Aprilia RSV4 R 2014 — Specifications

When Aprilia launched the RSV4 Factory, the hypersport world received a resounding slap. The 65-degree V4 housed in this double perimeter aluminum frame, 180 horsepower at 12,500 rpm, 112.8 Nm at 10,000 rpm, all wrapped in 184 kg dry weight: the Aprilia RSV4 R 1000cc motorcycle’s specifications read like a declaration of war addressed to the CBR, R1 and other GSX-R models. Except that €20,000 cooled the ardor of quite a few people. Aprilia knew it. The R version had been in the pipeline from the beginning.

Understanding what the Aprilia RSV4 R sacrifices compared to its Factory big sister is understanding where the money goes in a high-end sportbike. Öhlins suspensions give way to a 43 mm Showa inverted fork and a Sachs mono-shock. Carbon fairings become standard ABS. Forged wheels regress to cast aluminum. The steering damper changes supplier, the variable height intake trumpets disappear, the front discs go from stainless steel to steel, and the possibility of adjusting the engine position in the frame or the swingarm height evaporates. Result: 5 kg more on the scale and a price that drops below €15,000. For a club rider or a motorcyclist who rides on the track a few weekends a year, these concessions are largely acceptable. For a confirmed track rider who lives by the lap times, the difference will be felt in the output curve data.

What doesn’t change, on the other hand, deserves to be said clearly. The engine remains identical, unbridled, uncastrated. The Aprilia RSV4 R APRC features the same furious V4, the same ride-by-wire throttle, the same double injectors per cylinder, the same 13:1 compression ratio with a bore of 78 mm for a stroke of 52.3 mm. The three injection maps are there: Road to retain a semblance of social life, Sport for dedicated track sessions, Track for those who really know what they are doing. At a top speed of 300 km/h, the Italian has not throttled its ballistics to justify the price difference.

Faced with the 1000 Japanese models of the time, the Aprilia RSV4 R 2011 positions itself with a devastating argument: for a comparable price, it brings a V4 where competitors offer inline four-cylinder engines. The compactness of the engine, the agility that results from it, the characteristic sound, all this constitutes a proposition that neither the Honda CBR1000RR nor the Yamaha R1 of the same period can counter at equal budget. The seat height of 845 mm and the 17-liter tank complete a machine designed for the track above all, but not incompatible with demanding road use.

The target audience for this Aprilia RSV4 R specification motorcycle is precise: the experienced motorcyclist, comfortable on the track, who wants the technology of the high-end without paying the price of semi-professional competition equipment. Neither beginner nor official rider, someone somewhere between the two, with a real motorcycle budget and a real desire for performance. The 2010 and 2011 versions of the Aprilia RSV4 R proved that this positioning was correct, and subsequent generations including the Aprilia RSV4 R APRC ABS 2014 have only confirmed that Noale had found the right formula from the first attempt.