In 2004 Aprilia returned to the off-road sector, and immediately won the Supermoto S2 world championship (actually the first world championship won with a four-stroke engine), with the revolutionary Supermotard two-cylinder Sxv 4.5, a bike that reiterates and renews Aprilia's cardinal features of technical, sporting and stylistic innovation.

However, 2004 is above all a year that marks a change in the company: the global motorcycle market is in a state of crisis and the weight of acquiring the Moto Guzzi and Laverda brands (which took place in 2000) makes a change in company structure necessary.

On December 30th 2004 Aprilia was, in fact, acquired in full by the Piaggio Group (President Roberto Colaninno; Vice-President Matteo Colaninno; Managing Director Rocco Sabelli; General Manager Gianclaudio Neri), along with Moto Guzzi, thus going to form part of the most important European motorcycle pool, and the fourth most important group in the sector in the world, with a turnover of about 1.5 billion Euro, a production capacity of over 610,000 vehicles per year and present in 50 Countries world-wide.

The Aprilia brand will be managed by Leo Francesco Mercanti, who is backed by extensive experience in the motorcycle sector, gained firstly in Aprilia itself, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, and later within the Piaggio Group.
The Piaggio Group's strategic plan for the Aprilia brand aims at strengthening its leadership of the market, with an eye to maintain and develop brand identity, also through confirmation of the R&D and production centres at Noale and Scorzè.
In particular, considerable investments are foreseen in order to pursue, among other things, widespread renewal of the Aprilia product range, with development of new models and technologically advanced engines both in the scooter and middle and top-range motorcycle sectors, whether on or off road; confirmation and development of Aprilia's presence in the Road Racing and off-road Championships; strengthening of the management team with the entrance of high-level professional figures, which is already taking place in the technical, commercial and marketing departments; improvement of quality and customer satisfaction levels.

Presentation of Scarabeo:

Presentation of Atlantic:

ETV 1000 Caponord

In 1998, Aprilia made a grand entry into the larger bike category, launching the RSV Mille, which was nominated Bike of the Year for the reference market in 1999. Technical and styling originality, solutions derived from the experience on the racetrack and, above all, hard work and passion for every detail have resulted in an important success both in commercial and image terms. The production of larger bikes has been further intensified, and continues with the SL 1000 Falco, RST Futura, ETV mille Caponord, Tuono, the first true hypernaked on the market, while production of successful scooters such as the Atlantic, presented in various models from 125 to 500 cc, and Sportcity continues.

Presentation of Leonardo:

The list of successful Aprilia scooters can go on with Leonardo, SR, Gulliver, to mention just a few of the best-known models.

In 1995 Aprilia astounded the world with the Motò, a work of art on two wheels designed by Philippe Starck, whose unique design "wins" at the exhibition held by the New York Museum of Modern Art. In the same year, the exceptional RS 250 was also born, one of the most successful racing bikes of all times.

Aprilia's care for the environment can be seen as one of its prime strategic goals, and years of investment in research, which has intensified constantly to the present day, has resulted in creation, in 2000, of the "cleanest" of engines: the Ditech (Direct Injection Technology), whose revolutionary technology gives great performance, record fuel consumption and extremely limited emissions. In 1993, a myth was born in Noale. This was the high-wheeled Scarabeo scooter, which is still unmatched today thanks to its extraordinary combination of retro and modern lines, which make it a reference point for all manufacturers in this sector.

First Scarabeo

After the first years of experience, five years after the first victory and following numerous other racing successes, the great dream was finally realised in 1992, when the 125 cc World Championship title was won by Alessandro Gramigni, to be followed the same year by the Trial World title won by Tommy Ahvala on the Aprilia Climber.
Right from the start, Aprilia Racing has proved itself to be a source of talent, and many of the best known champions of recent years started out on the road to success riding an Aprilia, which has been ridden by world champions such as Biaggi, Capirossi Gramigni, Locatelli, Sakata and Rossi.

The sporting successes grew, together with the increase in production, size and technology of the parent company, which has become increasingly well known on the international motorcycle market thanks to its characteristics of innovation, image and dynamism.

The Nineties saw Aprilia make a decisive entrance into the sector of urban mobility vehicles. It is in fact the scooter market that has now been growing for a considerable time.

Here again, creativity and unconventionality have proved to be the key to success. Starting from the first scooter made entirely of plastic, the Amico of 1990, Aprilia confirmed itself capable of anticipating tendencies, determining trends and offering products that are always innovative, both aesthetically and technologically, in terms of performance, reliability and low environmental impact.

The Venetian Works has always stressed this point in particular, and is among the front line in the search for state-of-the-art solutions.

In 1992, Aprilia became the first company to launch a scooter and a two-stroke motorbike with catalytic converter, the Amico LK and the Pegaso 125, respectively, while the first scooter with a four-stroke, four-valve engine went onto the drawing-board the following year.

Backed by the experience matured in the World Championship, Aprilia's strategy in the production of road bikes turned increasingly to top-level technical and mechanical fittings, attractive aesthetics and an abundance of pointers towards sporting activities, as can be seen in particular in the AF1 Replica.

However, its success in the road racing championships did not result in off-road bikes being abandoned, and these remain one of the Noale factory's specialities: 1990 was the year of the Pegaso 600, the bike that was to revolutionise the sector, with its mechanics of strongly off-road origin designed for on-road use. It was an immediate success with the public, and continues to be so today.

Along with the technological content, all Aprilia bikes can be distinguished by their entirely new and original design and graphic style, which breaks the chromatic monotony of the motorcycle world, based on the traditional red and silver.

