On paper, Aprilia’s SXV450 was destined to be an all-time great in the world of production supermotos. 60 horsepower at the crank was about 10 more than other 450s were making at a time, and the twin cylinder layout rewarded riders who were willing to play near the 13,000 rpm redline. Unfortunately, it was Aprilia’s first attempt at building an engine in-house, and they used a now-infamous “orange sealant” that would struggle to last over a thousand miles. Several engines were ruined due to head gasket failures, and Aprilia had to scramble to solve the issue and repair their reputation. This example stands out as it has never been used.
Basically, the play here is that you could have the motor prepped by a professional – there are a few people out there who specialize in updating the sealant – and then swap the frame out with one the seller has and you’ll basically have a new bike. In the seller’s words, this “was one of the bikes that sat at a dealership back in 2007 and when all the panic set in with the dreaded orange case sealant the factory rep came by the dealership and grinded off the VIN# and told the dealer this is now a “Parts Bike” that could never be sold. Flash forward to 2017 and it was sold to me complete as you see in the picture. I picked up a used and titled frame from a guy in Massachusetts and now the bike is almost ready to be put into service. If you are reading this post you probably already know about the issues with the very first SXV’s that arrived to the States back in 2007. The engine will need to be pulled from the chassis and have the cases re-sealed and have a couple updates done. Once that is complete you will have literally a zero mile brand new SXV450 that will be reliable and good to go. At the time when you are doing the engine work you could swap out the main frame and you would have a ready to go street titled SXV.”
It’s a non-trivial amount of work, but when it’s all done you’ll be rewarded with a bike that can do this:
The only issues are some missing side panels and peeling graphics. If you’re up for the challenge, find this SXV for sale here on Aprilia Forum for $4,750 in Northern California – or the seller exhibits a sense of humor by stating he or she will trade for a RSV4 FW-GP! The seller will throw in the titled frame for an additional $750.