2009 Aprilia RSV4 Factory review

The Aprilia RSV4 Factory – The Power and the Passion

Exquisite. Exciting. Exhilarating. Enrapturing. Effing sensational. These and so many other adjectives bounced around my mind in my initial introduction to the Aprilia RSV4 Factory – and it was standing still! Since drooling over Max Biaggi’s Aprilia RSV4 in Phillip Island’s Pit Lane way back in March ‘09 I have been coveting an affair with the exquisite beauty so when the offer came from the good folk at John Sample Automotive (the Australian Aprilia importers), to spend a weekend with the recently released Aprilia RSV4 Factory I was at the warehouse quicker than Usain Bolt.

It’s been a long time since I have been so smitten but it was definitely love at first sight between me and the RSV4!

When its elder stable-mate – the RSV Mille – hit Australia back in the late ‘90’s I described the sensational 60-deg v-twin as “a six beer bike” as you could sit in the shed with your mates, and have a six pack while perving on the delectable beast.

The RSV4 Factory is even more attractive and I rate it as a “slab of beer” bike.

I was keener than a kid up the ‘Cross to have my way with the latest Italian mistress from the Naole factory but experience tells me that admiration and patience provides a better reward. So, I took time to again drool over this exquisite example of Italian engineering and admire the passion of design that is inherent from the front to rear: the lines of design, the symmetry, the styling, the aggressive front end with the subtle air-intakes that still retains the Mille appearance, the fairing fasteners embossed with “Aprilia”, the immaculate welds, the unique duck-tail, the sculptured tank, the carbon fibre guards and covers…

“The RSV4 Factory is so precise, direct and unwavering it finds the corner before you think about it.”

But above all what overshadows its majestic appearance is the compactness of the machine and the size – or the lack of it. It’s similar to a 600 or – believe it or not – its baby sister, the GP replica Aprilia RS250 two-stroke. Side-by-side the similarities are astonishing. A true example of the adage: “not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.”

What a special piece of engineering! The RSV4 is simply beautiful.

Everyone – bikers or non-bikers – were gobsmacked at its size and presence. Only the Italians can make aluminium, plastic and carbon-fibre look so damn sexy.

Finally, after all the months of anticipation it was time to throw a leg over and I haven’t been as excited – or nervous – to ride a bike since experiencing a 990cc MotoGP bike.

The seating position is comfortable with an easy reach to the bars assisted by its slimness. There’s also plenty of room on the seat putting you in the bike rather than on it.

Turning the key allows the on-board computer to scroll through its checklist with the information available via a toggle switch on the left-hand swichblock.

The wait was over. Time to press the start button.

Oh the sound; the tantalising burble of the V4!

A blip of the throttle turns the burble into a bark and may even raise the hairs on your neck. The muffler does look obtrusive but there is a method to the madness. The aural ecstasy increases as you click it in gear; the butterfly valve in the muffler opens, turning up the concerto of the V4. (The can has the mandatory catalytic converter but the butterfly recycles exhaust gases to reduce the decibels and make the noise police smile – a little.)

Within the first few kilometres whatever expectations I had about this bike had been answered and exceeded as the RSV4’s attributes clubbed me in the head. It wasn’t long before I was screaming in my lid and slapping the tank in unbridled enthusiasm for this new ride.

The RSV4 Factory is so precise, direct and unwavering it finds the corner before you think about it. I felt the bike was taking me for a ride and asking why I was taking so long to get there!

To be polite I asked Miss RSV4, how could she be created so dynamically to be at home on the track or to be so user-friendly on our Aussie country roads?

The RSV4 Factory is one very sharp and competent scythe as she answered with a laugh with revs increasing, carrying me rapidly to the next corner.

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Tags: 2009, Aprilia, Australia, Max Biaggi, review, RSV4 Factory

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.