricer
2] It's not a damn Ducati (everybody has one of those!)
3] It's a decent-sized V-Twin
4] It's unique (not many around!)
5] It was a good upgrade from the XV920 Euro it replaced
6] It was available locally for a fair price
7] It's tweakable. Italian and has a ROTAX!! (Have you seen what they do? And, I wish they'd update their site!!!)
8] It does everything I need it to, and then some!
9] SOUND! That single Akra is sweeeeeeeeeeeet! Thunder in a can! heh...
10] It's diablo black, and looks hooliganishly gnarly

An interesting side note on this bike- it had been previously owned by two women-
The first was described as a trust fund brat that traded it in at the 600 mile service for an RSV Factory.

The second, Lera, was a Russian Microsoft employee that put many miles on it, and maintained it well. She left the country, and that condition, over the years, has allowed me many great deals on stuff too big to ship out.

Bless their expiring work-visa hearts!

-T_T

Tuono_Tom said:

1]Bless their expiring work-visa hearts!

Click to expand...

:spit i got a good chuckle out of that. :laugh

-:banana

oh yes the other reason was cos i saw the add on the web... http://www.combattiva.it/aprilia/portale/ita/pop_tuono.htm

ah yes ....wheelies...just wot i was looking for