“If you have a destination, even the desert becomes a road”, so says a Bedouin proverb. With this mindset, Aprilia designed a motorbike in the mid-1980s which was destined to become a legend, giving it such an evocative name that just one word would describe its mission and its destiny: Tuareg.
This prophecy hit the headlines in 1989, and then became part of history, with the Noale Racing Department’s first audacious attempt to take part in the legendary Paris-Dakar Rally.
THE ALLURE OF AFRICAN RALLIES AND THE FIRST TUAREG
Before diving into the desert sand, we need to step back in time. In fact, the road linking Noale to Dakar is a long one, dating back to many years beforehand. As we have already mentioned, ever since the launch of the Scarabeo in the 1970s, Aprilia has always nurtured its off-road spirit, achieving success in the world of cross, trial racing and, above all, on the market.
In 1983, the spearhead of the Aprilia catalogue was the RX 125, an outstanding “cross”, but too professional to be considered a road enduro, which were more versatile and usable and therefore taking over the bike sector intended for out-and-out off-roading. In under a year, Aprilia had picked up on and responded to this trend, with the overwhelming success of the new ETX enduro, unveiled in 1984 in the 125 version.
However, at the time, riders’ attention had been caught up by an off-road discipline which was the stuff of dreams for young people all over the world, as much as the Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit was: we are talking about rally raid and, in particular, the Paris-Dakar Rally.
Picking up on the allure of the motorbikes registered for the big African rallies, equipped with maxi tanks and higher-level parts, in May 1985, Aprilia unveiled its first Tuareg ETX 125. It shared the new Rotax 127 engine with a RAVE pneumatic valve on the exhaust as well as a large part of the chassis with the updated ETX, but the top sections were different, such as the bigger 16-litre fuel tank and the hand guards. Its lines were characterised by streamlined shapes and a high front mudguard, Aprilia’s trademarks (see under “Scarabeo”).
The Tuareg 125 and the Tuareg 50 – its little brother closely related to the ET 50 and equipped with a Minarelli engine – immediately proved capable of making people dream of adventures in the desert, quickly filling the streets and the hearts of young Italian racers. For many young people in the 1980s, it was love at first sight: they were comfortable (including for taking their sweetheart for a ride) and could be used on and off-road. Up until then, this had just been a dream for people who’d had to adjust the horizon of their everyday “dirty adventures” to motorbikes more suitable to motocross tracks…
