Aprilia RSV4R Factory versus 1199

iamlance said:

I tried ordering one at Wendy's. The counter girl was like

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He's talking about Aspergers not Asparagus

Trauma said:

He's talking about Aspergers not Asparagus

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MY BAD!! Thought it said Ass Burgers

Lance.... Test ride today??

OK, I test rode the RSV4R today. LAST thing I noticed was that my hands were not the least bit fatigued after a 20 minute ride (fast and slow). Ring any bells Pani-guys? First impressions: not as torquey, great high end - but much more grunt than an in-line 4; smooth as silk quick-shift, much better than Pani; fit me like a glove, better riding position, could wrap my legs around the tank and drive the bike with ZERO bar pressure; smooth as silk power delivery even in race mode-not the twitchy/jerky throttle response I'm used to; from the limited cornering I did it was very nimble and easier to throw around than the Pani, believe it or not. Bottom line, I am positive I can drive this thing around the track with more speed and confidence than the 1199. BTW parts appear to be about half the cost without the 'Ducati Premium'. I was right and truly impressed.

Hogdog said:

OK, I test rode the RSV4R today. LAST thing I noticed was that my hands were not the least bit fatigued after a 20 minute ride (fast and slow). Ring any bells Pani-guys? First impressions: not as torquey, great high end - but much more grunt than an in-line 4; smooth as silk quick-shift, much better than Pani; fit me like a glove, better riding position, could wrap my legs around the tank and drive the bike with ZERO bar pressure; smooth as silk power delivery even in race mode-not the twitchy/jerky throttle response I'm used to; from the limited cornering I did it was very nimble and easier to throw around than the Pani, believe it or not. Bottom line, I am positive I can drive this thing around the track with more speed and confidence than the 1199. BTW parts appear to be about half the cost without the 'Ducati Premium'. I was right and truly impressed.

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Dang.... So any criticisms????

I forgot to mention the V4 sounds pretty cool, but that's stock pipes so only so cool...
Honestly the only thing I didn't LOVE was the looks, which can never be as good as the 1199 of course. Also Sachs shocks, but for $2500 the dealer will retrofit a set of Ohlins front forks and rear shock - seems like a pretty good deal.

or get the factory, throw a small exhaust and the bike will look damn handsome!

also, if you remove the mirrors (easy) and turn running lights into blinkers the bike actually looks more badass than the pani!

when you add the race ecu you get a lot more grunt to boot.

Hogdog said:

I forgot to mention the V4 sounds pretty cool, but that's stock pipes so only so cool...
Honestly the only thing I didn't LOVE was the looks, which can never be as good as the 1199 of course. Also Sachs shocks, but for $2500 the dealer will retrofit a set of Ohlins front forks and rear shock - seems like a pretty good deal.

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my suspension guy said the sachs forks on the newer apes 2011 on are pretty good. But instead of spring for full ohlins forks you can always do the ohlins inserts.

Had an rsv4 and a very capable bike. I was quite happy with mine, very comfortable good power, tho launching was far different than a twin like the pani. You had to really rev it to get a good launch. Stock exhaust is very nice tho stock pani exhaust is even better.

The ape is far easier to live with day-to-day than the pani but it's not as visceral as the pani by a long way. It actually feels like a japanese I4.

Hogdog said:

I forgot to mention the V4 sounds pretty cool, but that's stock pipes so only so cool...
Honestly the only thing I didn't LOVE was the looks, which can never be as good as the 1199 of course. Also Sachs shocks, but for $2500 the dealer will retrofit a set of Ohlins front forks and rear shock - seems like a pretty good deal.

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zvez said:

It actually feels like a japanese I4.

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Nope, sorry but that wasn't my impression at all.

Hogdog nailed it IMHO - only thing I'd disagree with is ergonomic fit. I feel the Pani is a better riding position but that's obviously subjective. I also feel that the build quality is better with the RSV4. Pani wins on looks but again, subjective and the Aprilia is hardly ugly.

Thanks Duke. the thing about the riding position is this: I'm a small guy at 5-7" so the Aprilia feels like it's made for me. The Pani riding position always shoved me forward into the tank which is too small for me to rest my belly on or grab with my legs but proud enough to crush my nuts on the track, which is why I spend a lot of time and energy pushing off of the bars. i hear this a lot from other riders on the forum, and nothing I've been able to do with my Gilles rearsets has fixed this.

BTW good tip on the forks Zvez, thanks for that. Maybe just an Ohlins rear replacement.

Hogdog said:

Thanks Duke. the thing about the riding position is this: I'm a small guy at 5-7" so the Aprilia feels like it's made for me. The Pani riding position always shoved me forward into the tank which is too small for me to rest my belly on or grab with my legs but proud enough to crush my nuts on the track, which is why I spend a lot of time and energy pushing off of the bars. i hear this a lot from other riders on the forum, and nothing I've been able to do with my Gilles rearsets has fixed this.

