[vignesh.cv]

Introduction

Motorcycles have always fascinated me. The feeling of the freedom and the raw experience is something that is hard to describe in words. Got exposed to GP and WSBK in 1990 when cable TV was available for the first time in my home. Watching the way the professionals wield their machines into doing impossible things was just like magic. And that’s when the desire was born, the desire to ride a motorcycle on the race track. The desire to experience a super bike - I didn’t know the definition of it back then, just knew it had to be a well setup, powerful machine. Soon after, college finished and job hunt and settling on the first job all meant this desire took a back seat. There was no means to fulfil the desire and it stayed that way for a very long time. Until 2010. That’s when a good friend of mine announced he’s letting go of his 2006 Honda CBR 600RR. I spent a lot of time thinking about the pros and cons and finally decided to take the plunge. Little did I know that it would transform my motorcycling experience for good from that point onwards.

Past
Goldspot 2010 - 2018

I called the 600RR Goldspot - the pearlescent orange colour was beautiful to look at, especially in sunlight and the bike drew a lot of attention whenever I took her. I graduated from a Yamaha RXZ to this and it was like a quantum leap in terms of everything. She taught me what it means to ride a super sport bike - the handling, braking and power delivery was just crazy. I got introduced to handling, suspension setup, tyres, fuelling and a whole bunch of things. She was very forgiving and always had more on offer. I’ll perhaps start a separate thread about her later.

Thunder 2018 -

Purchase experience

Aprilia is a brand name I recollect from the days of watching 250 GP races - especially the Chesterfield Aprilia of Max Biaggi. It always seemed to have that edge in terms of power, handling over other rival factories. Aprilia launched their first 4 cylinder super bike in 2009 named the RSV4. I still have copies of print magazines carrying the review of the bike. For me it was love at first sight. The proportions, the V4 motor, the chassis all of it bowled me over. It was the first production bike to include a huge amount of adjustability built into the chassis. Initially, only the Factory model had all those provisions, but later on, the base version also carried those.

Do you need a bike that is more stable all through?

No problem, just keep the engine mounted at the lowest of the positions and you are good to go.

Do you need a bike that is more agile and needs to flip into corners quickly?
No problem, just keep the engine mounted at the highest of the positions and you are good to go.

Do you need a bike that is lazier in terms of steering?
Do you need a bike that is sharper in terms of steering?
No problem, just change the headstock bushings to a different offset and you are good to go.

Do you need to change the swing arm angle?
No problem, just get the correct pivot plate and you are good to go.

None of the production bikes till date offers such kind of adjustability in the base chassis.

And then in 2011, they updated the package with the aPRC package a.k.a Aprilia Performance Ride Control which brought in Traction Control, Wheelie Control, Launch Control, ABS and a 6-axis IMU providing the necessary input. This was revolutionary back then as the other competing systems were more rpm based and did not offer a smooth riding experience. They had also entered WSBK by now and roped in the services of one of their best riders from the past - Max Biaggi. Biaggi won 2 world championships against stiff competition and chose to retire in 2012. The 2 world championships further cemented Aprilia’s RSV4 as a worthy contender in both production and superbike classes.

Moving onto 2015, Aprilia bumped up the power output to a claimed 201hp at the crank, and refined their electronics package even more. All the goodness of the original package was retained and it was more like an evolution.

In 2017, Aprilia further refined the package by changing the geometry and electronics making it an even more potent package. The engine was still under 1000cc though.

I was on the lookout for the Aprilia, but wasn’t too sure of the ownership experience in India. That’s when I came in touch with Manjunath who owned a 2013 RSV4 Factory during one of the track days. He gracefully allowed me to take a few laps on his bike. That experience sealed the decision for me. The handling, the seamless power delivery, phenomenal brakes did it for me. The only bike I wanted was the Aprilia, nothing else. Yes, there were other litre class bikes which were less expensive, claimed more features etc., but none connected to the soul as the Aprilia.

Moving to 2018, my friend Manjunath introduced me to Mr.Shreekant Apte, who runs Arco Automotive - dealing with Piaggio commercial vehicles and Aprilia / Moto Guzzi range of motorcycles based out of Pune. That was another turning moment for me. I met someone who was passionate about automobiles and motorcycles. We spoke about the availability, servicing and then finally the cost. I decided my mind and then spoke with the CEO for final approval.

