CLIVE APRILIA RSV4 RF
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Making myself heard...”
Ilove my bike. It’s awesome. And now it’s even more awesome because I’ve got an Austin Racing slip-on can on it. It looks an absolute weapon, as though it’s something straight out of MotoGP. I’ve got a mate who bought one for his RSV4 and I figured I had to have one. What’s the point in owning a bike like this if it’s going to sound like a sewing machine? Admittedly, I’ve now gone to the other end of that spectrum, because this thing’s deafeningly loud, to the extent the people living three villages away know when I strike it up.
I was a little worried about being too greedy with the decibels, because I’ve got quite a bit of track action lined up for the Aprilia, but the guys at Austin have reassured me that with a baffle in the volume gets depleted to 102dB. In complete contrast, it makes 110dB with it out, which rattles my brain! Still, I absolutely bloody love it and I couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone considering one.
But it’s not just been a month of noise pollution on my part. I’ve been out there clocking up the miles and learning loads more about what my bike has to offer. It’s a very focused bike, which is great on track, but it does have its foibles on the roads. The suspension feels too stiff at the rear for me and my 11-stone mass, to the extent I’m considering a lower weight spring for the rear. The front’s pretty stiff too, but adjusting the compression damping has made my road riding so much more enjoyable. The thing is that I don’t want to dilute this thing down too much, because it’s an absolute weapon on track. But there’s no shame in making it a bit more affable on the roads. The other thing I’ve been fettling with is the riding modes. There are three different power maps on the Aprilia and ironically I reckon the street setting’s the worse. Every time you wind off the throttle it feels like someone’s stamping on the rear brake, which is mental. What’s even more mental is that by switching the bike to Race mode the fuelling actually gets better. It’s loads less snatchy, both on and off the gas. Riddle me that!
I’ve clocked just over 400 miles this month and that’s been enough to confirmmy findings, along with educating me on how great the front brakes are. They’re properly sharp, but offer loads of feel, so you always know what’s going on. It’s impossible to fault them and they’ve given me bucket loads of confidence. Yep, I’m definitely happy to have made this purchase. I just wish I got to ride it more often.