SX 125 (MY2009)

Aprilia built the SX 125 to look like a full-size supermoto and then kept the mass out of it. The liquid-cooled 125 cc single makes 15 hp at 10,000 rpm and 11 lb-ft at 6,250 rpm, so the real engineering effort went into the parts that decide how a supermoto actually feels: a narrow chassis, 243 lb wet, a 6-speed box, and 10.2 inches of travel up front with 10.6 out back. In a class full of sensible little bikes, this is the styling-led, dynamics-first one.

Ride it and the picture stays consistent. It carries far more speed through a corner than the power figure suggests, tops out at 77 mph, and rewards a rider who keeps it near the top of the rev range instead of short-shifting. Running costs stay low and there is very little on it to go wrong, though the rear shock takes no adjustment at all, so what the factory set is what you ride. It suits a rider who wants genuine attitude on short, tight, low-speed roads. It is not a highway machine, and it never pretends to be.