Hear ye – MV Agusta, and its parent company, have ironed out corporate paperwork at the California State level which means that the brand new MVs in our showroom are now, in fact, able to be bought and ridden. Michael Neeves of MCN rides one of the newest Brutales and digs it. Those of you looking at a very powerful and stunning Italian bike sans low bars and/or fairing need to scope out these beauties.

Some snaps from around the shop. The top one was a non-italian, custom-made jobbie whose maker some of you will recognize. To be completely honest, this pic is from a few weeks back. The second one is a local bike – with the same basic engine as the import – that PI rider I.M. rode in on today. It is an SR 500 engine/frame that has been street trackered locally. We asked him to bring it back on the 23rd for Cafe Desmo. Behind it is a beautiful 1098S Tricolore whose owner used to flat track an SR500 back when he was a young man in the Great Central Valley.

The last picture is of a parts bin full of genuine Aprilia oil filters. They are here. These fit your Shiver, Dorsoduro and Mana. The oil filter availability was a symbol of the struggling, pre-Piaggio days. We’re glad to see the new parts a-rollin’ in. These filters are, naturally, available online.

Larry Lawrence’s The Rider Files – occasional editorials and many, many cool pictures (both old and new) of American Racing.

More interestingness over at Pipeburn.com.

Sideblog (of the excellent Sideburn magazine UK) has posted a couple of pics that were sent to them after the recent AMA Flat Track event in Maryland. We’re mentioning this because 1. Sideburn is cool and 2. one of the pics is of a Desmo powered tracker.

Some of the benefits of living in a smallish nation so close to Italy – 45 Desmosedicis have a track day at Donington. A few custom paint jobs or body re-workings.

Cafe Desmo is coming up next month – heads up for those of you reading this – it will be taking place on August 23rd. Sunday. Past events have looked like this.

Anyway, we’re putting the final touches on this year’s postcard and came across some nice snaps buried in the boxes. The bottom shot is all, “Yes. Yes we do have one. Yes, it is red. Yes, I’m sure, it is right here in front of me.”

We’re giving away a cool helmet to the winner of our season long MotoGP contest. There are still plenty of races left to enter, win, and qualify for the final round.

How to play:
Predict a winner for the upcoming MotoGP round.

Send your pick to proitalia.contest@gmail.com, along with your name by 3 PM the day before the race – that means today, Saturday, by 3 PM LA time. One guess per person.

Those who picks 5 correct race winners over the course of the season can enter in the final race contest – choosing the entire finishing order of the final 2009 race. Winner of the final contest round wins the helmet of their choice (subject to availability ‘natch).

Enter! There are a total of 8 races left of which you only have to pick 5 correct winners in order to qualify for the end of the season race/grand prize helmet giveaway contest. So even if you are learning about this contest for the first time, there is plenty of time left to qualify.

Please join us at our shop on us on Sunday, July 26th, at 11 AM for a step-by-step discussion and presentation on how to customize, modify and personalize your motorcycle, from performance to cosmetic enhancements. This seminar is expected to run about 45 minutes and is free.

Bill Oberman and John Morena will conduct an overview, including design, form and function, template making, metal and alloy fabrication (including uses and applications) and plating vs. powder coating. They will also cover materials such as Kevlar, fiberglass and carbon fiber as well as paint and graphic color balance and technique.

With the understanding that some modifications are best left to the professionals, you might be surprised how many modifications can be done in your own garage and by going for it, you can create your very own “one off” motorcycle as well as saving yourself a boat load of cold hard cash.

Anyone with any motorcycle, who wants to explore customizing and have the chance to speak with true experts (and enthusiasts) should attend. As an extra bonus Bill and John are offering a photo session of you and your bike, which can be used as a “before” picture for any modification ideas you would like to see come to fruition.

(Photo: Bill and John are seen here with a customized Ducati SportClassic at our booth during the Laguna MotoGP weekend. Many commented how their bike was the most beautiful one they had seen all weekend that wasn’t racing.)

Pro Italia is now taking deposits on Aprilia’s RSV4 Superbike that is blowing the minds of moto-scribes the world over. This bike will be available this fall. A refundable deposit gets you a place in line for this highly anticipated V4 superbike for which we are anticipating high demand and limited supply.

Aprilia is coming back to Pro Italia. As you can see from some other pics on the blog we’ve just taken our first delivery of Dosorduros, Mana 850s and Shivers to our shop. These bikes are available right now. By the beginning of August we’ll have Parts and Service up and running and then, later this year, the RSV4 will touch down making Pro Italia THE source for Italian Superbikes. Above is an RSV4 on display at our Laguna Seca MotoGP booth.

Cycle World (US) just crowned the RSV4 the “Best Superbike” of the year: “The track-bred racer-replica has an incredibly compact stature, competitive power output and unmatched liter-class agility, all while possessing Italian style that is visual music to the eyes. Best of all is a level of refinement that makes this amazingly high performance accessible to a very broad range of riders and skill levels.”

Call 818 249-5707 or email Pro Italia Sales sales@proitalia.com to place a refundable deposit on this new Aprilia Superbike. Get your place in line now. Visit us to welcome Aprilia back to PI and check out ‘prila’s current offerings.

Short notice, but we’ll be up at Newcomb’s Ranch this Sunday the 12th (not Saturday like we originally posted) from around 8 AM until noon or so. We’ll have the NCR Hailwood dream-bike, along with some other NCR parts (like a titanium frame for your 1198 that you can fondle) and one of our recently arrived Aprilias. Shiver? Dorsoduro? Mana? Unclear as of writing. See you there!