Aprilia has a strong belief in the force and ability of design to create emotions, and bring an increasingly youthful public into the world of motorcycles. If the ETX from the mid-Eighties was the first bike to be characterised by a tone-on-tone colour scheme, the bikes in the AF1 series from 1986 to 1991 were of great effect, appearing to be completely different models simply thanks to their chromatic transformations, while retaining a similar frame.

That of colour and design is a route that, after being inaugurated by Aprilia, lead to a trend that went on to be followed by almost all the other manufacturers, so much so that the Milan Motor Show of 1989 was said to be an "Aprilia Show" because of the generalised use of pastel colours. In the field of sport, the Eighties also saw an amazing leap in quality.

Tuareg 600 Parigi - Dakar

The great day arrived two seasons later in the Grand Prix of San Marino when, on August 30th 1987 at Misano, the Italian National Anthem was played at the prize-giving ceremony: Loris Reggiani's AF1 had won the first Motor Racing Grand Prix of its history.

This was a historic date for Aprilia.

The leap of quality made by Aprilia can also be seen in the smaller models, with the appearance of the AF1 in 1986, a vehicle that, both aesthetically and technically, recalls its more powerful sporting sisters, and in the field of enduro, where the ETX is joined by the Tuareg, inspired by the bikes used for the great African rallies, very much in fashion during those years, with a huge tank and wide range of accessories.

In 1985, in spite of the fact that this was the last year in which the works bike took part in the cross championships, the ETX was launched onto the market in a 125 and 350 version.

The choice to extend the production range, made several years earlier, has proved to be long-sighted, while the first signs of a contraction in the cross market were seen, resulting in this sector becoming extremely specialised and encouraging the growth of road and enduro bikes.

After its first experiences in Trial with the TL 320 in 1981, in 1985, the first year in which it competed in the World Championship, Philippe Berlatier's Aprilia made fifth place. In the same year the extraordinary adventure in the World Racing Championship commenced, with the GP 250 ridden by Loris Reggiani.

It was a challenge considered rash by many observers, that of a small Italian factory that, without any experience, went onto the track and took on the powerful Japanese.

But at the end of the first season the Aprilia GP 250 was sixth in the world championship ratings. This is an incredible result, when you consider the tiny racing team, entirely experimental, that was working during the first year.

The start of the Eighties was a time of severe crisis in the national and European motorcycle market as a whole. It was during these difficult years that the foundations were laid for prestigious new goals, born from an extraordinary passion for motorcycles and from a trust in the recovery of the Italian motorcycle market.

No longer restricted to cross bikes and mopeds; production was to be directed towards new lines, extending the range to enduro bikes, trial bikes and road bikes with engine sizes ranging from 50 to 600 cc.

Backed by a dynamic, flexible organisation, Aprilia was at the same time extending its participation in motorcycle competitions. This enabled the brand to become better known at a world level and, above all, gave the opportunity to test the innovative choices made by the Noale factory, stimulating continuous technological updates and creating an essential test bench for the training and updating of technical staff.

In spite of the state of crisis, in the early Eighties Aprilia became a laboratory for ideas and projects that were to result in its great international expansion during the years to come. The first important signal of this new strategy was seen in 1983, when the first Aprilia road bike was presented to the public: the ST 125.

With a strong personality, streamlined and elegant, the ST 125 handled extremely well both when pushed to its limits and during normal on-road use, and it gained the favour of the specialist press.

The following year saw the arrival of the STX, an improved and more sporting version of the ST, and the first enduro bike produced by the Venetian factory, the ET 50, whose small engine was a summary of all Aprilia's experience in off-road bikes.

MX 500

RC 125

MX 250

The first titles arrived in 1977 in the Italian championship, in the 125 and 250 classes, while the following year Alborghetti ended the season with two third places in races and a sixth place overall in the world championship: the best position ever achieved by an Italian rider.

In the meantime, the Noale factory's name had extended outside the boundaries of Italy.
Foreign markets, which absorb 20% of all production, and in particular the American market, show great appreciation for Aprilia bikes.
The decade ended with a constant growth in production, which was divided into mopeds and cross bikes.
In ten years the company grew considerably: from 1969 to 1979, annual production of mopeds went from 150 to 12,000 units, whereas for bikes in just four years production had exceeded 2,000 units per year.

Under 21 and Partner 50 presentation.

In 1975 the first racing Aprilia with an ambition for victory was presented. Ivan Alborghetti, a Milanese driver who had already shown himself to have the stuff of a champion, was chosen to ride it, and it was not long before the results started to arrive.

The first true cross bike was born in 1974, and was handed over for testing to Maurizio Sgarzani, a driver in the cadet class who did not fare badly during the initial races. The signals were encouraging.

From that bike the Aprilia technicians created the RC 125, which was presented at the Milan Salon, starting that insoluble combination of sports and standard production that has always been a characteristic of the Noale factory.

Produced until the mid-Seventies, the Scarabeo was presented in various versions with engine sizes of 50 and 125 cc, with aesthetic features at times truly unique and innovative (starting what was to become a tradition for Aprilia products), as in the case of the 1971 model, with its metallic gold paintwork.

Alberto's son, Ivano Beggio, joined his father at the head of the small company in 1968, and it was clear that his main interest was not in bicycles when, together with a dozen or so assistants from the factory, he built the first Aprilia "motorbike", a gold and blue 50 cc model.
The product was well received. Colibrì and Daniela were the names of the first Aprilia mopeds, but the model that made itself noticed was the 1970 Scarabeo cross bike. The bike, and the cross version in particular, were in fact a true passion for those who dreamed of competing in national competitions, in a speciality that was constantly increasing in popularity during those years.

The products of this small workshop, which ranges from components to finished products, achieved a good level of success and, in 1962, the sole proprietor company became an Snc.

The origins of Aprilia date back to immediately after the Second World War, when Cavalier Alberto Beggio founded a factory in Noale, province of Venice, to manufacture bicycles.