| Aprilia Falco Suspension
The front forks leverage the same Inverted 43mm Showa forks, 120 mm travel , external adjustment for rebound, compression and preload as the standard Mille. The rear however used a cheaper version of the Sachs Mille shock retaining the preload,compression and rebound adjustments. This is unfortunately where Aprilia cut costs in order to provide the Falco for less than the Mille. The Rear spring is too soft and requires a lot of preload (picture, left) and the dampening is not up to par with the Mille version. The end result is a lot of rear wheel travel which leads the bike into wide corner exits with little room for error. |
The front forks feel suprisingly good right from the factory if you are close to 200lbs with gear. While there are many options like Penske or Ohlins internals, I havent felt the need to spend any money there as of yet. |  |
The solution for the rear suspension is simple, swap over to the stock Mille parts. The dimensions in 2001 between the Falco and the Mille are rediculously close, so much so that it had to be intentional or they just reused the same jigs to build everything. The Mille shock and lower linkages will bolt directly onto the stock Falco swingarm with no modifications, just instant performance. Shortly after, I moved to the Mille banana swingarm as well which again was a direct bolt on with no mods. This setup feels so good, you will forget the rear end is even there, making the front now the target for improvement. | 
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