I made the token advance payment and the order was placed. The ex-showroom price was 20.8L for the RF / Factory version. The bike reached me in about 40 days. The PDI check and verification was all done prior to shipping it via road to me.

Features

The bike is really a superbike racer disguised as a street going motorcycle. The chassis has provision to adjust the mounting position of the motor in one of the three possible positions.

Engine

Aprilia came up with a narrow V4 engine as a successor to their V-twin Aprilia Mille. That was the time when WSBK was transitioning from 750cc 4 cyl / 1000cc 2 cyl into 1000cc 4 cyl / 1200cc 2 cyl configurations. The engine features a 65deg V angle and is designed to be very compact. The engine was designed with participation in WSBK in mind and therefore featured enough headroom to squeeze out 220+ hp right from the initial design.

Coming to a V4 design, the general consensus is that having a 90 degree angle provides the perfect balance, but that also means there are some compromises to be made in terms of overall packaging. Aprilia went with a narrow design to provide a more compact motorcycle and therefore chose a different set of trade offs.

The motor produces a claimed 201 hp at the crank and was also EU4 compatible. The motor revs to *only* 14,000 rpms but max power is produced at 13,000rpms. There is no point in redlining the motor, rather use the liberal torque that is produced from mid - top to your advantage.

Even though the motor produces a claimed 200hp, it doesn’t feel mental. Rather, the power comes in a very linear fashion, allowing you to take complete advantage of the mechanical grip offered by the package and thereby making the ride very effortless.

The throttle is completely RBW (Ride by Wire) and that means there are 3 riding modes on offer.

• Sport - offers a more direct throttle connection and offers max engine braking
• Track - offers slightly softer throttle response compared to Sport and reduced engine braking
• Race - offers gentle throttle response in the lower gears with minimum engine braking

The modes can be changed on the fly by holding the starter button for a second.

I tried the Sport / Track initially on the track, and eventually settled to the Race mode as I preferred the reduced engine braking and softer throttle response when riding on the track.

Chassis

Engine mounting

• Lowest - places the engine low in the frame and thereby lowers the CoG giving a very planted and stable experience.
• Middle - places the engine in the middle / zero position. Gives a good balance between stability and agility. The Tuono used to come with this position by default.
• Highest - places the engine high in the frame and thereby raises the CoG. This has the effect of making the bike fall into corners swiftly.

Swing arm pivot

In addition to that the swing arm pivot also can be placed higher or lower depending on the riding preference. Three possible mounting points are provided.

Headstock

The steering rake & trail can also be adjusted by varying the steering head bush to achieve the right kind of offset. Rake and trail have a significant impact on the way the bike falls into the corners and how stable the front end feels under acceleration.

The bike and chassis is designed to give the rider maximum mechanical grip which is very much noticeable when you ride her on slicks. More on that later.

Suspension

The factory variant comes with Öhlins suspension for both front and rear. The front is the regular cartridge and rear is a TTX shock. Both are adjustable for preload, compression, rebound and ride height. The manual comes with the recommended settings for road and track riding including compression, rebound and ride height numbers. The steering damper is made by Öhlins as well.

Electronics

Aprilia was the first brand to introduce a IMU based traction control in the production category via their aPRC package. They’ve been refining it constantly over the years and in the 17-18 years, they placed the IMU in a different location in order to make it more sensitive. The standard feature of the aPRC includes

aTC - Aprilia Traction Control adjustable in 8 steps. 1 being lowest and 8 being the highest level of intrusion by the ECU. The bike uses a combination of comparing front & rear wheel speeds as well the IMU and a bunch of other parameters to decide on the intervention required. Can be completely turned off for the brave hearts among us. The handle bar offers a paddle adjuster to increase or decrease the TC level on the fly.

aWC - Aprilia Wheelie Control adjustable in 3 steps. 1 being lowest and 3 being highest level of intrusion by the ECU. This basically decides how much your front wheel will rise on hard acceleration. Can be completely turned off separately and while keeping the TC active. Some of the other manufacturers had tied up TC & WC and therefore turning off one would disable the other as well. There is a dedicated button on the left handlebar to adjust the wheelie control on the fly.

aLC - Aprilia Launch Control adjustable in 3 steps. 1 being lowest and 3 being highest in terms of control / slip. This is useful when you are in the starting grid and want to get that perfect launch off the grid. I’ve not tried this feature yet.

aQS - Aprilia Quick Shift. Offers clutchless quickshifts for both upshift and downshift (auto blipper). I chose to keep the feature on as it is such a joy to use it especially on the race track.

