THE wait for Aprilia's RSV4 has certainly felt a long one. There's been talk of the bike, snippets in the press and of course Max Biaggi's superbike campaign on the lithe machine. We've now ridden one of the first RSV4s in the country and we can confirm it's been well worth the wait. With the power of a 1000 and the size and weight similar to a 600, maybe even smaller, you know the bike is going to go like a dog shot up the proverbial, but it offers much more than that.

On the stand

Aprilia loves its Vee configuration engines and we believe it's been a masterstroke for the Italian company to use a V-four in its RSV4. Compact doesn't accurately describe how small this engine is. Not only does the 65 degree engine absolutely honk and sound unbelievable when giving it the berries, it is a great point of difference from other makes too.

The short stroke engine displaces 999.6cc (apparently Aprilia can easily build this engine in 1200cc and 600cc capacities also) and produces 180 hp (132.4 kW) at 12,500 rpm. Torque isn't insubstantial either; 115 Nm at 10,000rpm.
Weber-Marelli 48mm throttle bodies inject the fuel/air mixture into the four-valve cylinder heads, controlled by the ride-by-wire engine management system.
A cassette style six-speed gearbox is used. This is so gear ratios can be changed without splitting the crankcases. Let's face it, it's a great tool for racers but most owners would never delve into it. Integrated with the gearbox is a mechanical slipper clutch which is a useful tool for the track, as well as the road if you ride hard enough.
One thing you can easily check out is the three-mode engine maps (easy to select with starter button while engine is running). R is for road, power output limited to 140 hp. S is for sport mode; what this does is limit torque to around moderate revs, where full power chimes in. T, for track, gives full power from the get-go.

Housing the engine is the usual alloy twin spar frame which uses the engine as a stressed member. The ace Aprilia has up its sleeve here is the engine position, swingarm pivot and headstock rake can be changed. This isn't a job for the home tinkerer. Sure, a person who knows their way around the tools can do it but once again you would expect this to be the domain of race teams or at least serious track day junkies. Anyway, doing so requires the purchase of specific spacers from the Aprilia Race Kit: in standard form the engine comes set in its highest position.

Being the Factory model, this particular RSV4 is equipped with Ohlins suspension front and rear. The forks are 43mm items with Tin surface treatment for less stiction, they are adjustable for spring pre-load, and compression/rebound damping. On the back is a twin-sided swingarm with a single Ohlins monoshock, similarly equipped in the adjustability department. The rear shock comes standard with a 9.5 kg spring.
Being Italian, Brembo brakes come standard. Dual 4-piston monobloc calipers grab 320mm discs, while a 2-piston caliper does likewise to a single 220mm disc at the rear.
Carbon fibre adorns the bike everywhere and the quality of finish is as high as it gets. There seems to be no wasted space but Aprilia has certainly combined form and function very well.

What's it like to ride?

Even though the RSV4 looks very compact there is a surprising amount of room for the rider, even those around six foot.
We expected it to be a little cantankerous in traffic but it really was a pussy cat in the Sydney snarl. Fuelling was faultless and even though the riding position is pure sports it felt OK while darting from lane to lane. Like most sports bikes, your arms block most of the view; major head checks become the order of the day.
Prior to heading off we were informed the suspension had been softened up to cope better for our roads. No spring changes, just working on the compression and rebound. The fork positioning had also been given a rework, the forks being pushed up through the clamps one full notch, which was close to five millimetres; the idea here was to quicken up the steering slightly.
Once we got out of the traffic and in to the bends there were two things quickly noticed. One, the suspension felt very supple on the softer settings: two, the bike steered quickly but was still stable, never giving us the desire to muck around with the Ohlins steering damper.

As the speeds kicked up a bit you could notice a hesitation with the power, with the engine map set in Sports mode. You would get on the power, there was a very slight hiccup and then on it would come. It didn't create any issues, you just knew it was there. When we switched to Track mode the hiccup was long gone, power coming on very strong from very low revs. Then it became clear, the hiccup in Sports mode was this particular engine map doing its job, limiting the amount of torque to the rider. Road mode (140hp) is also fine for everyday riding, and would be the go for wet conditions. It was only as the revs crept towards the higher regions that you noticed any drop in power. Remember when 140hp was unbelievable? Now we say, "oh, it ONLY has 140hp".
We never got the chance to test the power to the full, we'll leave that to the track if we get the chance. But we can tell you this. The RSV4 Factory is very strong on the power front, giving us the impression it would match any production litre bike currently on the market.

Now, back to the noise. In the exhaust system is a trick little flap device which only activates once the engine is in gear. While in neutral the bike sounds great, and pretty fruity. In gear, the engine note coming from the exhaust is positively spine tingling. We even wondered how it got through the noise tests for compliance. We are not to ponder those things, we just accept the glorious exhaust note as something that should be. We spent some time in a glorious section of bends ranging from 25 to 45 km/h. Earlier we mentioned Aprilia Australia had pushed the forks through the triple clamps by one notch. This setting made it perfect for attacking the bends. Not once did the bike misbehave, but you might have to re-think this if you were going really hard on the track. Possibly it could put too much weight on the front tyre which could end in disaster. We are not saying it definitely will but it is something to consider.

The Brembo brakes were awesome, giving loads of power without too much initial bite. This allowed us to carry a little brake into corners, washing off speed without upsetting the bike.
Also, being so small the bike was very easy to put where you wanted, changing lines mid corner was child's play.

What do we think?

The reasons for buying a bike like the RSV4 Factory are much more than just its performance. The exclusivity for one, is something that must play a part in the decision process. At $32,490 + ORC it's not cheap, but then it's not that expensive for a bike of this quality, and with its charisma.

If we had the coin to splurge would we own one? In a heartbeat.