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
