Aprilia RSV4 Factory
Make no mistake, the RSV4 Factory is a homologation special. It’s world superbikes for the masses. Nothing road legal comes closer to a race idol’s steed. It fittingly wears the ‘Factory’ badge like a soldier.
We really can't work out why a) Boris bikes haven't been replaced by RSV4s and, b) how Marco Melandri has tested five different tanks before finding pace on the Aprilia. Packed with mechanical and electrical adjustability, the only thing you cant change on the RSV4 is you. Changing the front tube, steering head angle, swingarm pivot position and the engine’s location in the frame is a maze of potential screw-ups. That gives you some idea of the RSV4’s focus, but it’s also a proven road scalpel without messing with it.
It’s cleaned-up at the last three Sportsbike of the Year tests. While Aprilia’s R&D department could have sat on their arses and rested on a multitude of winner’s laurels, they didn’t. And, bang, an updated RSV4 was released halfway through 2013.
Not surprisingly, the Aprilia took to Portimao like a ham to a cheese sandwich, effortlessly dancing around the Algarve. The geometry changes over the older model make the RSV4 more stable under braking, but also lazier to change direction. The front wheel feels further away, which sacrifices fluidity. The biggest discrepancy over the older model is ground clearance, which ultimately lost it top spot on the timing sheets. Its miniscule time deficit was purely down to poor ground clearance (the sidestand and fairing took an absolute pasting – sorry!), as there was so much more to come from the package.
With the MV Agusta menacingly close, ultimately nothing can match the Aprilia from braking marker to exit, it joins the dots with unified precision. Unfathomable levels of piss-taking on the brakes, downshifting without a care in the world, letting the RSV4 do its groovy thang. Sweet. Sling it on its side, revel in the onslaught of side grip and lean on the WSB-derived APRC electronics (Aprilia is one of very few teams in any paddock to use its own electronics package) to guide you out of a corner. It’s that simple.
For a seemingly stumpy posture, wheelies never threaten to slow the Factory down. Although the Aprilia
Nothing can match the Aprilia from braking marker to exit...”
feels noticeably slower than the 1000cc four-pots (more than the 6mph it lost to the HP4), it once again proves you don’t need 200bhp on tap to boogie with the big boys.
Updates to one of the greatest engines of all time has boosted the top-end and fractured the trademark V4 linearity (slightly), but it’s still highly addictive and devastatingly good. Nothing sounds as good at full chat. The gearing proved quite short and, like the Beemer, was able to use all six of its gorgeous cogs. But the V4 gives you the option of delving into the grunt or ripping loose at the top.
It’s a shit wheelie bike, but when the wheels are on the ground, it guzzles juices superbly. Gladly, Aprilia has seen sense and thought that dicking about trying to recalibrate the RSV4 for a new set of tyres is pointless. Now you simply have to fit new rubber and ride off.
Other software modernisation includes a racier traction control system, allowing more slip for experienced riders/Marco Melandri. It can still feel sketchy on a used tyre, which is one area that could be bettered, but at the end of the day the Aprilia RSV4 Factory is truly sublime.