2004 Aprilia RSV 1000 R Factory
CDuge((o, ltaly, and 1000ccs of V -nmn poweR. What else could a guy aSK fOR?
tarmac . A s I came bl asting over the
hill lap after lap on the new Mill e R
Factory - th e bik e gett ing light while
at th e top of fi fth ge ar - I tri ed to fath om ho w th e Mo to G P r id er s co ul d
B y B LA K E C O N N ER
P HOT OS C O URT ESY OF A PRILI A
mph! No, no t on the new
M ill e R Factory, but that' s
how fast Loris Cap irossi went dow n
the front straight at Mugello durin g
the It ali an Grand Prix in June. Th e
straight is looooong and is fed by a
fast sw eeper , insu r ing that the bik e
will be hauling butt by the end of th e
.7 13 -o f -a - m il e long straight. Wh at
makes it all th e more exc iting is th e
fact th at im m ed iately before th e 30 0 m eter brak ing m arker th ere is a n ice
rise to crest and a slight k ink in th e
32
S EPTEM BER 3 , 2 0 0 3 '
c
u
e
kee p th eir b ik es from launching off
into th e stratosph ere . No t ha nks, I' ll
leave the heroics to th e likes of Rossi,
Capiro ssi, Edward s and co mpa ny .
M u g ell o is o ne of th o se f abl ed
track s that I'v e always dream ed about
• riding, and thr ough th e kind invitation
of Ap r il ia a sma ll group of us we re
i nv i te d t o sa mple th e co m p le tely
redesign ed 2004 RSV 1000 R Fact ory .
I
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e
vv
s
I've al ways l iked t h e Aprilia Mille
because o f its excellently balanced
c hassis , the smooth po wer d eliver y
fr om the 50 -d egree V-twin , and to pnot ch fit and finish. How ever, th e one
thing that bik e lac k ed in the past was
pow er, at least co m pared to th e RC-51
and the Ducatis. Another gripe of mine
would be that th e Mille never grabbed
m y att enti on visually . It wasn't a bad lo oking bik e b y an y m eans , it just
didn 't have the raw sex appea l of th e
Du c at i , and any t h ing w ith a motor
bu ilt in Ita ly should have sex appeal ,
rig ht? Well , not a Fi at, I gu ess.
Aprilia ha s co m pletely rede sig ned
th e Mill e fo r 2004 fro m the gro u nd
up . Not on l y is th e b i k e s maller,
lighter and m or e compact, the m ot or
has been ma ssag ed to gain that litt le
bit of extra power it nee d ed. To p ut
th e ic ing on th e cake , th e bike has
b een complet el y restyl ed , as w ell,
and I th ink that th e results speak fo r
them sel ve s . Th e b i k e now h a s a
fr esh , sha rp, chi sele d lo ok . Th e t ail
se ctio n in p art i cu lar is b e au tifull y
styl ed with th e turn indicato rs blend e d i n t o th e bod yw or k i n stea d o f
t acked onto the sur face. Ditt o for the
