?'s about Aprilia Mille's, for racing(STT-GUY) maybee

I am probably going to get a chance to race an Aprilia Mille at a few events this season. I haven't ever ridden one, though I had a Ducati 916 a long time ago. I was racing an R6 last season, so it will be a big change going to the Big twin. Here's my questions:

Oh yea it'll be an 02 Mille, Standard not the R

1. Is the bike pretty competetive agaist the bikes it HWT twins, in realatively stock trim?

2. Going from the R6 to the mille, I'm worried about wheel hop on decel-downshifts. How bad will it be, will I have to get a slipper-clutch?, and will that fix the problem completely?

3. It will have the standard forks and shock, no Ohlins. Are the stock units decent? Or will I have to get a shock and fork work to make it work?

4. Does anyone have any kind of setup info on that bike? Ride height, fork position in tree's, sag numbers(if different than most), etc...

Also let me know if there is anything that I haven't asked that you think will help me, assuming that I get the chance.

Thanks
Bill

 

Try and get ahold of Dave Podolski (Chicken Hawk owner). He raced Milles last year in AHRMA and seemed to be plenty competitive with the big Ducs. I'd say it's a fine bike for HWT- the problem will be finding aftermarket parts easily. I think all the Milles have slipper clutches.

 

Call Joey at Touring Sport BMW, aprilia, Ducati. He has raced a non-R spec Mille for a couple of years. Their number is 864-232-2269.

 

Yeah, David is also a regional rep for aprilia. I planned on trying to contact him, but I don't have contact info. If you know his E-mail or Phone number Please PM me. We know each other and helped each other at mid ohio last year, so I think he will have some info for me. I will also call Joey, thanks for the info. If anyone else has any info, it'll help too.

 

was a rep.......................................

 

i got some avice for ya, dont wreck it they dont wreck well! and yes frank shockly from touring sport bmw in sc is the man they all been very helpfull helping me re build the 03 mille r i broke a month back, ya cant used spares anywhere............

 

I wouldn't let DAvid from Chickenhawk piss on me if I was on fire. Dude is a grade A asshole.

But thats my opinion

 

dont hold back now siezy tell us how you really feel!

 

Bloke, I think you mean they don't cartwheel very well.

Mine lowsides just fine with the framesliders mounted.

 

I went from the same thing an R6 to a mille. I loved it milles already have slipper clutches so you dont have to worry about that.. they suck pulling off the line but handle great.. no they dont crash well.. go to a high mount or double near the seat exhaust, if you run a shot gun you will drag it till it burns holes through it.. the stock mille suspension stuff works well, but they are sprung very stiff so unless you are a big guy you need to lighten the front springs for sure.. compare to an r6 the main adjustment is getting used to the difeerent powerband.. I found due to the narrow frame of the mille I was right at home , coming off of an R6.. Good luck and focus on the HWT classes you will get smoked in the B Super classes as good as milles are they just cant hang with the 750's

 

good point mfbrsv!

it woz like five good crashes all one after another! i still cant believe how bad the bike is everytime i work on it i spot other stuff, latest things are bent swingarm and very bent exhuast headers! theres goes another 2500 bucks!

 

amen to that. parts of mine ended up in the Atlantic after mine cartwheeled doown RRR

 

i,d argue that point!

 

Well let me rephrase. my big ass on a mille cant hang with the skinny yunguns on the 750's I did beat a few guys on 750's in the solo's that's a highlight for me. in the sprints though , I just never had enough time to catch up.. I could never get my clutch dialed in for the starts and whamo they just blew right by.. maybe if I wouldve had more seat time on that bike before I destroyed it who knows..

 

your ass cant be no bigger than mine mate! i woz just startin to get dialed in the mille R when it all went wrong, i,d been workin on the suspension for a couple of days i had just changed the back tire but left the front alone as i thought im only testing i wont be pushin it but we made some radical changes to the rear ride height just to try it out and it just felt so good i couldnt help meself and pushed it a little to hard! just ran a 1.20.44 (jennings) next lap down i went in turn three! oops, fastest i ever did on my 750 woz a 1.19.41 and i think i woz heading there on the mille, then again maybe not

 

what up BILL pelphrey here

Josh Guyer is who i would speak to since he won the North Central championship in Novice and then won it his first year as a expert on the MILLA

 

I am 2 1/2 hrs south of you in West Virginia near Charleston off Rt 35. I have been racing Milles since 2001 (Mid Atlantic Novice Champion in CCS and 3rd in Wera, 7th at Daytona, 2 7ths at GNFs all in 2001) I actually have two because I converted my street mille (both 2000 models) I am a consistent top 4 expert HWT racer in regional sprints. Before that I raced Zx-7s on and off for 5 years.
The mille is very competitive right out of the box in Novice ranks. Give up trying to slip the clutch on the starts. Just fight the wheelies and get to T-1 in the pack. The slipper clutch really helps out for late braking. the stock shock will wear out over about 1/2 a season. REPLACE IT with the Ohlins or a Penske. I have race tech in the front on one and the other has Ohlins front and back I haven't had problems with bike not crashing well but then again mine were lowsides (last was coming off the chicane at back straight at barber- bike slid about 100 yards but never flipped over.) Parts are your biggest fear my friend, although Aprilia is ever so slightly improving, you may miss a portion of your racing season finding parts if you crash it. ( I have a set of stock rims if you need rims for rains I upgraded to OZ's on both) The Shock, then front susp. and then OZ rims are the upgrades that will help you most starting out. If you have any further questions let me know. Christian

 

Thanks guys. It's not a done deal yet, but I just wanted to know how much I would have to do to compete. The bike won't be mine, so I don't want to put a ton of money into it, as the shop that's putting me on it will be taking it back. I might just have to do a track day on the bike to decide, just to see where my times are compared to the 6, and compared to the top Ex HWT times. Again thanks for the info

 

Whoop ass Billy!
I know of an SV that may be available if you want to forray into lwtss. I'm not going to get much in the way of opprotunity this season.

 

exellent thread! I too am considering campaigning a 2000.5 mille this summer.

It has a slipper clutch?!! did not know that, Is that why you all are having problems on the start? Do slipper clutches make for bad starts?

The mille I'm looking at is also not a "R" model, but your saying minus maybe the rear shock I can run a couple events in Stock trim?

My other choice is a gsxr750, for the reason stated above on part avaliablilty, but comming off a SV I'd prefer to sty on a twin.

Christian, what are a set of stock rims going for?

Thanks,
GStar