• by Karl Greenberg , July 7, 2011

Aprilia U.S.A., the U.S. marketing arm of the Italian motorcycle and scooter company owned by Piaggio, has a video tribute to the space shuttle program and the last flight, which, weather permitting, will be on Friday. The video is the fourth in a larger web-content program on YouTube featuring films in which Aprilia spotlights its technology through sometimes absurd juxtapositions: Aprilia motorcycles versus race cars, or tablecloths, in one case where one of the bikes tries to accelerate so fast it pulls a tablecloth off a table without disturbing the dishes. It doesn't work, but the bike does clear out in a jiffy.

The new video follows the theme, comparing the new RSV4 motorcycle to the space shuttle. The 3¼-minute video starts with a black screen and text about how the last shuttle flight means one era of technological innovation is ending and another is beginning. The video proceeds to cut between video clips of the shuttle on the pad, and in the vehicle assembly building undergoing different kinds of maintenance and construction, and quick shots of the Aprilia RSV4 motorcycle speeding around a track. "The space shuttle costs $1.7 billion," says the text. "An Aprilia RSV4 costs $16,999." The video goes on to talk about how the shuttle was one of the first aircraft to use fly-by-wire systems, while the RSV4 is one of the first bikes to use ride-by-wire throttle.

Other fun facts from the video: the shuttle weighs 4.5 million pounds, while the Aprilia (dry) weighs 394 pounds; the combined rocket power of the shuttle makes 81 million horsepower (this pointed out with rather incredible shots of the shuttle lifting off). Also -- and this is actually ironic, given the seven-digit escape velocity reached by the shuttle -- the spacecraft does 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. Of course, that's the initial 0-60, in which the rockets are overcoming the inertia of a fully loaded mountain of steel, solid propellant and liquid oxygen. The RSV4, the video says, goes the same in 2.5 seconds (though it doesn't have to worry about dragging big tanks of fuel, and its movement is directly versus gravity.

Melissa R. MacCaull, VP at Aprilia's U.S. firm, says the company contacted NASA, told it what its concept was, "and they thought it was amazing," she says. "And they did a terrific job of matching footage with the concept." Aprilia then shot its own footage of the RSV4 up at the test track in Monticello, N.Y.

MacCaull explains that the broader picture is branding Aprilia motorcycles for high-tech features born on the track. "What we want to do with Aprilia is convey the technology that goes into this most technologically advanced motorcycle." She says the first generation of the bike launched last year, and the timing of the videos is more or less aligned with the introduction of an upgraded version that began rolling into dealerships this spring. "Our key differentiator is the electronics technology, that Aprilia performance enables 'mere mortals' to ride safe but also a little more like champions, since the technology is taken from Aprilia Superbike Champion Max Biaggi's racer. "We are about technology and taking racing heritage to everyone."

The new video and its precedents have gotten about 470,000 views, per McCaull, who says they will have a life beyond YouTube in regional marketing.