Falco fit / finish in the UK

[Yostwerks]

I posted some positive comments this week regarding my Falco's fit / finish on a Triumph forum.

A Triumph Sprint owner from London replied with the following......

My experience of Aprilia would be stay well away, unless you want unbelievably bad spares back up at extortionate prices,
where they are available. As for finish, frankly just laughable. Maybe in Italy or California where rain is seldom the paint stays on,
however in the UK the paint starts being pushed off by the corrosion underneath as soon as they reach our shore

Since this is predominantly a UK forum, would anyone like to comment on this ? How does Aprilia compare in this regard to Triumph.

Regards,

Tom

[mangocrazy]

Comments of this type tend to come from punters who've never owned an Aprilia and are basing their comments on experiences (or hearsay) of rusting Italian cars of the 70s and 80s.

I'm very impressed with the fit and finish on my Falco. It's clearly better than a Suzuki TL1000S I owned, and probably as good as the 3 VFRs I've owned.

[Firestarter]

Don't know about the Triumphs (never had one), but my Falco has stood up to 3 winters of reasonable use in the salt & rain. Nothing wrong with the finish for UK usage - in fact, Aprilia are quite well rated for their finish over here. The bike has stood up better than the Honda Bros I used to run through the winter.

Parts, well yeah, there were problems. Still not convinced that they're completely sorted, but I don't think it's reasonable. And the prices, well again, not great, but hardly extortionate.

Sounds like someone trading on pre-conceived misconceptions of Italian bikes rather than direct experience of Aprilia

[fastasfcuk]

what crap, genuin spares do take a while , but as for finish you'll be hard pushed to better it.i ride mine like many others on here all year and apart from front calliper bolts and axle nuts it looks like new.

[D-Rider]

I posted some positive comments this week regarding my Falco's fit / finish on a Triumph forum.

A Triumph Sprint owner from London replied with the following......

My experience of Aprilia would be stay well away, unless you want unbelievably bad spares back up at extortionate prices,
where they are available. As for finish, frankly just laughable. Maybe in Italy or California where rain is seldom the paint stays on,
however in the UK the paint starts being pushed off by the corrosion underneath as soon as they reach our shore

Since this is predominantly a UK forum, would anyone like to comment on this ? How does Aprilia compare in this regard to Triumph.

Regards,

Tom

Well as regards spares - it's not brilliant - but it's better than it used to be. At one time spares were a big problem. Now most bits and pieces are readily available - though some things do come with a long delay ....
I guess that tends to be for parts that we might need less commonly. Either a call to several dealers sorts things out or someone on here has the bit you need. As I say, it could be better but it's generally OK now.

As for the build quality, the guy on the Triumph forum really has no clue what he's on about. Triumph make well put together bikes but they are certainly no better made than Aprilias.
My guess is he's of that "oh it's Italian, it must be poorly finished and rot away in 10 mins" attitude.
Aprilias aren't like that - you'd be hard-pressed to find better made bikes.
Mine is entering its 4th winter, is used daily and is seldom cleaned. A few bolt heads (mainly on the front brake calipers) show some surface corrosion but as for the rest of the bike, it's still lovely.
Others will tell you the same.

[mangocrazy]

I'd be tempted to ask for chapter and verse on the 'Aprilia' he's owned. I'd lay bets that it belonged to 'a mate'...

[Aladinsaneuk]

i would like the link to the forum

:)

[D-Rider]

Maybe in Italy or California where rain is seldom the paint stays on,
however in the UK the paint starts being pushed off by the corrosion underneath as soon as they reach our shore

I wonder where he's seen this then ....

• * Painted fairing ..... plastic
  * Painted sear unit & hump ..... plastic
  * Painted mudguard ...... plastic
  * Oh, I know, must be the painted tank ..... no .... that's plastic too
  * The frame ..... early ones polished later ones - are they painted or powder coated?? whatever, never seen a problem.
  * The forks - gold ones are anodised .... though the top edge of my painted fork bottoms has lost a bit of paint due to a bit of corrosion underneath ... but that's very minor and very isolated.
  * The wheels ??? not that I've ever seen (though my son's Aprilia Sonic scooter wheels are a bit of a state)
  * Surely not the seat or tyres - mine aren't painted.

The few slightly corroded things are a very small number of nuts and bolts that aren't painted anyway.

So, honestly, I'm at a bit of a loss to understand where these big areas of paint happen to be that find themselves undermined by corrosion of the stuff underneath.

[EdinburghFalco]

Yeah this guy is talking nonsense. My falco is a 2001 and kept outside under a cover and ridden in winter yet I regularly get people coming to ask me if its a new bike, don't remember that happening much with a newer Fazer I had. When I turn up at biker meeting places the Aprilia looks noticeably better in terms of finish than the Triumphs of the same age and even newer. The paint finish in particular is impressive but maybe that's just because its red

[Yostwerks]

Thanks to all for the quick and detailed responses. I didn't want to respond to the Triumph
poster until I had facts, not opinion. I plan to post this link to the Triumph forum in response.

Those who would like to see the original post can find it at .....

http://www.triumphrat.net/sprint-forum/ ... print.html - Go to page 2

If that doesn't work try TriumphRat.net... Sport and Touring... Sprint... Givi Pannier for Sprint.

Regards,

Tom

[IsleFalco]

Oh dear, someone has been caught talking total bollocks. I have a Falco and a Triumph, so I might be qualified to comment. My Falco is a 2001 model. It is a minter. As the bodywork is predominantly plastic, I am not sure where or how the corrosion could push the paint off.

The Triumph I own is a 1998 Trident 900. It too is a minter and the finish on it is far better than the last Honda I owned. But there again so is the Falco finish. I have owned 3 Aprilias and would categorically state that the finish and build quality of them is on par with the best and at least as good as the Triumph.

If we want to talk about spares... well that is a mixed story. In 8 years of Aprilia ownership I have only really needed parts due to my own stupidity (otherwise known as falling off) and I have always managed to get what I needed. I had to wait a bit for some Futura bits and the prices overall are high but the truth is that things don't generally break down or go wrong.

[D-Rider]

I looked at the thread over on the Triumph forum and most comments are fine and very complimentary about the Falco - just one chap seems to have lobbed in a bit of a grenade to the discussion .... but as we've said, his comments don't reflect our experience. Maybe he has encountered a particularly abused one in the past - who knows.

Anyway, glad to have the debate as long as it doesn't turn into the slanging match that erupted a couple of years back between the AF1 forum Falconeers and the SV forum ....

Most of the time my life as a moderator is relaxed and simple ..... please don't give me a UN peacekeeping role to perform ....

[Yostwerks]

D-Rider,

My intend was never to elicit a shouting match. I was genuinely concerned about this issue and wanted
a factual resolution... and where better to get UK facts than in the UK

My 02 Falco spent 6 years in Houston , Texas which is near the golf coast with rain, salt air, and the occasional hurricane.
Through it all, the bike still looks mint.

Thanks,

Tom

[IsleFalco]

D-Rider. Simple life is best. I indulged in a bit of self-moderating...

[Kwackerz]

unless you want unbelievably bad spares back up at extortionate prices,
where they are available

I remember when there were problems with the spares back up and warranty aspect of Aprilias. It is well documented on the Net and it was discussed many a time (at the time) at Renegade open days (most weekends) about the state of warranty and spares back up in the UK.. but I know they made inroads into it since then to bring the service back up to scratch, which from posts on here over the last few years (and various small dealings with Aprilia dealers ) has proven that.

Sounds like Trumpet guy found some out of date info.

I still wouldnt want to touch a Ducati with a bargepole though.....

*puts pin in pocket and retreats*