Hey, say want you want about me, but I said earlier I would give you my further thoughts on the Aprilia RSV4 R once I’d spent more quality time on the device and dammit, I’m a creature devoted to supporting my utterances. Anyway, as the insanely strong V-Four has now left my custody there is much to say (which will be dealt with in detail in all of the usual publications-consult your House Elf, or do some searches, to discover where they are). I will, however, share with you the following:
First, this bike is just another Aprilia. By saying that I wish to pass on a great compliment, as I’ve yet to ride one of these polished Italian machines and not find the build quality excellent. But solid construction is one thing; Aprilias take it a step further and really flaunt the fact that functional engineering can be beautiful. Artistic, even. The hellbeast that is the RSV is absolutely no exception in this regard, for while it is a performance masterpiece it still has that special attention to detail that makes this brand so desirable. The welds on the al-yoo-minium frame are so lovely they make people like me who have in fact welded at some point in our lives weep in appreciation. Hey, I don’t know whether it’s done by an artisan in Italy or an artisan in Italy that happens to be a robot from Japan, but it is a beautiful thing.
Performance: the Vee Fower is a serious rush. Unique power delivery in terms of feel, and it builds like a locomotive. Here’s techno-porn in the form of adjustable engine mapping, for you can select R for road (where horsepower is limited to 140) or S for Sport (where RPMs are limited slightly in lower gears a bit) or T for Track (which unleashes the entire herd of 180 horsepower to create mayhem and, basically, show you how good the chassis, suspension and brakes are). A long wheelbase for what is after all a race bike lends high-speed stability, but the bike still steers reasonably quickly if you give it some effort.
The bike went back to Aprilia in one piece, and I returned to my duties in similar shape. This is a really fine superbike, and very unique in personality. I shall watch its racing career with great interest.

According to an article on the Consumer Reports Auto Blog, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is recommending that the government mandate Antilock brakes for street motorcycles. This recommendation is based on a statistical study the Institute did that shows quite clearly that ABS clearly helps reduce fatal motorcycle accidents. Of course, as with any study like this there could be other factors such as the type of rider that will buy an ABS-equipped motorcycle, but overall I thing the conclusions reached are pretty sound. Unlike so many kneejerk reactionary types that doesn’t think the government should mandate anything, I don’t have a problem with this proposal. My reasoning is due to the fact that ABS on bikes has improved dramatically since BMW first started putting in on their machines many years ago (Crikey, it was last century in fact!), and it is also lighter, more sophisticated and less expensive that it has been in the past. The state-of-the-art Honda ABS system I played with on a CBR600RR a year or two ago was flat out amazing, too, and good enough even for track use. If memory serves, Japan put a regulation in place ages ago that every manufacturer that sells motorcycles in their country must have at least one model with ABS, so even though you might think some manufacturers might not have much experience with the technology (such as Harley-Davidson) they actually do.
Again, like with ABS in cars it requires a different braking technique in panic stop situations; i.e. just nail the brakes as hard as you can and steer the thing. There’s no pumping or modulation required. Tires and brakes on bikes these days have become so good that a skilled rider can brake really effectively (meaning that ABS would rarely have to kick in) but in those particularly nasty, low traction situation the computers can literally save your bacon. It will be interesting to see what the manufacturers have to say when and if a mandate is established, although I’ll wager it wouldn’t go into effect for a few years.