In Milan last week Aprilia announced their plans to enter the world of enduro and motocross.  But utilising a fuel-injected v-twin engine rather than the traditional single cylinder layout.

They have chosen a compact 77° v-twin with an extremely low weight combined with a high power output. 

Aprilia have been developing the project within their own R & D department with the engine designers working together with the chassis designers and this partnership has led to Aprilia already having a working prototype undergoing testing.

Aprilia claim that the new engine can rev to 14,000rpm.

They also claim that their new v-twin is actually smaller in overall dimensions than some of the current single cylinder offerings in the marketplace. 

It has been designed from the outset with electric start in mind.  Some of the weight saving materials employed include aluminium-silicon casings, titanium valves while all the engine covers are made of magnesium.

Obviously Aprilia has put a lot of effort and resources in to this project and it would seem likely that with that amount of investment they will seek to utilise this engine across many platforms. 

It seems likely that we will see a motocross machine, enduro machine, a dual-sport and also a very trick Supermoto machine. 

I will take one of each...