Luca Bar Design has produced some utterly amazing bike designs in the past, and his new take on an Aprilia SXV 5.5 – the so-called ‘sex-vee’ – will only serve to extend that phenomenal collection. He calls it the 5.5 Street. This qualifies as one design which should be made real, in this universe, and make the transition from electrons and photons to actual matter. In that way we may have a slim to none chance of riding one someday; of course, depending upon who actually builds it, the cost of the build and the bike itself. It would certainly work as a kit for current SXV owners, though...hint, hint.
Luca Bar starts with the production Aprilia SXV 5.5, which houses a hard-edged 549cc four-stroke V-twin engine producing 70 HP and 34.8 lb/ft of torque, and starts the design with its already sweet-looking frame and Italian attitude.
Bar then deletes much of the stock fairing in order to show off that glistening V-twin and the now red head of each cylinder. The exhaust is chopped and shoved up under the engine for a lower center of gravity and assured superior handling. Bar’s design does add some cover for the radiator, but the rest of the machine is minimalist; cut and simplified rear-end with compact LED lighting, a more open-looking underseat area, and a single rounded headlight and simplistic mounting bracket. The 5.5 Street exudes ‘Streetfighter’ from any angle. Many stock elements are retained including the SXV’s supermoto-style wheels and tires and basic switchgear.
Want one for yourself? Unfortunately, all you can do is build it yourself or contact Luca Bar Design and beg him to produce the Aprilia 5.5 Street for us dreamers.
