The Best Just Got Better
YOU COULD SAY APRILIA HAVE A SLIGHTLY unfair advantage as they smartly fitted an Akrapovic silencer to the test bikes, to simply add to the amusement around Misano. It does sound amazing, even at tick-over. I know from experience that Aprilia’s V4 has always had a distinctive “character” but now, with more revolutions per minute (rpm) to play with (300 rpm more) this has amplified the experience to over-indulgent levels.
Leaving the famous pit-lane at Misano, the new Factory sounds magnificent, the V4 blasting pulsating vibrations off the pit wall. Out on to the track on pre-heated Pirelli slicks (no need to warm them up), the bike is straight into it, accelerating hard to join the swarm of Italian racers already up to race speed.
The noise is lovely, what a voice! This is escorted by the smoothest of quick-shifter changes I have experienced on a road bike. The changes are quick, perfectly matched in rpm; it is as if the peg, selector, and gearbox have been purposely designed for me.
The fuelling and throttle response, like the clutch-less gear-changes, are perfect. Aprilia have uprated the electronics with a new Magneti Marelli ECU, which is essentially the brain that controls the fuelling and rider aids. This is