ABS - Since 2017, Aprilia started offering Race ABS as standard with cornering multi map offering three levels of safety
Track - offers minimal intrusion, active only on the front wheel. Rear wheel lift mitigation is disabled as is the cornering intrusion.
Sport - for sport / amateur track riding purpose. The ABS is active on both wheels and offers Rear wheel lift mitigation ( adjusts front brake and applies rear brake when it senses the rear wheel lifts up under hard braking) as well as cornering ability.
Rain - as the name implies, offers max stability under low grip conditions. Both rear wheel lift mitigation and cornering ABS is fully active.
ABS can be turned off completely and can be permanently deactivated via the dedicated Race ECU mapping from Aprilia.

In addition to these, there is also a connectivity package called Aprilia V4MP or Multimedia Platform available on the factory variant. It allows one to pair their smartphone via Bluetooth and thereby receive calls, play music - I honestly don’t know who would have the mental space to make and receive calls on the go on a 200hp superbike. The V4MP also offered a very important feature - to actually perform data logging of the various parameters like rpm, gear, throttle %, brake pressure, wheel slip and few more parameters on the phone, in addition to configure what Aprilia calls as “turn by turn configuration” of the electronic parameters like aTC and aWC based on where you are in the race track. So, if you are coming up a corner that is more shallow and you’d like to run more throttle, you can configure the app to reduce aTC level only for that corner and switch to the default value for the other parts of the track.

Initial ride impressions

I rode the initial 1000kms on the road to break in the motor and took it easy. The initial impression was that the bike felt no larger than my Honda. I was able to find a comfortable riding posture. The motor had loads of torque in the low end which was a stark comparison to the 600RR that came alive after 8k rpms. There was power above 4k rpms, and it just built up in a very linear fashion all the way up. The brakes were phenomenal and so was the handling. Since I moved from an analog bike, I had a long way to go in terms of getting used to the electronics and most importantly learning to trust the electronics.

The first service was done at 1000km mark - Sumit was visiting Bangalore and a few owners combined the servicing and thereby split the travel costs. Oil was changed along with the filter. Sumit also ran the diagnostics to check for errors / malfunctions. Finally he adjusted the chain and lubricated it. I went with Liqui Moly Street Race 5w40 fully synthetic oil.

Track riding impressions

I did my first track day in 2019 as part of the IndiMotard TWO school. The bike was so easy to ride on the track and I did not have to put in a lot of effort. It is only when I did the back to back left / right handers, did I feel the weight of the bike. I had to physically steer the bike to make it fall into corners. But on the back straights, the bike was super stable and was very reassuring. I rode on the stock Pirelli SuperCorsa SP tyres with the aTC level set to 5. I initially tried the Sport map and found the engine braking a bit too much to my liking. The throttle connection was instantaneous which I enjoyed initially.

My biggest revelation was while powering out C7 at the MMRT track - it is a very long right hander that needs you to have bike placement & good vision skills to nail it perfectly. I noticed that I was able to carry a lot more throttle through the corner than my 600 and I attribute that primarily to the pure mechanical grip offered by the chassis.

I tried to get used to the ABS intervention by trying to do a few hard braking on the back straights. I first tried with ABS level 2 and found that to be comfortable. The intervention was very minimal and it did not change my braking distance in any significant way.

What I noticed though was due to the stock ergonomics, my left hand had the tendency to increase the TC levels sometimes and in one session as I was coming out of C2, I felt there wasn’t the usual drive out of the corner. I saw the lights flashing on the console indicating the electronics intervention and noticed the TC level had become 8. The other aspect with the stock ergonomics was that I had to consciously ride by positioning myself towards the seat bump stop. Otherwise, the inner portion of my thighs would come in contact with the curved part of the fuel tank and that made for a painful experience.

Otherwise, the ride was stress free and the bike had a lot more to offer. I had to finish my session only due to my lack of fitness and stamina and not because of the bike.

The tyres were super sensitive to air pressure and suspension settings, especially the rear. After some trial and error and help from fellow riders, I adjusted the rebound for the rear shock to clear up the cold tears happening on the tyre.

