400 # Mille & road hugging weight

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gentlemens:

A STOCK 2000 Mille R  weighs around 417 lbs. according to Bike, Ride, Cycle
World and every review I can remember. Is this dry weight or wet?  I don't
know.  The bike feels very light compared to my Ducati ST4 and my RT.  The
new Mille Factory, which is comparable to this model is 407 dry according to
Aprilia's website.

The 2000 "R" model  looses some weight over the stock Mille of that year
because of the aluminum alloy wheels, the aluminum subframe, hollow plastic
hump instead of pillion seat, no pillion pegs, a plastic composite gas tank
(I think the stock Mille had a metal tank, not sure about this one), Ohlins
shocks being a bit lighter than the stock units, especially the forks, which
are smaller in diameter, and some carbon fiber bits.   Take off the stock
exhaust can and you've lost another 22 lbs.  Put on a Leo Vinci single CF
can an you've added 4 to 5 lbs.  Take 417, subtract 22 and add 5 and you get
400 lbs.  Maybe it was actually 402 or 403. I have an aftermarket air
cleaner which may be a few ounces lighter, but I also may have a few
squashed bug carcasses stuck in my oil cooler, so that would probably add
weight.   Forgive me for misleading you people.  Cripes!

If your Mille weighed 485 lbs., it was full of gas and oil, you had a stock
Mille with a tankbag and you have a lot of extra tools in your tool kit plus
your water bottle, some CDs in the tank bag and maybe a change of clothes,
including shoes, in your nylon tail pack.   You also were probably running
Dunlop or Metzler sport touring tires, which add 5 lbs. a wheel.

The published weight of my '04 RT is under 600 lbs.  I normally ride with a
supersized tool kit, a tire plugger, a first aid kit a top trunk, a tank
bag, an iPod with add-on battery pack, some extra earphones, a tire gage, a
couple cigars and a lighter, a small flashlight or two, some extra
gloves...and this is just for local trips.  I put on the system cases with
bag liners, more tools, a little portable compressor, rain gear plus
whatever clothes I'm bringing.   That bike is NEVER under 600 lbs.

My point isn't to brag about the lightness of the Mille or about its power,
it's to illustrate the fact that weight and stability are not necessarily
related if the bike is properly designed.  If you don't pay attention to
things like frame geometry and sail, you can certainly add road-hugging
weight to get stability, like certain Milwaukee brands do.  Most full
fairing sport bikes are pretty stable in a straight line.  Some are
extremely light.  Mine is far from the lightest.  KTM has a new sport bike
coming out that's much lighter than either the Mille R or the Honda RC51.
The Yamaha R1 is ligher than either of those bikes already and has been for
several years.

- -TB


>Uh, my Mille weighed 485 lbs.

>BK

>A mille should weigh 445 lbs. with a full tank of gas.

>Robert

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