At South East Biker we like to do things a little differently and bikewise, it doesn’t get more different than the Aprilia Mana 850...
Firstly I’d say it is a brilliant bike which rides and handles really well, it is immensely practical as a town bike and I enjoyed riding it. Secondly I’d say it won’t sell well in the UK – I’ll come back to why.
Obviously this is a naked street bike and it looks pretty cool, if that’s your sort of thing. As with all naked bikes, windblast is an issue if you go near motorways or A-road cruising. It was comfortable at 70, but anything more was a real chore. It wasn’t just my head, neck and shoulders, I could feel the wind blast and chill on my chest and stomach. Seventy miles of motorway when the temperature gauge said 4 degrees was no fun. However Aprilia do a fairly large looking fly screen, which I’d say was a must, though it does change the looks a bit.
Build quality is not at all bad. The paint was a bit thin in places – especially where your heals rub the frame. The exhaust down pipe is right by the front wheel so a fender extender would be essential or it will rot quicker than a pair of odour eaters in a bike courier’s boots. The seat was not the plushest, but I was not uncomfortable after 80 miles without a break. Mrs M said the exposed pillion position and hard seat pad was not to be recommended and she couldn’t get her gloved hands under the grab rail, so if touring two-up is your thing then look elsewhere.
Suspension in stock setting is okay – a slightly budget feel which bounces across potholes rather than absorbs them. That said, the chassis acquits itself very well and the bike handles really nicely. I returned the demonstrator to the nice folk at Bowen Moto in Chatham with many thanks and no chicken strips at all and without hanging off the side at every roundabout like a demented gibbon. That said, if you really upped the pace the suspension got a bit ahead of itself and it felt much less capable, both in terms of comfort and keeping it shiny side up.
The engine is a peach. It is a very under-stressed 850cc, 90 degree V twin, pushing out 76.1 HP with a lovely V twin rumble. It’s also pretty torquey and has no problems with launching at pace, though it becomes a bit vibey at motorway speeds and runs out of puff shortly into 3 figures. Fuel consumption was about 40mpg average and I got 168 miles out of a tank full.
The fuel filler is under the pillion seat because the Mana has storage enough for a full face lid in a compartment under the tank which is, quite frankly, the most brilliant bit of design.
In terms of sheer practicality this is absolute genius! Somewhere to stash your wallet, mobile phone and waterproofs and then a safe place to leave your expensive, shiny lid and gloves when you get to where you’re going. Awesome! It even has a light and a power socket to charge a mobile or GPS on the go.
The auto gear box is actually very sophisticated. You can ride in full auto mode and the bike changes up and down seamlessly in one of three modes – sport, touring or rain. The mode selection seems, for all practical purposes, to make little or no difference to the power or top speed, but it changes how much the engine will rev before changing up. Obviously sport mode holds gears for longer and revs harder.
Touring mode seems the best all round setting and gives less vibration at motorway speeds. Despite having mostly good weather, I also got to test the rain mode for real coming back from a trip into central London and the gearing and bike handled impeccably.
Where the Mana will really divide opinion is with its clever automatic transmission system. Purists will no doubt be thinking it’s not a proper bike, having no clutch, but this is much more than a bike shaped twist and go. As a town bike the automatic Mana makes absolute sense. You have to apply the front brake to start the bike. It has a mechanical handbrake (for handbrake turns!) which applies the rear brake – you can’t leave an auto in gear for parking. It takes a little bit of time to get your head around pulling away.
You apply the rear brake (with your right foot, just like a regular bike), wind up the revs and the auto clutch engages really smoothly. Ease off the back brake as you wind on the throttle and you’re away. Alternatively, you can also select semi automatic mode and change gears clutchlessly with a regular foot operated gear lever which you tap up and down as usual, or there is also a flappy paddle / tiptronic arrangement on the left handlebar which you change with finger and thumb buttons. If you forget to change up, a series of three amber lights comes up incrementally on the clocks before the rev limiter cuts in with all the subtlety of a half brick to the back of the head. However, if you pull up in anything other than first, the bike automatically selects first when you pull away again. All very clever stuff.
Obviously wheelies would be a challenge. You can’t exactly ping the clutch whilst pinning the throttle. But it’s not impossible, so I’m told! However the Mana excels at the traffic light GP – not least because you can sit casually with your left hand nowhere near the bar and then take off like the proverbial whilst the R1 next to you is still reaching for his clutch. Stoppies would (I’m guessing) be less of a problem – the brakes were very sharp and gave confidence. Steel braided hoses are fitted as standard and the four pot callipers were more than up to the job.
Everything else about the bike was very competent. The lights were okay, though full beam on the demo model illuminated the trees 30 ft above the road! The clocks and dials are all clear and functional, but there is a mode toggle switch on the left hand bar just above the indicator switch so you end up toggling display mode every time you use the indicators. Aprilia ought to rethink that one!
So, overall, this is a cool looking town bike which handles well, is immensely practical and fun to ride. Personally though, I think this bike will have a tough time in the UK market. Aprilia are having to incentivise test rides with a free tank bag offer, a reflection of the highly conservative nature of UK bikers! It’s a shame because as a package the bike works very well and personally I really liked it. For town use, B-road hooning and even CBT instructing it is a great bike.
The Mana is also the most expensive of the street bike class, priced at around £6,499 OTR retail. In comparison the BMW F800S is £6,295; Triumph Street Triple, £6,099; Honda CB600F Hornet, £5,795; Kawasaki Z750, £5,495; Suzuki GSR600, £5,199; Ducati M695 Monster, £4,995; Yamaha FZ6, £4,699; Kawasaki ER-6n - £4,595; and the Suzuki SV650, £4,349.
Innovation usually does command a premium, but it is a risky strategy when you compete in a price sensitive market segment and you are trying to change some deeply entrenched perceptions and some strong competition. Still, if you’re looking for a town bike do try one of these – you will be pleasantly surprised!
I want to go faster, I want to go faster..