I connected my smartphone and used that to record lap times and perform data logging for one of the sessions. Since MMRT was not a listed track in the app, I had to create a custom track and then do the data logging. This worked really well and it was cool to pore over the data captured later on.

Modifications
Ergonomics

As I mentioned earlier, I found the stock ergos to be a bit cramped for my height. I did some research and asked around in some places and understood that the handle bars and foot position need to be positioned differently. The stock handlebars were a bit high and angled towards the rider, the stock footrest was positioned slightly higher as well.

I went with Spider Racing’s handlebars, which had zero rise (which meant I have to crouch a bit more) and allowed me to position the bars a bit away from me giving me the space for my arms and giving me much needed leverage to flip the bike in chicane type of corners.

For the foot rest, I went with GiaMoto rear sets. They are more like jewelry with the precise craft and finishing. Best part was, they allow me to use the stock rear brake light switch - more aftermarket rearsets force you to purchase a hydraulic switch to activate the stock rear brake light. Another difference with GiaMoto was they offer a “comfort kit” - this positions the footrest a couple of inches lower and that gives much needed comfort for taller riders.

I also swapped out the OE top triple clamp to one made by Melotti Racing - this helps transmit more feel from the front end and helps a tiny bit in that regard. It also saves a few hundred grams when compared to the OE unit.

Performance

Since I was going to be riding the bike on the track only, I decided to do change the following areas:

• Air filter
• Exhaust
• ECU mapping

I went with Sprint Filter’s P08 F1-85 air filter - they are made in polyester material and can be cleaned easily with just compressed air. Since the material is polyester, they do not need oiling as well. They claim much higher flow of air than conventional cotton / fabric type filters.

For the exhaust, I did a lot of research and then finally decided to go with Aprilia’s recommendation of Akrapovic full system exhaust. The header diameter is the same as the stock unit, and it also has a balance pipe between the front and rear bank of headers. This eliminates the exhaust servo as well. Aprilia sell a specific mapping for the ECU for this exhaust (also known as the Aprilia RACE ECU mapping). One can either buy a pre-flashed ECU from Aprilia (or) flash their stock ECU with this mapping. I went with the latter option.

Since the exhaust servo unit was eliminated, I decided to remove the servo motor as well. That sits beside the oil filter on the right side of the engine. The cables, motor etc come off completely. I also took this opportunity to disconnect the secondary air injection mechanism - this consists of a solenoid and rubber hoses that connect to the airbox and the front and rear bank of exhaust ports. It helps burn out excess fuel in the exhaust by injecting fresh air which is drawn from the airbox. Cleaning that up also saved a little bit of weight and most importantly freed up much needed space in the cylinder heads.

There is also a petrol vapour recovery system - which is nothing but a charcoal canister that takes in fumes from the fuel tank and connects it back to the airbox. I removed that as well. The canister sits on the left side of the engine behind the radiator and removing that helped bring down the temperatures by a good margin.

Track specific

To help with lap time measurement and data logging from the ECU directly, I got the AIM Solo DL unit. This unit uses GPS positioning to give you accurate GPS speed and laptimes. It can also log data from your ECU to capture stuff like Throttle %, brake pressure, lean angle, gear position, TC intervention, wheel slip etc.,

This means you can now overlay all of these information on top of the track layout to get an understanding of how you are performing lap by lap. As you pickup pace and want to improve further, looking at data can be an invaluable tool and this investment has been very valuable for me.

In order to data log from ECU, one has to prepare a Y cable which will split the data flowing from the ECU to the dashboard into two - one which can go to dashboard as usual, and the other to the AIM unit. There is no cutting or splicing of wires here, as the connectors are standard and it is very easy to fabricate them. I ended up going this route, and took help from Anand of IndiMotard Greasehouse to do the installation.

Verdict

In my personal opinion, if you are looking for a machine that is used primarily on the race track, then this has to be one of the contenders. Sure, the Ducati V4S putting out crazy power, the BMW with its new S1000RR has fancy variable valve timing and boasts fancier electronics, the Kawasaki ZX-10R and ZX-10RR with mouth watering pricing and WSBK pedigree, the Yamaha R1 with its sweet sounding cross plane engine and its own cult following and Honda with its never ending RRRR Fireblade, but one ride on the Aprilia RSV4 will tell you how much the chassis talks to you out of the box, how creamy and smooth the power delivery is and how you can trust the front end with your life and she'll continue to reward you with such a stress free and effortless way to reel in those laptimes. That to me is a feeling that's not yet beaten by any other manufacturer till date. Until then, it is the Aprilia RSV4 for me.

