Aprilia RSV 1000 - anybody had one/has one/ridden one/crashed one?

[Wayne370Z]

A topic for the bikers on here, of which I think there are plenty, or, anyone who just wants to talk bikes.

After selling the last bike prior to the house move 18 months ago, and now that we`ve finished bringing the bungalow out of the 1970s, I`ve started to think about what I`m going to do with myself over the summer, when the weather has warmed up sufficiently to be able to leave the house, and, obviously, another motorbike is top of the list, especially now that I've got the sunny country roads of Lincolnshire to enjoy rather than the dismal rainy streets of Manchester.

So, since I`ve always mostly been a superbike kind of person, a GSXR750 being my last, I`m quite fancying a Fireblade or R1 and for about £5K it looks like I should be able to get a half descent one of either.

I had a XVS1100 at one stage, though, and loved the character of the big V twin and hence why I`m also thinking of the Aprilia RSV 1000, but, having had a Dorsoduro for a year or so which let me down a couple of times on cold morning starts, I`m a little put off the marque.

Not that I will need it for cold morning starts, though, but I`m wondering will it be the ideal superbike with looks, performance and a characterful big V twin engine, or, will the good old trusty Japs both not just out perform but also out "reliable" it and, therefore, be a much safer bet for a 10 years old, or more, bike?   

Anyone got any views, opinions, experience of any of them?

Cheers.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by Wayne370Z

[Rich260]

I had an rsv 1000r factory before the Z and absolutely bloody loved it. It started off as road bike but soon became more track orientated.

 

 As you rightly say, they have bags of character, look simply stunning and are so confidence inspiring through the bends, I literally road of the edge of the tyre at an Odhiam air field day and low sided. Luckily I had track fairings on so a new rear brake leaver was fitted and it was good to go. It even crashed in style.

 

 They do have a few common issues depending on the model that you go for, namely the clutch slave cylinder and the electrics on the dash can be a bit iffy.

 

 Mine could hang with the jap in line 4 1000's on the straights up to about 130 but then did get a bit breathless. In the bends the low down grunt of the v twin was more forgiving than the 4's though and the way it drives out of corners is epic.

 

 Long story short, if you are planning on blasting round tracks regularly then a R1 is gonna be hard to top. If you want somthing that's a bit different, will turn heads and geneally put a massive grin on your face then an RSV is a strong contender.

[Wayne370Z]

57 minutes ago, Rich260 said:

I had an rsv 1000r factory before the Z and absolutely bloody loved it. It started off as road bike but soon became more track orientated.

 

 As you rightly say, they have bags of character, look simply stunning and are so confidence inspiring through the bends, I literally road of the edge of the tyre at an Odhiam air field day and low sided. Luckily I had track fairings on so a new rear brake leaver was fitted and it was good to go. It even crashed in style.

 

 They do have a few common issues depending on the model that you go for, namely the clutch slave cylinder and the electrics on the dash can be a bit iffy.

 

 Mine could hang with the jap in line 4 1000's on the straights up to about 130 but then did get a bit breathless. In the bends the low down grunt of the v twin was more forgiving than the 4's though and the way it drives out of corners is epic.

 

 Long story short, if you are planning on blasting round tracks regularly then a R1 is gonna be hard to top. If you want somthing that's a bit different, will turn heads and geneally put a massive grin on your face then an RSV is a strong contender.

Thanks for the reply. That`s quite reassuring. I was a bit concerned about them being down on power and up on weight.

I won`t be tracking it so won`t be getting up to anywhere near 130mph and I definitely like the idea of something different to the run of the mill  in-line 4s for thundering around the countryside on.

I think it`s probably top of my list at the moment. I loved the Dorsoduro to ride just not so much on a freezing winter morning, after a night shift, when it wouldn`t start and I had a 10 mile journey home.

[Rich260]

On the road you will never notice the power being down due to the punchyness of the v twin. I felt it didn't need to be worked as hard as a fireblade to get it in the power band.

 

The weight is there but it's within the chassis and low down so it's not an issue. With the factory you get öhlins front and rear which is fully adjustable so you can tailor it to your riding/ size.

 

 I can't really comment on the reliability aspect as mine was used as a toy but there were plenty of guys on the rsv forum using them to commute and didn't suffer too many issues. One of the most frustrating things is the lack of Aprilia dealerships so if it dose go wrong you could face a wait for parts.

[rabbitstew]

I have got an R1 and a Ducati 996 in my collection and they are a very different kettle of fish. It took me a while to get used to the V-Twin after a life time of wringing the neck out of high rev`ing 4 cylinder sports bikes. To be honest, for me, nothing compares to a screaming 4 pot, but a V-Twin is still fun but in a completely different way.

 

Mines running open race pipes and the sheer hooligan anti social noise of the V-Twin is amazing. When you open it up the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. They are very torquey, so you find yourself just leaving it in higher gears rather than dropping it down a couple when you over take.

 

Performance wise, it cant hold a candle to the R1. The R1 is quicker, brakes quicker and handles better. But you can have a lot of fun tweaking the settings and improving things.

