Aprilia Atlantic 500

In the Lap of Luxury

It took some doing to find out where Salina is. Now I know. It's in the middle of Kansas, and after a 14-hour drive, we finally arrived at Salina Powersport. Robert Bohm, the owner, welcomed us heartily and set about explaining the operation of two Italian scooters, Aprilia's Scarabeo and the luxury liner I'm scheduled to cruise upon, the Atlantic 500.

Aprilia's origins date back to the mid-1940s when Cavaliere Alberto Beggio founded a bicycle production factory in Noale, in the province of Venice. Alberto's son, Ivano Beggio, took over the helm in 1968. Not too interested in bicycles, he and a dozen collaborators constructed the company's first 50cc motorcycle. That product was successful, so they created a few more and christened these mopeds the Colibri, Daniela, and Packi.

But Beggio's big goal was to build "real" bikes and the first step in that process proved to be the Scarabeo in 50 and 125cc. In 1974, Ivano Beggio became the Chairman of Aprilia, and from then on, the company's fortunes improved at incredible speed with the production of motocross and street bikes, and the start of their competition in the Italian national championship.

Some of Aprilia's milestones: 1977 – 125cc and 250cc Italian Champion; 1985 – Loris Reggiani starts in the World Championship GP 250; 1987 – first place for Loris Reggiani at the San Remo GP in Misano; 1992 – Aprilia rider Alessandro Gramigni wins the World Championship 125cc GP, and in the same year Tommy Ahvala wins the World Trails Championship....

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