Aprilia TUONO V4 X 2020 — Specifications

Imagine taking the RSV4 X, that 221-horsepower track weapon, and grafting a high handlebar onto it. That's exactly what Noale did with the Tuono V4 X, and the result exceeds anything one could have anticipated in the hyper-naked category. When Ducati presents its Streetfighter V4 and MV Agusta plays provocateur with its unbridled four-cylinders, Aprilia responds with a machine that simply has no equivalent: 221 horsepower for 166 kg dry. Even hypersports don't post such a power-to-weight ratio. The Factory Works department supervised the project, and you feel it in every detail.

The engine — that 65-degree V4 displacing 1077 cc inherited from the RSV4 1100 Factory — doesn't arrive here in its stock form. It gains four additional horsepower over its donor unit, reaching that figure of 221, thanks in part to a MotoGP-spec Sprint air filter far more permeable than the standard element. The Akrapovic exhaust system, with its titanium headers and carbon silencer, contributes as much to lightening the machine as to freeing up the engine's breathing. The electronics follow suit with track-calibrated mappings, traction control, and anti-wheelie systems, complemented by a color TFT screen that displays lap times via an integrated GPS sensor. The bidirectional quickshifter is fitted as standard, which at this price of €34,900 is only fair.

Aprilia chose to integrate large winglets into the front fairing, a direct borrowing from the RS-GP Grand Prix machine. The resemblance is striking, and even if the ensemble isn't what you'd call graceful, these aerodynamic appendages serve their purpose at high speed and under heavy braking. The claimed top speed of 300 km/h gives some idea of the environment in which these solutions make sense. The Loris Reggiani replica livery — that historic tricolor Aprilia reserves for its exceptional models — here clothes a bodywork made entirely of carbon fiber. Forged magnesium Marchesini wheels, Pirelli Diablo Superbike slick tires, adjustable rearset footpegs in machined aluminum, Brembo levers milled from solid: every component tells the same story, that of a machine conceived for the circuit above all else.

The brakes deserve closer attention. The Brembo GP4-MS calipers, machined from solid and nickel-treated, sit just below the GP4-RR units found on factory racing machines. They bite 330 mm T-Drive discs via a 19x16 radial master cylinder, also monobloc. Carbon scoops directly cool the pistons. This is competition-grade hardware packaged for the road, a combination that exists nowhere else in this displacement class. The Öhlins Smart EC 2.0 semi-active suspension completes the picture, adapting automatically to the track profile while leaving the rider free to make manual adjustments. The twin-spar perimeter aluminum frame, whose architecture dates back a decade, remains a structural benchmark that has lost none of its relevance.

To measure what this machine truly represents, one figure is enough. Rider Lorenzo Savadori lapped Imola in 1 minute and 50 seconds, just 4.6 seconds off the World Superbike lap record. A road-legal naked bike, with a high handlebar and an 18-liter tank, 4.6 seconds behind the best riders on the planet on their home turf. The Tuono V4 X is obviously not aimed at the average motorcyclist, nor even at the weekend track-day rider. It is a proposition for a very restricted audience of enthusiasts who want the RSV4 X experience without the prostrate riding position, and who accept paying the price of that exclusivity. At €34,900, the brief is met down to the last bolt.