Note: For those looking at hp numbers, the new Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory offers 217hp out of the box and promises even more electric motor like torque and handling and refinement.

Warning: there are lots of pictures, I've linked them to Flickr so it should'nt be too much of a load for Teambhp.

Getting the bike delivered




Öhlins steering damper


Swingarm


Charging port for your smartphone


Compression adjustment on one fork leg


Rebound adjustment in the other


OE Brembo radial master cylinder


Front shot


Default front ride height


Your cockpit


Default headstock offset


Quickshifter & Autoblipper sensor


Öhlins TTX rear shock


Side view


Attention to detail, torque number for the pinch bolt


Factory comes with forged wheels as standard


Cables for the exhaust servo


ABS unit provided by Bosch


Rear shock adjusters - gold is compression, black is rebound and the toothed ring is for preload


Factory engine mounting position - lowest


Brembo M50 brake calipers


Another side view


Allenkey for removing the rider's seat


IMU unit


Graves frame slider


Woodcraft front axle slider


Woodcraft rear axle slider


Melotti Racing top triple clamp


Markings to help with alignment of the clipons

[doga]

Wow, feast for the eyes. What a beautiful motorcycle, truly gorgeous, even more so in this livery. I can spend hours looking at the pictures of all the top shelf components. A very good read Vignesh, thanks for sharing.
Having had the pleasure to own a Mille before, I can certainly testify to the fact that Aprilia bikes have soul which the Japs I4s can't match, although the ZX10 gen1 would come close and from what I hear the R1 gen1 as well. Although the Mille must be very raw compared to the smooth V4- can only guess as haven't had the pleasure of riding a V4 yet!

Reading about the chassis adjustability, I was reminded of the old Mille SP which had all these features way back 1999, although admittedly it was limited run homologation special and went for 20 grand plus I think which was a lot of money in those days!

[vignesh.cv]

Triple clamp with Spider clip-ons


Stock footrest - gear side


Stock footrest - brake side


Giamoto footrest - gear side


Giamoto footrest - brake side


All mounted


Y-cable for AIM data logging


Tucked in neatly on the left side of the bike


This end goes to the AIM unit


OE front bank headers


Front bank minus headers, you can see the exhaust servo unit with the cables to the left


Block off plates installed in the front bank


Block off plates installed in the rear bank


OE vs Sprint P08 F1-85 filter




Akrapovič full system Ti exhaust


Akrapovič carbon fibre end can


Ti headers bubble wrapped


Rubber seal - to install db killer if needed


See through


Installed and buttoned up


Shot at MMRT in March 2021


Nice clean after the Aug 2021 track day

[bf1983]

A really beautiful bike ! Aprilia really knows a thing or two about design. This isn't a bike I can even begin to imagine riding on our potholed roads but Bangalore has some fantastic highways around for you to enjoy. Cheers!

[RedTerrano]

Whoa!
What a beauty.
Absolutely drool worthy.

Please do share videos of her "in action"
Eager to see her cornering and of course, hear her growl.

[AtheK]

What a beautiful write up and what a beautiful bike, looks like a million bucks, aprilia is one company who get there designs spot on.

It was so nice to read through your experience, and also the fact that you decided to keep it track only. Would though someday love to see her in action, I see you go to indimotard for lot of your stuff on the bike, maybe I will take the liberty of speculating that you stay some where near Whitefield Area. If so, please do bring her to hoskote toll someday would love to hear her sing while following you on the Kolar Highway. Should be some feast.

Wishing you the very best and hopefully we can do a track day together someday!!

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by doga

Wow, feast for the eyes. What a beautiful motorcycle, truly gorgeous, even more so in this livery. I can spend hours looking at the pictures of all the top shelf components. A very good read Vignesh, thanks for sharing.
Having had the pleasure to own a Mille before, I can certainly testify to the fact that Aprilia bikes have soul which the Japs I4s can't match, although the ZX10 gen1 would come close and from what I hear the R1 gen1 as well. Although the Mille must be very raw compared to the smooth V4- can only guess as haven't had the pleasure of riding a V4 yet!

