Ducati Streetfighter V4 S V Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory
It’s unlikely that practicality featured anywhere on the design brief for the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S or Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory. Ability to thrill and terrify in equal measure, yes; friendliness in a busy British city at 2.30pm on a cloudy Tuesday, probably not. Neither bike wants to be burdened with throwovers, accommodate a passenger or trudge to the oce in drizzle. And be honest – if you’re looking at 200bhp V4s with track settings for their cunning electronics, chances are that robust bungee points don’t top your checklist either.
However, compared with the Panigale V4 it’s based on the Streetfighter is surprisingly friendly. Controls are light and smooth. The seat feels deep and welcomingly soft, and despite being capable of speeding up the earth’s rotation the monstrous 1103cc engine is civil and flexible when required. The Öhlins semi-active suspension is capable of supplying a supple ride, and at low speed the more upright riding position is less taxing and gives greater control.
Jostling for roundabout space, crawling on clogged high streets and enduring repeated stop-starts on light-infested ring roads are all situations where the Ducati is easier than the Aprilia. Though the
RSV4’S sensational engine is even smoother than the Streetfighter’s, its hard seat, clip-on ’bars, weighty cable clutch and solid suspension mean heavier going. It might be effortless when carving swift laps at Mugello, but the Aprilia is demanding if you’ve got an urban commute.
I’m far less self-conscious filtering or in the proximity of pedestrians when on the RSV4, though. The reason? Noise. The Ducati is ridiculously, stupidly, pointlessly loud. Car drivers wind up windows in their bloated SUVS, nippers wedge sticky fingers in their ears, and everybody gawps at you. There’s an exhaust valve to get the V4 through emission regs, but only mu es the deafening racket between 31 and 34mph in fourth gear. The rest of the time you feel like a terrorist. Aprilia’s silencing flap works the other way around, only releasing the glorious hullabaloo of the 1078cc 65-degree V4 when you wrench the gas and explore the revs. It’s not exactly a CB500 but sounds like one whenever the Streetfighter is in earshot (so that’s in the same county). This makes a difference away from towns and cities. Wake up early to ride deserted roads on a hot summer weekend, and the Aprilia lets you slide away from home without being noticed. On the Ducati you’ll very quickly become the least popular person in the neighbourhood. And once out on empty sun-drenched tarmac, it’s impossible to reach a village and not expect to be lynched by local parishioners who have suffered the aural battering of a swiftly approaching Streetfighter. Probably for ten minutes.
If you want to ride a bike briskly – and if you’re looking at a huge-power Italian exotic it’s a safe assumption – then the Aprilia is far less likely to make you paranoid. Especially given how bike noise is in the public eye at the minute. The RSV4 has other advantages when making full use of one of the greatest internal combustion engines ever devised. It does the same to the gallon (mid to high 30s) but has a larger fuel tank, for a greater range and fewer stops. And, most importantly, it has a fairing. Though the Ducati is less prone and nicer when dawdling, the rider’s lower half is still positioned sportily and you’re propped against the wide ’bar. And once riding as the bikes’ designers intended, the unprotected riding position of the Streetfighter means shoulder-straining blast. It’s as tiring at speed as you’d expect a focused fairing-free supernaked to be. Aprilia’s plastic coverings cause less fatigue. There’s a just-so quantity of air flow over the screen to take weight off your wrists. On cascading A-roads or when seeingoff miles on a dual carriageway or motorway, this swings things firmly in the RSV’S favour. It certainly feels odd to say this, and it’s the outcome we definitely didn’t expect. But, the Aprilia RSV4 is more practical – just – than a Ducati
Streetfighter V4 S.
‘The Ducati is ridiculously, stupidly, pointlessly loud’