GiamaicaWorX-powered by fedroJust how much ‘Rally’ is there in ‘Adventure’?
We’ll find out soon, thanks to Aprilia Austria
– specifically Peter Fischer –
who’s decided to prepare a standard Tuareg for the Bosnia Rally using our Adventure Tower!
Goodness! Adorned like that, with a ‘real’ road book and everything in its place, even with the original windscreen, it really looks quite professional!
Based on the feedback we have received from our testers, particularly regarding the fitting to the frame,
we have decided to redesign our Spider for the Rally and,
until we have a new solution that is equally functional and original, we will no longer be offering it.
We’re sorry to have sparked your imagination and ‘greed’ and now to have to dampen your enthusiasm, but as always we are committed to offering the most original and efficient solutions to our needs,
though these must not conflict with our guiding principles, the most important of which is the absolute reversibility of any installation, leaving no trace behind.
And so, again, we decided to go in the “wrong” direction…
We see a lot of new towers, with prices going up, so we asked ourselves: what about if we try to go in the opposite direction?
What we can do with our tower to make it cheaper, keeping the features we have now (Spider, Tower Rack, Device Holder, and so on)?
Well well, let’s see… We can keep the shape, saving time and money with new check-fit prototypes…
We can replace carbon fiber with aluminium…
Simplify the shape of the covers… remove some parts… bye bye to coloured washers… same USB light colour…
Et voilà, we have a new tower, the new ADV Dark Tower (yes, we like the King)
First parts, soon they will be mounted on a Tuareg by our friend Robert!
SO… stay tuned, soon you’ll see the Dark Tower in all her beauty!
Following up our post of few days ago, about the differences between our frame (2022) rally models, it looks like the same differences apply to the 2025 models.
That means that the reinforcement bracket for our ADV Tower, the Spider, cannot be used on newer models.
Now, we haven’t seen any post about issues with the tower attachments for new models, and from the pictures we got it looks like Aprilia has reinforced a bit the welds on those attachments.
Based on that, we mean that probably the reinforcement bracket is no longer necessary (nice to have, yes, but not necessary) but we have no data confirming this, it is just our opinion.
Nevertheless, from now when someone asks to join out groups for the ADV Tower we will ask which model they have: if an older model
the ADV Tower will include the Spider, if not the kit won’t include it. And the price will reflect that, probably a 60-70€ less (TBC).
We are confident (based on years of experience) that Aprilia never changes things without a reason, and, when they do they do, normally it
is a better solution, so the new frame attachments will probably withstand the loads from the tower.
And anyway, our tower is still one of the lightest (the lightest, from what we know, among those comparable) so we are
quite sure that it will not overload the OEM attachments.
And of course we are working on an alternative, but due to time, winter, other projects, regular jobs, families and last but not least, the fact
that we don’t have a 2025 model, it could take some time. When, and if, we will have an alternative, we will make it available for those who want it.
But the adventure doesn’t end there:
we enjoyed designing, building, testing, and using it… and we wanted to further develop the concept:
what if we used aluminum instead of carbon?
How could we make it without welding?
What would we need to change … and what could we reuse?
We are finding out in the coming weeks: stay tuned!
It has been so long since we have been in touch that one would think we had disappeared. Wrong! We have been working behind the scenes to organize an incredible, and complex, buying group!
This, dear ones, is our ADV Tower!
We have been counting, dividing, packing, milling, soldering, riveting for days, and now we are ready to pack and ship:
our wait is at an end!
Few months since our last sign of life, almost ashamed!
But only “almost», as we have been working quietly:
two buy groups have been concluded with many happy owners of our unique gadgets,
and our four Towers are being put to the test with seriousness and determination … and a little naughtiness!
While Giamaica moves essentially on white roads … sometimes snow … Fedro does his best to put it to the test with urban enduro sessions and runs, complete with good falls, in the woods.
But the toughest tests are faced in Italy:
Alessandro (btw: thanks for the fotos!!) is off-the-road again, and if that was not enough, Mirko has already taken it to the first Rally event (Rally del Garda ), he managed to do quite a few damages to the bike but not to the Tower … And he will soon try again with another event, «Sterrare è Umano»!
clic the image for full view
clic the image for full view
clic the image for full view
So far, no structural or design weaknesses have shown up, and some modifications have been made that make it even more pleasant and functional … and lightweight!
If this continues, those who have expressed interest may receive an email as early as the end of the month!
It is useless:
even after three prototypes, their assembly tests, and the changes these indicated, going to install what we believed to be the final tower in addition to the successes (our “spider” lets itself be installed exactly as planned and desired) something didn’t add up!
We won’t go into details, suffice it to say that the supercazzola squared did not emulsify with the quantum slammer, but it is once again a demonstration of how a few mm in the wrong place can invalidate an entire project …
Problem identified and solved, at least our first test specimen,
parts already in our possession modified, which is why we talk about prototypes and testing 😉 ,
and piece with the new design ordered-which is also likely to look better! – to test its functionality:
all without consistent delays on our schedule!
On the other hand, the assembly instructions (yes: clearly we are preparing them!) are practically complete and by March all our prototypes will have reached the testers and we will move on to phase 2!
Nice to meet you, gorgeous!
…. Aaaand the worx continues.
While waiting for the pieces of the latest buy group (and the ensuing orgy of packages) to arrive, we are spending the time by working on the tower.
Two prototypes have already undergone the “assembly test” indicating changes, even radical ones, to be made on the original design.
So, one piece at the time, every idea, every expectation, every need fits into the others:
first of all the wiring harness, decidedly inflexible lets itself be comfortably arranged now, the headlight has its solid support, the GPS/phone/device has its adjustable mount, and the dashboard has found its final position, and so did the dual USB socket …
Although everything is falling into place, the challenge of building a tower of our own remains intriguing:
it will be beautiful, it will be functional, it will be as no one else has made it (or could make it).
It will be a GiamaicaWorX!
Now it’s time to order the real prototypes, in carbon fiber and aluminium! Stay tuned!