Sometimes the rules on motorcycle homologation are a little bit silly, an example of this in the 80's was that to sell a bike into the Swiss market it could only have one headlight...
Aprilia were no exception to this so had to produce a revised fairing with a single square headlight to be able to sell a bike into the Swiss market. Honda also produced a single headlight version of the JC20 NSR125 which looks equally odd. Other examples worth checking out are the Swiss RC30, OW01 and even the 916!
After finally getting my bike fully assembled and in one piece, it was time to pack up and take it to the 2025 Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show in Stafford.
I entered the bike as a private entry, and it was allocated a space in the Retro Hall, just off the main exhibition area. Unfortunately, the layout wasn’t clearly marked, so exhibitors were left to choose their own spots. The space I ended up with didn’t really do the bike justice — the lighting was poor, and the location felt a bit tucked away. To make matters worse, there were several empty spaces in the main hall’s private entry section where the bike would have been far better showcased, both in terms of visibility and presentation.
Despite these challenges, the weekend turned out to be a great success. The bike stood out and managed to pick up a ‘Highly Commended’ award, which I was absolutely thrilled about — especially considering it had only been completed a week before the show!
Throughout the weekend, I had the chance to chat with a number of visitors who had owned an AF1 back in the ’80s and ’90s. It was fantastic hearing their stories and memories of this iconic Italian pocket rocket — the nostalgia and enthusiasm they shared really added to the experience.
I bit the bullet and ordered new tyres as I just couldn't bring myself to re-fit the old Avons as they are around 7 years old. I chose Bridgestone BT45's partly because of availability and also I used to run BT92's on my old RGV250 and they were amazing tyres. I used my local bike shop again the Bike Shed in Waterlooville as they helped me out with tyre removal and recycling, give them a go!
Next up was to just fit everything that was left over. A special mention to the fairing being a faff, but it looks like the fairing mounts had bent, so long term I would like another look at these to get the best possible fit.
So the bike is together and it looks brilliant - you will have to wait until the Stafford show for the full reveal (unless you are on the FB page), but there are a couple of jobs that need sorting before it can go back on the road.
*Front wheel bearings need replacing *New fuel hose. *Re-fit some of the over flow hoses *New battery
I picked up my wheels from the powder coaters today, I got to say they have done a great job as usual and most importantly got rid of all the corrosion and given it a finish that should last another 30 years!
I will have to do a little prep on them as there is an area on the rear wheel that should not be painted, so i'll be super careful and remove this myself.
The conundrum now is do I fit the old tyres, which look good but ate 5 and 7 years old, or fit new tyres? What would you do???
This last weekend I managed to finish up fitting the seat covers. I had ordered these covers from an Italian company called Volcano Industry based in Sicily (probably named after Mt Etna!) who I originally found on ebay.
The kit turned up fairly promptly and had a run of elastic sewn on the edge which you can use to staple it to the seat base. The kit is very tailored and fits very snuggly, so a little effort is needed to pull it around and get it in the right place, an extra set of hands would be useful!
The end result is as good as the original if not better, the cover follows the curve of the foam and looks factory. Volcano also can offer alternative colours for the back pad for Sintesi use.
Bottom line: I am super impressed, Volcano have over delivered in quality, fit and finish and I can't recommend them highly enough. If you are restoring a Sintesi, buy this kit.
Full disclosure: I paid full price for this kit, I just believe in praising and recommending a great product when it warrants it.
This week I needed to progress with the final big jobs, firstly the wheels were looking worse the more i looked at them, I found a local dealer (to me) in Waterlooville called Bike Shed who could remove my tyres while I waited. They are a little local motorcycle workshop run by a couple who had been there for 19 years, super nice people, very chatty, very old school in a good way, I be using them again!
Ive now removed the front disc and the front wheel bearings and dropped them round to Plasticoat Powder coaters who I have used before
I fitted the rear inner mud guard, routed the zip tied the loom, fitted the rear foot pegs and generally replaced and bolts and nuts with stainless items.
Saddle
I had previously ordered a pair of seat covers from a company in Italy called Volcano Industry I got say these are amazing, fit, finish, colour all spot on. The covers are tailored to the original shape with an elastic strap sewn on the inside with you can pull about and staple down. I actually run out of staples so the job his half finished until more turn up this week. I will post again the finished articles.
