We Are the Hollow Bikes



The last chance I'll have to ride
the Aprilia for quite a while.




Whoops, there went my little motorcycle.



I walked into the garage, and there was the Aprilia--It was hollow!
I swear, completely hollow. Like a Thanksgiving turkey carcass after its been stripped to the ribs for soup. Nothing but the frame and the wheels.

 

An empty Aprilia surrounded by its parts

Rob packed up the engine and sent it off to Steve at AF1 Racing in New Brunswick, Texas, for metamorphosis into a “mad little monkey.” I’ll take advantage of the Aprilia’s current uncluttered nature to clean it, even in some of those normally hard-to-reach places.

I can see right through the Aprilia
to the Buell.

With the Aprilia on the back burner, the Hayabusa will go back on the lift. Time to tear it apart and see how much damage was done in Bonneville. It’s good to have a project.



One of the pistons from Rob's funny car
dwarfs the motor of the Aprilia.



A Bike of my Own

When Rob first built the Big Bad Nitro Daddy Hayabusa, he did not know who the driver would be, but he certainly wasn't envisioning me! I'm 5'2", 110 pounds, and I couldn't even touch the ground when we put a seat on the 'Busa. We ran it at Bonneville sitting directly on the battery so I could reach.

Of course, I didn't get to ride the 'Busa on the Salt in 2010, but I did make a couple of runs on our friend Matt's Honda Blackbird, even though I had to stretch up on tippytoes while waiting at the start. I loved the run, but my support team had to hustle to get back to the pit ahead of me and catch me as I coasted in so I didn't tip over and embarrass myself.

Not much shows
around the fairing

Last week, Rob brought home a bike that will be designed with me as the rider: a 2000 Aprilia RS 50. Yep, a 50cc 2-stroke. What a powerhouse! We're still contemplating what its final configuration will be. Modify the body? Widen the fairing? I look pretty small behind the stock fairing without leathers and a helmet, but will I be small enough in full gear? 

What about the engine? There will need to be some modifications if we are going to run nitro methane.

Meanwhile, I have the bodywork cleaned up and the ugliest of the decals removed. I've zipped around the block on it a few times, getting up to a hair-raising 47mph. It's little, but the Aprilia is fun, and it's mine. Sort of a Bitty Bad Nitro Lady.

Lady be good.