Dry weight is quoted for the Aprilia Factory as 185kg and this is no doubt helped by the liberal use of carbon fibre. No complaints here as the bike if visually stunning, once I got past the funky looking front air intake. Items listed are: front and rear mudguards, faring extractors, windscreen deflectors, upper fairing cover, and fairing side panels. The wheels are also a source of weight saving with a claim that says they are “25% lighter than the lightest wheels on the market.” Aprilia even went as far as to anodize them instead of painting to save weight. An interesting point to note is the front wheel has six spokes, the rear five. This is being claimed as being a structural issue. I wonder if someone in Italy spaced out and forgot to count them?

As well as being light, the Factory is extremely narrow and this is helped by the use of the integrated turn signals in the mirrors up front and as part of the sleek, sexy looking tail unit out back. The mirrors themselves, in the Italian style of “what’s behind doesn’t count,” are truly useless, giving wonderful views of your arms, with a bit of rear facing action thrown in around the edges.

The tail light gets its own award for being the coolest looking taillight to be used on a motorcycle, as does maybe the whole rear tail section. Up the other end, I found the cockpit area a little ugly, although the digital speedo/conventional tachometer unit is tidy enough. Shift light comes on at 10,200rpm with red line hitting at 12,000rpm; so there is some useful over rev. Warning lights are small, and all where they should be.

The usual funky Aprilia upside down horn and turn signal switches will provide some fun, as you honk to change directions and flash to warn on-coming motorists for a couple of days. There is also a lap counter you can play with during track days, but unfortunately I didn’t get to try it.

Fast, expensive and exotic, the Aprilia Mille Factory is a motorcycle for the serious Italian sport-bike aficionado. Beautiful to behold, and even more beautiful to ride, there are only going to be a limited number coming to this country, so ownership is going to be the ticket to a very exclusive club.