Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128230
La Cic/istica & La Com onentistica The Factory has Ohlins 43mm upside-down forks, ra dial- m ounted Brem bo brake s a n d the forged- al uminum wheels. This Is actually an RSV 10 0 0 R, the standard ve rs ion. Note the traditional-mounted brakes, cast wheels , and unpainted fram e. The chassis on the RSV ha s been extensively changed for 2004, as well. Th e primary goal of th e redesign was to work on the bike's m ass centralizati on , while at th e sam e ti me increasing rigidity and reducing its weighL Th e fram e is made of a co m bi nation of ca st A I Si 7 (a n aluminum-silicon alloy) and Peraluman 450 (ano ther aluminum all oy) parts . Throu gh extensive CAD and fin it e element studies, the design was im proved signific antl y . The bik e's headst oc k has been repositioned lower to help lower the bik e's CG (c ente r of gravit y) . The swing arm pivot has been moved .5mm forward, which allowed th e engineers to make th e sub frame a little lower, al so improving the bike's CG . The engine has also been moved 4mm to the right in th e frame to he lp ba lance the bike perfec tly . Addit io nall y , th e subfra me now attaches to the frame in the vertical pla ne, allowing t he thickness to be redu ced . The suspension support cro ss m em bers are now ca st piec es inste ad of extruded. wh ich all owed th eir shape to be fonned around the rear shock for more efficient packagin g. The swingann is all new as well and is made with extruded Peraluman and cast AI Si 7 . Th e double banana shape allows th e new twi n-sile ncer exhaust syst em to pass up and unde r it and out of th e wa y to prevent an y gro und cl earance issues . Through finite element studi es th e piece was made stronger while reduci ng its weigh t ano th er 400 grams. As wa s mention ed in the m otor sidebar, the headstock now features th e ram-air-du ct passage, wh ich adds str ength to the entire stru ct ure. It als o acts as a mounting po int fo r the two alum inum sup ports for th e headlight and the wi ndscreen . The only real differenc e betw een th e Fact ory ver sion we tested and th e nonnal R version is th e fact th at the frame on the Factory is painted m atte black . As I mentioned, the biggest differenc e between th e tw o bikes is th e fact that th e Fac to ry co me s with fully adjustab le Ohlins suspension . On th e front are 4 3m m upside-d own racing units with titanium nitride coating on the inner stan chi on s, and th ey feature elonga ted sleev es and sho rtened legs to reduce fiex on the sliding bu shings and sta nc hlon -leg co upli ngs. Th e rear Ohlins Racing shock is fu lly adj usta ble and features a pig gyba ck nitrogen reserv oir and has provisions for ride height adjustment. The Fa ctory version also features an adj usta ble two-chamber Ohlins steering damper. The braking syste m I alluded to in m y rid ing impression con sists of top-shel f Br embo items. The front brakes were developed in conj unction with Brembo for th e RSV and feature radia l -mounted calipers. Aprilia was the firs t company to fit radial -mounted brakes to one of its factory 25 0 Grand Prix bi kes, and it was eager to fit them to a production unit . T he radi al m oun ted brakes have a co up le of key ben efits ov er co nvent ionally m ounted brakes. Th e fir st is t hat th e mount in g m e t h o d e li mi n ate s an y m o vement of the ca li per bod y, which in tu m eliminates the elastic feel from the caliper's twi sting side to sid e under pressure. Th i s wou ld norm all y b e felt at th e lev er , as th e p ist on ' s an d pad s' c o n ta c t with th e rotors w o uld be c om pro mised. Th e second ben ef it is th at brak e pad performa nce is dramatically in creased . No t only is there better contact with the ro tors, but pad life is impro ve d because t hey This is a vie w of the air-run ne r passa ge thro ugh the he adsto ck of the frame. are kept pr ecis el y in li ne with th e rot ors and therefor e wea r m ore ev en ly . This is c o mbined w ith a B r embo ra d i a l mas t er cy l i n de r a n d braided stai n less steel lin es for amazing sto pp ing power . The ro tors up front a re Brembo 320mm floating ste el d i sc s, whil e a 220mm d is c resides out back wi th a Brembo Go ld Serie s tw in -piston ca liper. Lik e the SP version be fore it, the Factory feat ures blue a no di ze d forged Anticoroda l 6 06 1 aluminum wh eel s, wh ich are fo rmed in an 8000ton hydraulic p ress . Th e process produces wheel s without defec ts and wh ich d on 't h a v e t he p o r ous na tu r e that cast wh eel s have. The wheels w eigh 2 5 - percent le ss t ha n a cast wheel , gr eatl y redu c ing unspru ng weighL Th e stan dard whe el is a 6 .0 x 16 -in ch unit, bu t Aprilia a lso homologated a 5 .5 inc h - w ide v e rsi on fo r tra ck use. The new swinga rm is a Th er e is a lo t more t o th e st y lin g of the RSV than do uble- ba na na design to sim ple aesthetics. Th e shape on the new bi ke is very a llo w the twin-exhaust pi pes aggressive from the much more chiseled front fairing to the slim tai l uni t , wh ich has inte grated LE D taillights and to clear it. No te the integrated tu m sig nals . Not on ly does this im prove the asymmetrical shape, lin es of th e bi ke , it helps with its aerodynam ic s as well. designed to cl e ar the f inalTh e headl ights are split into fo ur lamps, which work in drive syst e m , al so the offset pa irs for pl enty of illumination and are split by th e ra m mounted Oh lins sh ock. air intak e in th e fron t. The Fa ctory version tha t we rod e has a ton of c a rbo n fib er p ieces to f urther eli m inate weight. The fr ont fender, rear inner fender , fairing ext ract o rs, windscreen deflect ors , upper fairin g cover, and sid e fairi ng s are all m ad e of th e light st uff, helping to reduc e the weight of th e Fac tory by 8 .8 Ibs. Th e sta ndard bi ke weig hs in at 415.8 poun ds dry, compared to 407 for the Factory . Th e dash on the RSV has bee n redesigned and like before features a hybrid analog and digital display. All data is receive d fro m the CAN (control area netwo rk ), whi ch has an auto diagnos tic sys tem built in , The wei gh t of the dash wa s cut sig nificantly from 56 0 to 220 grams. A ll of the coo l functions such as a lap ti me r (with 40 lap m em ory ) , adj usta ble shift lig ht , rec all s for top speed , q uickest la p, and m ax rpm are sti ll th ere. Th e dash's lighting level c an be adj usted t o thr ee different levels. Th e ke y has a chi p in it that allo ws th e bike's im mobi lizer to be defeated, otherw ise the bik e won 't start. A prilia offers var ious ac cessories for the RSV in cl udi ng A prilia Raci ng slip-on exhausts , and Akrapovic full-system exhausts, bo th of wh ich require yo ur deal er to p lug into th e ECU and cha nge t he fu el -in j ection mapping over to aftermarket exhaust m ap . Unfo rt una te ly this can on ly be don e at th e dealershi p . Other accessor ies incl ude a race pattern gearbox and a tire pressure monitor, which disp lays the pressure on yo ur dash . cue e n e vv s S EPTEM BER 3 , 2003 35