What do you do if you’re a tiny British motorcycle company making mega-expensive parallel-twin throwbacks, struggling with funding, but still want to compete in the Isle of Man TT? Well, you call up your old friends at Piaggio, ask nicely for an RSV4 SBK motor, then commission English chassis legends Spondon to build you a bespoke frame. Hand paint the Norton logo on the raw aluminum tank and call it a day. :continue:
2012 is going to be a big year for Aprilia Racing. After a definitive Championship in 2010, the team suffered an embarrassing defeat to a privateer rival last year. This is also probably the last year before the 1199 heads to SBK and a year in which Japanese budgets will continue to be low while their bikes remain relatively uncompetitive. These are the bikes Eugene Laverty and Max Biaggi will be campaigning in the series. New graphics reflect the changes made to the consumer 2012 Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC, accentuating that bike’s graphic swoosh with Italian tri-colors.
For 2012, the Aprilia RSV4 remains mechanically unaltered. That’s no bad thing, APRC did turn up just last year. But, it does get new colors. The 2012 Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC now comes in this “Black Flame” scheme which adds a dash of red to the leading edge of the fairing and colors the wheels gold while the 2012 Aprilia RSV4 R APRC is now available in Pussy Magnet Yellow. Plain white and plain black remain in the range.
You already know that we like us some Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC SE. Not only have we extensively analyzed every facet of APRC in ridiculous detail, but we’ve done multiple feature stories with the RSV4 and Aprilia contracted us to produce a series of videos about the bike. We even put one head to head against a Nissan GT-R and beat it. So, it’s probably time to see what someone outside the HFL fold thinks. Someone like Adey. The fastest street rider in LA, he only cares about one thing: performance. Can a whole boatload of electronics make him faster? :continue:
Once we’d started putting together a series of videos on the new Aprilia RSV4 APRC, it became quickly apparent that we needed to develop an intimate understanding of how Aprilia Performance Ride Control worked if we were going to stand a chance of doing it justice. Aprilia may have developed the most sophisticated set of performance enhancing electronics ever in-house, but, in typical Italian fashion, there was no cohesive document explaining its function. Definitely not one written in plain English. So, Grant, Aprilia USA and I set about poring over inches-thick, proprietary technical manuals and service guides, sending questions to Italy to check our conclusions. The result is this document, originally created strictly for internal use only, but reprinted with permission here. Not to brag, but it’s the most definitive explanation of APRC ever created. :continue:
There was quite a bit of skepticism when we lapped the new APRC-equipped Aprilia RSV4 around Monticello quite a bit faster than a Nissan GT-R. One of the people who had doubts was Adey. So, when Godzilla turned up at The Snake last weekend while he just happened to be riding the new RSV4 R, a comparison was inevitable. Luckily, he also had new onboard cameras from Replay.
Update: new angle added.
Thanks to West Coast GP Cycles for the suspension setup help. :continue:
As motorcyclists, you and I probably have a little more in common with astronauts than the average person. We know what it is to take risks, we know what it means to delicately control a machine on the razor edge of performance and we spend a lifetime perfecting the skills required to do so. Constantly pursuing technical innovation in the name of speed, motorcycle manufacturers have something in common with NASA too. So, as the shuttle program prepares to make its final flight tomorrow, Aprilia USA thought it would make sense to put together a little tribute to the men and women, the engineering and the sheer bravery that’s inspired so many, including us. :continue:
When it comes to superbikes, everyone appears to be very concerned with horsepower. Michael Czysz and Chip Yates go out of their way to make fantastic claims of over 200hp for their motorcycles. BMW claims the S1000RR makes 193 and the ZX10R is supposed to be 197. Even my GSX-R 600 has a claimed 126. But what is horsepower? How do we measure it? And most importantly, why does it matter? :continue:
When it was released in 2008, the Nissan GT-R shook the world of fast cars to its core, obliterating more powerful competition from more heralded automakers to set a new lap record at the Nurburgring. It did that using not raw power, but advanced electronics that made it both faster and more controllable than any car before. The Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC SE promises to do the same thing to the bike world using launch control, wheelie control, traction control and quickshift optimized for performance not safety. But, which revolutionary vehicle is faster, bike or car? :continue:
For the first time in two-wheeled history, motorcycle performance is no longer being measured merely in power and weight, but also in how closely a rider can come to exploiting the bike’s full potential. New technology is enabling riders to approach or even exceed the limits of motorcycles that are faster than ever before. That’s a reflection of what’s happening on race tracks. Max Biaggi didn’t win the SBK World Championship simply because his Aprilia RSV4 was the fastest bike on the track, but also because things like wheelie control, launch control and traction control enable him to ride it faster. Now, Aprilia Performance Ride Control is bringing those benefits to the road, for the first time increasing rider control at the very limits of adhesion.
This video will walk you through how APRC works and what it could do for you. :continue:
