After nearly 18 years of publishing Cafe Racer magazine, we’ve amassed quite an impressive library of high-quality motorcycle images. Some of the custom rides we’ve featured are truly unforgettable, their innovation and groundbreaking qualities sticking with us for years. One such machine is the Aprilia RSV Mille-powered special built back in 2010 by Welshman John Pellew. The water-cooled V-twin Aprilia superbikes were impressively engineered motorcycles to begin with, blessed with the sort of track-based handling and agility that led the Noale, Italy firm to countless Grand Prix victories over the years. The brawny, torque-filled 1,000cc engines remain among the best of the breed, and where John came upon the idea of shoe-horning (if that’s, indeed, a verb) one into a replica Norton featherbed chassis is anyone’s guess.
Nevertheless, the combination worked, combining the best of both classic cafe racers with the spine-tingling power of modern sportbikes. Looking at the images captured, naturally, by our ace shooter Simon Everett, the machine is study in minimalism; all the hoses, extraneous wiring and other unattractive bits that once hid behind the stock Aprilia fairings are concealed from view, a task that required hundreds of hours of painstaking labor. Dig the upswept conical exhaust and teh extra-low clip-on bars, all styling cues that harken back to street racebikes from the 1960s.
The fuel injection system is also nowhere to be seen as John deployed a submersible fuel pump deep inside the 5-gallon Manx replica aluminum fuel tank. That gives the appearance of a fuel system completely free of electronic clutter and hardware of any sort. I remember Simon remarking at how well the hybrid special actually performed during the photo shoot, whipping around corners and accelerating faster even than a stock Aprilia RSV. Chalk that up to a remarkably light 378-pound curb weight. Though I personally don’t possess the sort of high-level mechanical skills needed to create custom motorcycles of this type of sophistication, seeing that such things are indeed, possible, is something that keeps the wheels of innovation forever churning in my mind. We’ve heard from plenty of at-home builders who were similarly inspired by John’s featherbed Mille, which proves there’s no limit to what can be accomplished with tech skills and plenty of imagination.
John’s ride makes you wonder why, with the sustained viability of the retro cafe racer craze, that Aprilia haven’t devised a production bike with the same styling cues. Perhaps they’ll see John’s example and become inspired for the future….