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Aprilia's
new mini v-twin - Which model
should they put into production first?
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Earlier this year Leo Francesco Mercanti, Aprilia brand manager, told us about Aprilia's intention to re-enter World Superbikes in 2008 with a v4, and at the Milan Motorcycle show today, we saw the remarkable engine of the new bike, bristling with innovation. Developed entirely in-house, the Aprilia engineers have used a slightly wider configuration of 65° between the cylinders (compared to the current RSV twin's 60°), maintaining excellent fluid dynamics in the inlet ports whilst still allowing a short and narrow engine that'll give the chassis engineers a lot of flexibility over placement. The primary vibration inherent in a 65° angle between the pairs of cylinders is negated through use of a balance shaft. Space is further saved by a very unusual design for driving the dual overhead cams. Only the inner (inlet) cams are driven by chains which in turn, drive the outer cams through a series of gears between each pair of cylinders. The importance of a highly compact v configuration was learnt from the hugely successful SXV v-twin engine which achieved it's compactness through a different route, via a single overhead cam per cylinder. Aprilia have been so successful that the RSV 4 v-four engine is even more compact than the venerable Rotax V60 v-twin with which Aprilia first entered WSB in 1999, and which drives the current RSVR Factory, this year crowned the fastest production motorcycle in the world in the objective and prestigious Masterbike competition. In WSB racing trim the engine revs to 13,500rpm and already produces 207bhp (at the crank obviously) with plenty of development work to do before the 2008 season. The throttle linkage is fly-by-wire with the throttle butterflies on each pair of cylinders operated by two stepper motors controlled directly by the Magneti Marelli ECU, which also controls two injectors per cylinder, one either side of the throttle butterfly. WSB entry also means that Aprilia will be producing RSV4 homologation specials for the road, much like the RSV SP, which should also mean a range of full production bikes, hopefully also for 2008. The power on these production models will have to be a fair bit lower for cost and longevity reasons, but it's abit early to speculate on what exactly to expect, suffice it to say that it'll be more than competitive. The price will obviously be in excess of the current RSVR Factory, but not as much as you might think, and certainly less than the 999R. Related Link: Aprilia RSV4 engine promo video (Italian) Update 22/02/08: In front of 1,200 dealers, Aprilia has unveiled its RSV-4 Superbike Race Bike in Milan. And quite an entrance it was too with the bike descending in a crate through smoke high in the ceiling of the hall. Now heading for the 2009 World Superbike Championship season, Aprilia are obliged to sell at least 1,000 road going versions of these bikes per year. They even had the bike running on the stage (see video) to prove that this was far from vapourware. All the bodywork was obviously carbon fibre. Full details remain sketchy as there's still a year's worth of development to do, but the engine has clearly evolved a great deal since we initially saw it over a year ago and it was interesting to see the rev counter going up to 16,000 rpm (not that necessarily proves anything...). We're often asked about when the road version of the RSV4 will be available, and to be honest we don't know, but our best guess from past experience is that we'll see them at the Milan Show at the end of the year but we wont be getting our first deliveries until well into 2009. Alex Hofmann has been seen riding the RSV4 in Jerez, Estoril and Valencia alongside the Aprilia factory testing of their 125 and 250 race bikes, and it's believed that he has a two year contract to test in 2008 and race in SBK in 2009. Though there remains the possibility of a guest slot or two at the end of the 2008 season. With the potential arrival of BMW and KTM as well, the 2009 season promises to be something very special. Entry into the US domestic AMA Superbike championship is expected in 2010, to coincide with a big brand relaunch in the States. There were a few hints at the dealer convention about re-entry into motogp as well, but that's a discussion for another time. We'll bring you more information on Aprilia's RSV 4 as we get it. Update 19/09/08: Max Biaggi has been confirmed as the Aprilia's World Superbike rider for 2009 and 2010 at a fee reputed to be around £1million. The infamous Roman has won three of his four world titles with Aprilia in the last Millennium, so Aprilia seems a worthy homecoming for his retirement. As Leo Francesco Mercanti, the Piaggio's product development and sporting department said "We are convinced that he will give expression to our passion, technical skill, and desire for victory." Nice. Update 21/09/08: Aprilia's RSV4 road bike was launched in Piazza del Popola, Rome tonight in a big party. In homage to the original RSV, the RSV4 had a three headlight arrangement, a size zero figure (179kg dry) and 180bhp @ 12,500rpm in street trim, with torque of 115Nm @10,000rpm. The engine is as discussed, a 65° 999cc V4 and ride-by-wire with hot switchable multiple engine maps, a cassette gearbox and a slipper clutch. The very compact engine allows for mass centralisation and excellent handling from the long swingarm and short wheel base. It also comes with adjustable steering angle, swingarm and engine positions. Like the RSVR it'll come in base and Factory flavours with Tuono versions to follow. The bike has been designed with the naked RSV4 Tuono variant in mind from the start unlike the current Tuono which was something of an after-thought, so expect a much cleaner look. There's no firm price or availability dates yet, but there was a strong hint that it'll be very close indeed to matching existing RSVR prices. Update 30/10/08: Aprilia has signed Shinya Nakano as their second rider for the 2009 World Superbike campaign. The contract includes an option for 2010. Shinya leaves MotoGP this year finishing 9th. Aprilia's RSV4 is small enough, but the diminutive Shinya seems dwarfed when standing behind the bike (see photo). Update 20/04/09: Aprilia have just confirmed a slight delay to our first delivery and we'll now be picking up our first RSV4 delivery on May 11th at a big Aprilia dealer event, and we'll be having our own special RSV4 Factory event at our premises on Thursday 14th May. We'll send out another Newsletter nearer the time with more details. The price of the limited edition Factory model has been set in the UK at £14,995 OTR. The price on the unlimited availability version has yet to be set but we should be getting our first deliveries in September. We're now taking deposits on both models. Update 23/04/09: Spanish Magazine Motociclismo have done the first in depth "Masterbike" type test of 8 one litre superbikes at Misano, with the RSV4's best lap at over a second faster than the second place GSX-R 1000. Click here and put Motocicismo into the search box to read the article (it's in Spanish - but the tables and diagrams tell you plenty). The best lap times were: 1 - Aprilia RSV-4 1.45.367 Update 27/10/09: Our first RSV4R has arrived. That's the cheaper full production "R" model which is the same bike as the Factory model but without some of the most exotic SBK homologationmaterials and components). It's a black beauty, so come round to the shop and have a good look at it in the flesh. We believe it's the first in the country. See the Superbike Magazine Press Launch Review plus the official RSV4R launch video at the botom of this page. Update 12/07/10: Aprilia are running a promotion where the owners of the first 20 RSV4 bikes registered between 12 and 27th July 2010 get a complementary weekend ticket and hospitality to the Silverstone WSBK round. At the time of writing we have a RSV4R in white with a FREE Akrapovic slip-on for £13,120 OTR. Related Links: MCN's take on the Racing RSV4 | MCN on the Street RSV4 | RSV4 vs Fireblade - TWO | Aprilia RSV4 Tuono | Aprilia Racing RSV4 Parts Catalogue 2011 Is there anything you'd like to add to this News item? Then go to the MaxMoto Message Board for the Aprilia v-four ( 10 comments). Would you like to receive regular news items like this? And be entered into our regular prize draws? Then, Join our Newsletter.
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MaxMoto News 14/11/06.
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