Reading about the chassis adjustability, I was reminded of the old Mille SP which had all these features way back 1999, although admittedly it was limited run homologation special and went for 20 grand plus I think which was a lot of money in those days!

Thank you doga, and I envy you for having the opportunity to own and ride a Mille.

Originally Posted by bf1983

A really beautiful bike ! Aprilia really knows a thing or two about design. This isn't a bike I can even begin to imagine riding on our potholed roads but Bangalore has some fantastic highways around for you to enjoy. Cheers!

Thank you bf1983, I have decided to use her on the track only.

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Whoa!
What a beauty.
Absolutely drool worthy.

Please do share videos of her "in action"
Eager to see her cornering and of course, hear her growl.

Thank you RedTerrano, I sure will add links to some video footage.

Originally Posted by AtheK

What a beautiful write up and what a beautiful bike, looks like a million bucks, aprilia is one company who get there designs spot on.

It was so nice to read through your experience, and also the fact that you decided to keep it track only. Would though someday love to see her in action, I see you go to indimotard for lot of your stuff on the bike, maybe I will take the liberty of speculating that you stay some where near Whitefield Area. If so, please do bring her to hoskote toll someday would love to hear her sing while following you on the Kolar Highway. Should be some feast.

Wishing you the very best and hopefully we can do a track day together someday!!

Thank you AtheK. Yes, I visit IndiMotard for most of my servicing needs, although I stay in C V Raman Nagar. Rather than riding on the road, I would love for you to join one of the upcoming track days.

Short video without the end can - please reduce your headphone's volume !

https://youtu.be/7xyx1WPOLEA

Short video clip with the end can in place

https://youtu.be/EWylZE-Z9AU

The smoke is basically the anti seize paste that was applied between the various header joints and the end can itself.

We were at MMRT last weekend as part of the TWO School conducted by IndiMotard. The last session of the final day is typically a bit free and that's when we get to do some open sessions of our own. Shumi (from PowerDrift) and I decided to do some hot laps and strapped on our GoPro cameras. Shumi rides a Aprilia Tuono 1100 Factory and rides with incredible precision. Such a joy to watch him nail those corners.

My POV

https://youtu.be/nNEBTMQZLEg

Shumi's POV

https://youtu.be/Ye1bxraM8N8

Enjoy the footage !

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

Thank you AtheK. Yes, I visit IndiMotard for most of my servicing needs, although I stay in C V Raman Nagar. Rather than riding on the road, I would love for you to join one of the upcoming track days.

I definitely shall, just waiting for my suit to come, thanks to covid it's stuck with my brother from quite sometime. Once it's here shall definitely accompany you.

[Odeen12]

What a peach of a motorcycle this. Absolutely gorgeous!! Aprilia's are full of character. Hope you enjoy her to the fullest.

[niranjanrvce]

What a pleasant surprise seeing your thread come up here Viggy sir! Loved reading through your detailed notes on the bike and knowing you, I expect this thread to become a RSV4 encyclopaedia.

Your bike is one of the cleanest and nicest looking RSV4s I have seen. And love the fact that each mod on it is so well thought through.

I didn't realise you went with Giamotos to lower the pegs and not raise it. I was wondering how you were riding with them when I found stock pegs to be high enough already. My only issue with stock footrest is that the brake side heel plate is very small and my heel goes above it - I am thinking of fabricating an additional plate there rather than change the rearset itself.
Your point about leverage from the spider bars is making me want them - probably my next upgrade

PS: For those who don't know, Vignesh is an Instructor at T.W.O track school by Indimotard and one of the smoothest riders on the track. He is also blessed with the keenest observation skills on technical riding on track. During a track day in March, we were doing a few hot laps and he was tailing me, he noticed that I had some pressure on the inner arm during long corners. Now, this was something that I was mentally trying to correct and a known issue for me. But I couldn't fathom how he deduced that just by tailing me around. If you ever get a chance to hit a few hot laps with Vignesh, take it!

[krishnaprasadgg]

We were so sorely missing a thread on the RSV4 here! Finally, that has come true.
Awesome review Vignesh, and I must say what epic tasty mods you have taken up too. Those Akra full Ti system makes me a bit jealous not going to lie!

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

Warning: there are lots of pictures,

The more the merrier! Bring it on!

