I am of the age where all my friends have become nostalgic about the 1990s. I think I may start carrying around a picture of this bike in my wallet to remind them that, no, the ’90s were not as great as they remember.
Or, you may be one of those who really digs this particular piece of Italian exotica, styled by French industrial architect Philippe Starck. The Parisian artist designed everything from collanders to buildings to yachts. He was brought in to design the Motó 6.5 when Aprilia was eager to create a “cool town bike” that would allow riders to stand out from the crowd. Minimalist in design (look at those clocks), it certainly had its own sense of character.
The Motó 6.5 was produced from 1995 to 2002. Powered by a BMW F650 single (Man, that engine’s gotten a lot of use over the years, hasn’t it?), the bike promised peak power outputs of 42 hp and 38 lb-ft of torque. [Editor’s Note: even the new BSA Gold Star 650 uses a revised version of that engine.] This meant that looks had to carry most of the weight when it came to appealing to riders. It’s a strategy that generally didn’t work.
“Whatever star quality the Philippe Starck-designed Aprilia Moto 6.5 may possess as a motorcycling design icon (and it has lots), it’s sadly more than matched by its overwhelming ‘averageness’ in terms of performance,” wrote MCN in its three-star review of the bike.
That said, the bike did win praise when ridden in its intended environment. It was nimble, comfortable for short jaunts, and equipped with a suspension that could handle poor-quality city roads. However, Aprilia at the time was on the road to eventually being acquired by Piaggio. Quality was not the best, or, at the least, it was not consistent.
This example, found in the Northern England town of Wigan, looks to be in pretty good condition. It is the only Motó 6.5 that I have ever seen, so you could argue that it’s a collectible. Within that context it is priced very reasonably. You just have to be able to travel to the UK to get it.
With 2,733 miles on the clock, this Motó 6.5 is for sale for £3,499 (about $4,500 US) here at MCO Bikes.