ApriliaFutura.co.uk

There is something of a tradition of Futura gatherings - the bike is so rare owners tend to take a perverse pleasure in gathering a load of Futuras in one place.

Well... this one does...

UK Futura meets 2012

Info coming soon on UK 2012 meet

Continental EU Futura meets - 2012

French Futura meet

The Futura attracts a loyal and dedicated following in France and the French annual meeting each May is usually well-attended. More details are available on the French Futura website.

At the bottom of the page is a picture of a meet of the Danish Futura club in 2008. Arne and his friends got 16 bikes together at an 'Italian day' in Denmark.

Thinking of organising a Futura meet?

If you're organising a rideout or meet in the UK - or just thinking of it - get in touch and I can publicise it on these pages, or fill in the comments box below:

I'm afraid the time has come to sell my UK Aprilia Futura. Advert details below.

Very reluctantly selling my much-loved Aprilia RST1000 Futura, which I understand to be the second to last of its kind registered in the UK.

Bought from brand new in November 2005 it has been well looked after its whole life with only sensible mods and is very close to showroom condition, considering it has seen five years' use. It will be sold with 12 months MOT.

For various reasons I have to give up riding, at least for the time being. The bike is super reliable (never had an alarm fitted) and has spent every winter in the garage.

It seems the workshop manuals are no longer availble elsewhere on the web - for free at least - so I've made them available here.

Here you'll find links to workshop manuals, parts fiches and the owner's manual - all available to be downloaded for free.

Even before Aprilia's first 1,000cc sportsbike, the RSV Mille, broke cover, there was talk of the Italian company building an RSV-powered sports tourer.

Aprilia aimed to make the most of the Mille's success by putting the stonking Vee twin motor - built to Aprilia's specification by Rotax - into as many bikes as it could get away with.

The most successful of these, the Tuono, was little more than a naked RSV with flat bars. But first, in 1999, came the SL1000 Falco - the SL stands for Sports Light - a budget RSV with a classy frame and a little less performance.

Then, in 2000, the company announced the big trailie ETV1000 Caponord - and the RST1000 Futura.

Aimed squarely at Honda's VFR, the RST (Sport Touring, of course!) bristled with innovation and technology as could be expected from a design team led by Bimota's former chief engineer, Pierluigi Marconi - you can read more about the Futura's development here.

The new bike borrowed its name from Aprilia's early 90s sports 125.

The RST 1000 harked back to Aprilia's ground-breaking AF1 FuturaAt the time the 125 Futura helped carve Aprilia's image as a company that used brave technological solutions and bold styling to good effect. The company believed the 1,000cc Futura would further bolster that image, and show the world what a sports tourer should be.