 

The RSV was very popular when it came out and a lot of my  mates had them and liked them. That and the Honda SP1 might be another one to consider.

[Snjur]

Rsv's are bit underestimated bikes. 

It's a really good packages specially in Factory version.

Agile bike with a lot of grunt from basement. With 140 bhp is a fast bike for twisty roads.

They are becoming exotic these days

[Wayne370Z]

3 hours ago, rabbitstew said:

I have got an R1 and a Ducati 996 in my collection and they are a very different kettle of fish. It took me a while to get used to the V-Twin after a life time of wringing the neck out of high rev`ing 4 cylinder sports bikes. To be honest, for me, nothing compares to a screaming 4 pot, but a V-Twin is still fun but in a completely different way.

 

Mines running open race pipes and the sheer hooligan anti social noise of the V-Twin is amazing. When you open it up the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. They are very torquey, so you find yourself just leaving it in higher gears rather than dropping it down a couple when you over take.

 

Performance wise, it cant hold a candle to the R1. The R1 is quicker, brakes quicker and handles better. But you can have a lot of fun tweaking the settings and improving things.

 

The RSV was very popular when it came out and a lot of my  mates had them and liked them. That and the Honda SP1 might be another one to consider.

I love the SP1s (and SP2s) and would definitely consider one but they seem to be a bit pricey and I`d probably need another £1K - £2K. 

[Wayne370Z]

Just done a deal for this beauty this morning.  Should have it sitting in the garage before the end of the week.

 

 

[Snjur]

Congrats 

 

Cool looking bike

[Cimanu]

Stunning.

 

I used to be a bike tech at Honda so have ridden a stupid number of bikes. Big fan of RSVs, build quality on the early mille bikes were shocking (they also look like an RS125..) but later and current are spot on.

Any 1000 is too much for the road so you won't notice differences in top end power - side by side on a trackday maybe. That said, I always found the Bm S1000RR a noticable difference over a blade but you're talking a 20bhp difference there.

 

The only one to avoid is the KTM, constant gearbox issues. Bikes look stunning but they're really not good. Just that RC, the dukes and off road are sublime.

 

I'm a rev-head so the V-twins aren't really my ideal thing. SP1/2 are brilliant bikes too, they hold their money for a reason unfortunately.

 

I always quite enjoyed the bonkers 600s before they discontinued, R6 with a 17k redline for example, daft. We sold one 600RR the 4 years I was at Honda and that was the demonstrator...

 

After changing the belts on a 999 I'm completly off Ducatis... I did ride a 1098 though and it was pretty special, they look better than anything so I totally get the appeal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dannyclegg]

I had an older RSVR for a year , as well as a Tuono for a year or two. I won’t go on and on about the exact details, I’ll just sum up my experience with them...

-the RSVR didn’t like it if you didn’t give it a run for more than 2 weeks, and good luck trying to bump it off

-below 60mph, they just don’t seem to like being well behaved

-above 60.... well, you’ve got two bikes that would keep up with most things

-for being a head turner , they both got plenty of attention

-as mentioned by another member, models like the RSVR and Colin Edwards reps are becoming rare. Your looking at £3k+ for a 2003 bike with 30k miles on it. Stick one in a loft if you have the spare cash

-with an aftermarket can on them, they sound like thunder

 

i now have a VFR800 2010, which for me is calm enough to plonk about on when your chilled, aggressive enough to hoon when your not, and the V4 gives you the middle ground of both engine configurations. Plus it sounds rediculous with debaffled exhausts (vids on my insta)

[Wayne370Z]

Yeah, I already read that they`re not happy when the battery voltage starts to drop so I`ll have to keep it hooked up to a trickle charger as it won`t  be being used everyday. 

I expect it`s going to sound rather nice with the Akrapovics on but the standard pipes are supposed to be coming with it so I`ll probably swap them at some stage to see how they sound and if there`s not much difference I`ll sell the Akrapovics to keep it nice and standard.

Also, the black Doobly Boobly screen should have gone and the original one be back on to also keep it nice and standard.

[Wayne370Z]

It got delivered last night. Swapped the screen over and removed the big lumps of plastic from either side already but I think the Akrapovics will be staying  - they sound awesome..!

 

 

[Rich260]

Looks awesome, makes me want another one!

 

 I know the crash bobbins don't look all that great but if you do bin it they will save the bike.

 

When I low side'ed there was very minimal damage, just a bent break leaver and a few scratches to the race fairings.

 

 

[Wayne370Z]

Quick update;

Had my first little go on it today, after 3 weeks of it sitting in the garage, as the weather seemed half decent, however, only did about 15 miles or so before the fuel light came on and, as it wasn`t that warm, sunny or dry out on the roads, I called it a day and headed back for fuel and then home.

So, only 30 miles or so and obviously taking it easy to get the feel of it but it felt just like I expected it to and sounds awesome and can`t wait for some proper thundering around the countryside on it in some  proper nice weather.

Here`s how it finally looks having swapped and changed a few bits for those I wanted or didn`t want and removed a few stickers ...

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Wayne370Z

[gsexr]

Great looking bike 

[gsexr]

Here`s one of my babies