Aprilia Pegaso 650 Cube Service Manual (1997)

Aprilia created the Pegaso line as a road-focused development of the company’s off-road experience. Piaggio Group’s official Aprilia history identifies the Pegaso 600 of 1990 as a motorcycle with strongly off-road-derived chassis architecture intended mainly for road use, then records the move to the Pegaso 650 in 1992. That established the basic Pegaso formula: a large four-stroke single, upright riding position, long suspension travel and practical road equipment rather than the narrower focus of a competition enduro.

In 1997 the Pegaso 650 entered the Cube generation. Aprilia’s own retrospective on former project manager Klaus Nennewitz specifically lists the Pegaso 650 Cube (1997) among the production models that became important parts of the company’s history. The Cube retained the single-cylinder adventure concept but presented it as a more integrated road and touring motorcycle, with substantial bodywork, a 22-litre fuel tank, 19-inch front wheel and a chassis intended to work on everyday roads as well as rougher secondary routes.

The 1997 machine used the Rotax 655, a 651.88 cm³ liquid-cooled single with double overhead camshafts, five valves and dry-sump lubrication. Factory specifications give a 100 × 83 mm bore and stroke and 9.0:1 compression ratio. Fuel came from twin Mikuni BST33 carburettors, while the drivetrain used a cable-operated wet multi-disc clutch, five-speed gearbox and 16/47 chain final drive. This made the Cube a five-valve single-cylinder adventure motorcycle with a mechanically straightforward, torque-oriented layout suited to road travel and mixed-surface use.

The chassis combined steel and light-alloy construction with a removable cradle and saddle-support section. A 1,480 mm wheelbase, 840 mm seat height and 200 mm ground clearance gave the bike tall dual-purpose proportions. The hydraulic telescopic fork provided 180 mm of travel, while braking was handled by a 300 mm front disc and 220 mm rear disc. The 100/90-19 front and 130/80-R17 rear tyres reinforced the Pegaso’s road-biased dual-purpose character, while the large fuel capacity and 200 kg ready-to-start weight placed it closer to travel-oriented singles than lightweight enduro machinery.

The Cube generation was followed by another significant technical step when Aprilia introduced the fuel-injected Pegaso 650 I.E. in 2001, a milestone also recorded in the company’s official historical archive. Piaggio Group’s 2005 reporting then records production of a new Pegaso 650 in road and Enduro versions, marking the later Strada/Trail generation. This listing corresponds specifically to factory publication 942V, first edition March 1997. Related material is grouped in the Aprilia Pegaso 650 manual category.