Originally Posted by doga

Having had the pleasure to own a Mille before, I can certainly testify to the fact that Aprilia bikes have soul which the Japs I4s can't match.

Touche!
Doga, you owned one of the Mille models?! That's epic!
Would love to hear more about your ownership experience for sure!

Originally Posted by doga

Reading about the chassis adjustability, I was reminded of the old Mille SP which had all these features way back 1999, although admittedly it was limited run homologation special and went for 20 grand plus I think which was a lot of money in those days!

For those who are not aware of the Mille SP models, have a look at this video. You rarely come across a video explaining something in so much detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqHrGoLesws

Enjoy.


Cheers
Krishna

[mugen_pinaki27]

Damn! She's a looker. The Italians know how to make bikes incredibly sexy and naughty. You've taken good care of her and your review perfectly sums up your feelings. The Akrapovic system is another beast altogether. Ride hard! Ride Safe!

[vignesh.cv]

Originally Posted by AtheK

I definitely shall, just waiting for my suit to come, thanks to covid it's stuck with my brother from quite sometime. Once it's here shall definitely accompany you.

Cool

Originally Posted by Odeen12

What a peach of a motorcycle this. Absolutely gorgeous!! Aprilia's are full of character. Hope you enjoy her to the fullest.

Thank you Odeen ! I thoroughly enjoyed going through your GSXR thread and the list of modifications you'd done to her. Another underrated but very capable machine. Do consider taking her for a track weekend at MMRT when you can. Your location says Mumbai, and we have quite a few people coming down from there.

Originally Posted by niranjanrvce

What a pleasant surprise seeing your thread come up here Viggy sir! Loved reading through your detailed notes on the bike and knowing you, I expect this thread to become a RSV4 encyclopaedia.

Your bike is one of the cleanest and nicest looking RSV4s I have seen. And love the fact that each mod on it is so well thought through.

I didn't realise you went with Giamotos to lower the pegs and not raise it. I was wondering how you were riding with them when I found stock pegs to be high enough already. My only issue with stock footrest is that the brake side heel plate is very small and my heel goes above it - I am thinking of fabricating an additional plate there rather than change the rearset itself.
Your point about leverage from the spider bars is making me want them - probably my next upgrade

PS: For those who don't know, Vignesh is an Instructor at T.W.O track school by Indimotard and one of the smoothest riders on the track. He is also blessed with the keenest observation skills on technical riding on track. During a track day in March, we were doing a few hot laps and he was tailing me, he noticed that I had some pressure on the inner arm during long corners. Now, this was something that I was mentally trying to correct and a known issue for me. But I couldn't fathom how he deduced that just by tailing me around. If you ever get a chance to hit a few hot laps with Vignesh, take it!

Thank you for those kind words Niranjan ! I very much consider myself a journeyman in that regard and have a quite a long way to go. Yes, the stock footpegs are quite high on the bike and lowering it helped me relax a bit. You could also try adding more foam to your race seat to help with the high stock footpegs. Fabricating a different aluminium plate makes sense than spending on a new set. More money saved for trackdays

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

We were so sorely missing a thread on the RSV4 here! Finally, that has come true.
Awesome review Vignesh, and I must say what epic tasty mods you have taken up too. Those Akra full Ti system makes me a bit jealous not going to lie!

Thank you Krishna ! I should've ideally invested in a race fairing set instead of jumping to the full system though. I loved going through you R1 ownership thread as well.

Originally Posted by mugen_pinaki27

Damn! She's a looker. The Italians know how to make bikes incredibly sexy and naughty. You've taken good care of her and your review perfectly sums up your feelings. The Akrapovic system is another beast altogether. Ride hard! Ride Safe!

Thank you mugen_pinaki27 !

[abhi_tjet]

What a desirable bike @vignesh! Aprilia/Ducati definitely evoke emotions. RSV4 is further top of the lot.

Happy track miles since it’s a track only

[Odeen12]

Originally Posted by vignesh.cv

Thank you Odeen ! I thoroughly enjoyed going through your GSXR thread and the list of modifications you'd done to her. Another underrated but very capable machine. Do consider taking her for a track weekend at MMRT when you can. Your location says Mumbai, and we have quite a few people coming down from there.

Thank you man!! I will see you at MMRTA in November. Not sure if i will get the GSX-R, but me will be there.