THERE is a story that goes around the motorbike fraternity about the
Aprilia RSV1000R Factory. It goes something like this:
One day, a Mat Rempit parked his kapcai outside the Moto Millia
showroom in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. He walked in, looked around and
pointed at the most powerful bike in the Aprilia stable - namely, the
RSV, and requested for a test ride.
The folks at Moto Millia - being decent fellows - checked his licence
and finding that he had a B-full, ignored his shabby clothing and prepped
the RSV before wheeling it out onto the street.
Mat Rempit jumped on - assumed his usual rempit riding attitude and
disappeared around a corner with a scream from the twin cyclinder
v-engine.
Needless to say, when he returned five minutes later, he was bloodied
and pushing the Aprilia.
I don't know how far this bit of urban biking legend is true, but when
I got the Aprilia, I had this in mind as I left the showroom. The thing
about Italian bikes are they are so unpredictable.
Once, I nearly dropped a brand new Cagiva Mito as I was leaving the
Mofaz showroom. That bike was only 125cc and weighed a mere 129kg.
But it had the kind of stand that flips up immediately once you lift it
to upright position, and the particular bike I was riding had its spring
wound up a bit too tight, causing it to nearly flip over the moment I
climbed on.
So when I climbed on board the RSV - which was much bigger, and
infinitely more powerful than the Mito, I was ready for surprises and yet
I was still caught off guard.
Just a few minutes into testing the RSV, I unwittingly popped a wheelie
under strong acceleration. The bike produces just 143hp from its
one-litre powerplant but it produces those horses in a simply fantastic
way.
Being a v-twin, power comes in low in the rev range. You don't have to
rev that high before the front wheel starts to lift off the ground. In
fact, all you have to do is twist the throttle with reasonable force.
This bike is just full of surprises. Delighted at how wheelie-happy the
bike was, and imagining many uses for it, I took the bike to a bridge in
Shah Alam which I knew very well.
When I studied in Shah Alam, I would accelerate like a mad man hundreds
of metres before the small bridge in Section 18 to try and get my heavy,
relatively underpowered ZZR250 to lift off and get airborne. I did this
almost everyday for a number of years and knew the stretch of road like
the back of my hand.
The reason I did it was probably because I always loved that scene in
Top Gun where Tom Cruise gets his GPZ900R airborne on the hilly streets
of San Francisco while chasing a Porsche Speedster.
Revisiting the bridge with the RSV, I revved the bike to get some
speed. I clung to the bars for dear life as the bike screamed down the
stretch like a bat out of hell.
I reached that familiar rise in the road, and the next thing I knew,
both I and bike were airborne. I reckon I travelled at least as far Tom
Cruise (or maybe his stunt double) did before the RSV once again touched
terra firma. This is quite an achievement because I think I'm heavier
than Tom Cruise (although the lightness of the RSV as opposed to the
hefty steel framed GPZ900r would have probably balanced it out). When I
landed, I was a bit shaken because the bike had lifted so high.
The reason the RSV lifts so easily and is so wheelie-happy is probably
because with all the carbon fibre bits, it seems to weigh only as much as
the bike Lance Armstrong rode to win the Tour De France.
And riding it, you will quickly realise why Aprilia won a number of
World Superbike Championship races. The bike handles incredibly well. The
`Factory' tag denotes a special breed of production motorcycles which are
almost identical to their racing counterparts.
The suspension is a combination of Ohlins parts while the brakes are
Brembos. There is even an Ohlins steering damper to complete the race
feel.
The whole setup feels as light as a 250, but once you urge the
longitudinal 60-degree V-Twin engine which is fed via electronic fuel
injection, you realise the nimble package is also backed by some serious
big bore power.
To really exploit the RSV Factory, you need to ride it on a track.
On the road, it would make your daily commutes just that much more
exciting but you would hardly even begin to push the boundaries of its
capabilities.
In spite of this, the RSV is quite easy to live with. The seating
position, while aggressive, is reasonably comfortable. The 185kg weight
makes it easy to handle and weave through traffic.
The only downside is that it has a certain neutrality to its handling,
which is odd because Italian bikes are known for being quirky in some way
or the other. But maybe this is a trade-off for being so well balanced.
Moto Millia sells the RSV Factory for RM82,300 on the road. But on the
road, these bikes don't make much sense because in second gear, you will
probably break the national speed limit.
Realising this, Moto Millia offers another "on-the-track" option for
RM95,000 which is probably more sensible.
This option gives you a road registered RSV with insurance and road
tax, a full Akrapovic Evo racing exhaust, racing footages, a racing
fairing, mechanic support with free labour as well as bike transport to
and from the Sepang Circuit, and get this: entry into five rounds of the
Malaysian Super Series.
That's a pretty good bargain to have a feel of what it's like to race a
World Superbike Championship racer on a world-famous track.
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