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Presentation of Aprilia Mana X

New Mana fun bike

Aprilia showed the Mana X at the Eicma motorcycle fair in Milan in November. Technically, it is based on the NA 850 Mana, but optically it is the opposite of the inconspicuous middle class. To their automated reason, the X should add what the manufacturer "easy fun" is called.

It was a good year ago that Aprilia brought a motorcycle with a continuously variable automatic transmission. The machine didn’t exactly hit like a bomb. At least, so you can hear, the manufacturer is not particularly satisfied with the 300 or so Mana sold. Shift buttons on the handlebars, with which seven gear ratios can be selected, plus three programmed mappings for rain, tour or sport, the 850er drives a typical avant-garde problem for a walk: the concept is good, the world alone is not yet ready to accept it. Or to want.

Aprilia boss Leo Mercanti apparently sees it similarly, but does not want to be put off. For him, the brand has a chance of success above all if it plays a pioneering role. Already in MOTORRAD 2/2008 he said: "The market expects smart, high-tech machines from us. Our models are intended to embody the state of the art in European motorcycle construction." The Mana X study shows that Aprilia is very capable of implementing this claim. It embodies what is technically possible without large pull-ups in series and what would be optically possible to package this technology in a sophisticated and appealing way. Unlike the Mana, the study no longer has a foot brake lever. Braking is the same as with a scooter. In addition, there was no gear lever or ABS. In fact, the important technical similarities are limited to the engine and drive unit. In contrast, it can be assumed that the X has the ride-by-wire system in common with the SL 750 Shiver and the new RSV4 Factory. A servomotor controls the throttle valves electronically. "All of our motorcycles are equipped with it", Mercanti was quoted at the end of 2007. "The Mana X is a design-oriented future vision that documents the versatility of the V2 drive with the modern Multitronic (optionally sequential manual / foot control or fully automatic, the Red.)", the boss gushed at the presentation. And in a first press release there are additional passages in which "easy fun" we’re talking about "revolutionary" and from one "unique level of riding pleasure", a unique and revolutionary level of driving pleasure. Primarily urban is the concept, sociability and utility are ultimate. They want to further explore the potential of the automatic motorcycle.

Aprilia

Study of the Fununft: Aprilia Mana X.

Because Mana suffers above all from its generally staid image, is called "Exploring potential" especially to spice up the look. This is Aprilia’s chief designer Miguel Galluzzi? regardless of taste-related questions of liking or disliking ?? succeeded. The Argentine, who already drew Ducati’s Monster and Cagiva’s Raptor, stands for concentrated design. The Mana X also uses a few purely or primarily decorative elements. The visual effect, the attractiveness of the machine is based solely on its functional aesthetics. Galluzzi does not want to muddle through with flourishes and ornaments, he does not hide anything, on the contrary he reveals as much as possible. This is not an easy approach, as it requires consistent implementation of clear decisions and a high level of creative effort in detail. "A manufacturer like Aprilia, which is rather small in global comparison, has to define itself through its appearance", said the late forties about his last study, the FV2. It is becoming more and more difficult to stand out from other brands, so design is becoming an essential criterion for difference. "Nowadays it goes without saying that the technology works. The design must make the difference." And the design of the Aprilia Mana X definitely makes a difference.

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