In the 1990s, Aprilia got alamp designer
to makeamotorcycle: Scoop ridesthe
Italian oddball thatist he Moto 6.5.WORDS:STEVECOOPER
PICS:GARYDCHAPMAN, WIKIPEDIAW
hatdo youget whenan Italian
motorcycle manufacturer asksaFrench
designer to styleamotorcycle that runs
an Austrian engine?
Thismonth’s classic ride, of course: the Aprilia
Moto6.5aka th eAprilia ‘Starck’. And beforeyouall
start firing off emails andletterstop oor ol dBertie
asking why we’re featuring suchaweird machine
withinthe pages of CMM,get thi s. Somepeople
really getPhillippe Starck’shandiwork andthere’s
actuallyasection of theApriliaOwner’ sClub
dedicated to this rather wacky, left-field motorcycle.
Whether you love or hatethe looksis act ually
immaterial; withoutexceptionnoone canignore this
design exercise madeinto metal and plastic.
The bike exists because Aprilia believed it might
just be possibletot empt cardrivers out of their
metal boxes and on to twowheels, thereby reducing
the congestion levelsof urban andcity roads. The
companywas sharp enough toknow that a
traditionally styled motorcyclewouldnever have
massappeal to cardriverssot heytried something
novel instead.Aprilia employedadesigner with an
international reputation for cutting-edge,clean
designsand he ratherconveniently also happened to
be akeen motorcyclist. What could possiblygo
wrong?Well, for most classicenthusiasts itwould
have to bethe Moto 6.5, simply because it doesn’t
look likeaconventionallystyled machine.And yet
that’ sexactly the end product bothAprilia andStarkwere aiming for.The fact thatthe bike didn’tse
well is hardly the fault of the designer who
unquestionably fulfilled hisbrief. No, if there’s
any blame attachedto th elack of sales of the
6.5 it can be very neatly bundled up andlaid
at Aprilia’sdoor for ever thinking thatcar
driverswould wanttoride motorcycles in the
first place...the verynotion! Themigration
levels fromcardrivertob ikeenthusiast have
alwaysbeen low andnoset of posh threads is
evergoing to winaconfirmedcardriver over.
Phillippe Starck’svisionfor atactile and
non-threatening motorcyclewas oneofsmooth
sinuous curves with justtwo bolddiagonal lines, the
bottom of the tank and theloweredge of theside
panel that runparallel toeachother. Ever ywhere you
lookthere are detailsthatsimplydonot everfeature
on any other series production machines.Yes, it is
unquestionablyaMarmite motorcycle, but it is also
avery seriousstudy insymmetry,flowing lines and,
ultimately,minimalism. Whether ornot youactually
likethe outcome is immaterial because Starck
categorically delivered the goods. The tank flows into
the seat, which in turnblends into the tailpiece,
thenthe rear lightand finally takesint he rearguard
and numberplate.Few motorcycling companies
have ever managed to designatruly inconspicuous
exhaustsystem;thedefault positionisg enerally to
makeafeature out of it.Yetont he Moto 6.5the
entire system is pretty much anonymous until you30 / classic motorcyclemechanics