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The thing is I feel the Pani lets me slide forward at slower speeds in traffic to sit more upright for visibility then I can slide back to tuck at speed and the seat holds me in the right places in both positions. The bike I test rode had the racing seat fitted so that might make a difference. The Aprilia was similarly svelte and comfortable but definitely heavier feeling at slow speeds.

My S1000RR has a wide tank which kills my hips when slid forward but for tucking and hanging off it's not an issue. I'm a slim 5'11" so I prefer the Ape and Pani over the BMW but there's a whole bunch of other stuff I am taking into account like total cost of ownership, local dealerships, depreciation, faults / recalls, etc.

If dealerships, reliability and issues / recalls were taken out of the equation I'd take the Pani. But with the way things are with the dash issues I would probably get the RSV4. In fact I'm considering selling the BMW for the Aprilia but I can't afford to lose my shirt which is the only thig stopping me. Most of the Italian passion with some of the Bmw smoothness and reliability in a small, good looking, well built bike.

BTW I don't think rearsets would solve your problem but tank grips should. I just got back from the California Superbike School and those bikes are all fitted with tank grips. Hard acceleration and hard on the brakes, hanging off with one knee, etc with not a single slip. I came home and immediately ordered a set.

Hogdog, you experienced everything I did when I rode and RSV4 the first time. The bike does everything very very well. I have always been a diehard Ducati owner until I rode the aprilia. I had a 1098R and got rid of it after i rode the aprilia. i bought the aprilia and would do it again. I did seriously consider a Pani but, after two extended rides I was set on staying with the aprilia. The Pani is also a great machine with awesome new technology that will only get better. I truly do not feel it is the world beater that Ducati had hoped for but, that said, it is still a great bike. I will say that, there are some issues with the dealer net work at this time but, they are working to correct it. aprilia is being smart about putting new dealers in and making sure that they will be the correct fit and not just a bandaid. If you get on the aprilia forum, you will find that there are issues with the bikes just like the Ducati's. That's the beauty of a two year warranty. I have been very impressed with the cost of parts, so far in my experience when purchasing aprilia parts, they seem to be much less than what you would expect after buying parts for a Ducati. I like my aprilia so much that I made the decision to sell my last Ducati and bought the Tuono V4 also so, I now have the RSV4 Factory and the new Tuono V4 (which is absolutely awesome!!!!). The other nice thing about the aprilia, you will not see them everywhere you go. Bottom line, buy the one YOU want and ride the piss out of it. That's what they are all built for.

Agreed on the tank grips. I just never could do it cause they were all pretty ugly - bad excuse I know. One more thing that goes to the Ducati customer service attitude - then I'll stop. I went to the AF1 site (largest Aprilia parts distributor in the US) to see what parts are available and how they're priced (AF1 Racing : Aprilia Parts and Accessories: 2009-2013 RSV4 Maintenance and Tools). They are cheap indeed, but the eye opener is on the maintenance parts, a whole lot more stuff for working on the engines and general service, and guess what, Service Manuals, even for the latest models. The RSV4 APRC full service manual is $7.99, PDF instant download. Includes stuff like Engine Removal. I guess I forgot where Ducati supplies that on their site. We can't even get torque specs. It's a bit of an eye opener. Sorry guys, now I'll stop.

Hogdog said:

OK, I test rode the RSV4R today. LAST thing I noticed was that my hands were not the least bit fatigued after a 20 minute ride (fast and slow). Ring any bells Pani-guys? First impressions: not as torquey, great high end - but much more grunt than an in-line 4; smooth as silk quick-shift, much better than Pani; fit me like a glove, better riding position, could wrap my legs around the tank and drive the bike with ZERO bar pressure; smooth as silk power delivery even in race mode-not the twitchy/jerky throttle response I'm used to; from the limited cornering I did it was very nimble and easier to throw around than the Pani, believe it or not. Bottom line, I am positive I can drive this thing around the track with more speed and confidence than the 1199. BTW parts appear to be about half the cost without the 'Ducati Premium'. I was right and truly impressed.

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You've got me all amped up now!!!!

Stw said:

Lance.... Test ride today??

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No, Saturday at noon. That's if the weather buffoons are right!

Interesting thread, very good points. I noticed though that it started being about reliability of the 2 brands and now is not so much about pani vs ape but about 2 vs 4 cylinders. Nobody should be surprised, 4 are always going to be smoother and more predictable => easier to ride, and 2 are going to have more character. you would have come to the same conclusions with any previous ducati vs any other 4iL. An example, It has been brought up that the QS is smoother in the ape...nothing to do with electronics, it is the nature of twin vs 4.
btw, I wonder if those of you comparing the performance of the 2 bikes are referring to the pani before or after the 41T update, it is a completely different bike, a true twin. I can not imagine the ape coming out of a corner much faster than the pani-41T

wilkson said:

Will do Brad . The series is growing pretty good we had 27 starters in F1 at our last round a mixture of Ducati Aprillias and Bm's .
EC is our last round so maybe see you out we are up to Darwin next .

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Yes mate will make a point of getting out there to watch. Hopefully get a peek at the new machine. cheers

to those complaining about the looks I think this helps as far as the exhaust goes