Aprilia Tuono 1100 Factory
Certainly the best handling bike I have ever ridden, and the best sounding as well. Fitted with a factory race ecu option and an Austin Racing loud pipe, plus one tooth up on the front sprocket. Also has a tail tidy, integrated led tail light, led front headlights, led front indicators and a cnc alloy coolant manifold. Named as Titania (Queen of all the Fairies!) by me...
08/06/23
Titania now has new paint, decals etc., looks and goes as good as new. Repair was completed long ago but I didn't update the site, lol. :)
14/05/21
Test drive of Titania went OK, she seems fine after her little incident... now just the paint to fix.
11/05/21
Long delayed Tuono update: Repaired the rad leak via epoxy quite easily, hopefully it will hold up. Replaced bent rear brake pedal as it was too hard to bend straight. Straightened the bent front brake lever ok. Both front and rear brake systems were full of air, surprisingly, so bled/replaced fluid and they seem ok now. Replaced silencer can which was flattened with a later model, which needed a bracket bodge, but it's only temporary! Replaced the ripped out flyscreen with new Powerbronze one. Tidied up the marks on the clutch cover with epoxy resin, once filed straight and painted they shouldn't show. Titania is now driveable with just the paint damage to be fixed.
10/03/21Ok, begun repairs by removing the scraped side fairing and replacing the smashed front indicator with LED ones (still Aprilia sourced) - I changed both for a newer, smaller type, with built in load resistors etc., that don't cause the Aprilia's ECU to complain. All the needed parts are ordered but not here yet, plus I discovered a small water leak, I think that a stone hit the rad whilst it was sliding down the road, probably fixable with epoxy.
10/02/21
Major Update: On 12/12/20, on my last ride before xmas holidays, I crashed Titania on a slow bend. Not much damage to the bike but I broke 5 ribs! Titania needs a new flyscreen, RH indicator, exhaust can, plus a paintwork tidyup, the brake pedal bent straight, and some decals... repairs are underway.
All the damage is on RH side...
Slid through the gravel a fair bit...
This looks worse than it is!11/11/20
Added an additional load resistor as one was not really enough. I can’t say I really like the load resistor solution, I would rather have a better regulator, but that would not be easy on this machine...
09/5/20
Added a lithium battery a few months back, plus led front dipped headlight bulbs (a huge improvement). This has caused an ’interesting’ side effect where all the instrumentation goes crazy after a few minutes running. I believe it is due to the lighter load of the lights plus the lithium, the alternator charge control cannot handle it well. Partially fixed by adding a load resistor but it may need another. Another option would be to get a better regulator! Not so easy on a Tuono as there’s no spare space. Also went to Mitas tyres like my MT10 and they are fine on this as well.
16/1/19
Added a small ‘tab’ type of supernumerary flyscreen to try to reduce windblast a bit more. Doesn’t look pretty but may help.
1/1/19
Reinstalled the standard rear pipe, as its quite noisy enough with that fitted, The AR pipe is just deafening.
2/9/18
New Metzler Racetec rear tyre.
21/5/18
Added new iridium plugs, also found wiring harness routing all wrong, re-arranged. Changed oil & filter (18k). Test ride and it all seems ok. Repaired and reinstalled the original Austin Racing ‘drainpipe’ exhaust.
15/5/18
Installed integrated rear light, valve clearances done ok, engine reassembled with new gaskets etc.. Slight initial problem due to front cylinders coils being reversed, after that it seems to run ok, however the plugs seem a bit dirty, probably due to me trying to run it with the coils reversed! No leaks etc. :)
21/4/18
Got the locking pins that my eldest son made for me, in order to do valve clearances, then promptly found out that it has the earlier flywheel, meaning you have to take it off to do a proper job, sigh. Ordered yet another tool… Anyway, replaced the coolant manifold with alloy one ok, that at least went well.
12/4/18
Valve clearance checking under way, it needs several special tools etc. About half of the clearances need adjustment. Also installation of LED rear light (integrated indicators) and replacement of the plastic water system ‘manifold’ between the cylinder banks with a CNC alloy version, as the plastic one was weeping coolant. Replaced dip headlamp beams with LED bulbs which are a dramatic improvement.
10/1/18
First change to the Tuono is to add a high screen (Powerbronze) which helps somewhat with the windblast. The bike is still not as relaxed as Tigerishka (in all ways!). I plan to add rad screens and led headlights (and perhaps integrated tail light + led front flashers). Other than that, there’s little to do to such a perfect bike!
