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
mid corn er. The t echnic ians were relu ctant to allow us to raise the forks in the triple clamps to spee d it up fu rth er , so I just dealt with it. The RSV's geometry is fai rl y co nse rvative w ith 24 .80 d egrees of rak e , b ut it does offer a who le lot of sta bility from the front end with 10 1.7 m m of trail. The susp en si on ac tion wa s ex c elle nt, offering pl enty o f spri ng both front and rear while offerin g plenty of con trol i n t erms of b oth reb ound a nd compression damping. Th e brakes are im pos sible to fault. There isn 't a better setup on an y production bike out th ere. Th e new tr end of rad i al -m ou nt ed c a li pe r s is awe so m e ; the feel and power from the Brem bo c ali pers on the RSV is amazing. It's just one of those th ings that after yo u samp le them, you wo nder how yo u' ve li ve d witho ut them for so l on g . T h e coc k t ai l of t he ca lipe r s, d i sc s a n d m a st er c y lin de r setup is p er f ect. I liter all y ca n' t thin k of o ne negative thi ng to say about th em. On a co u ple o f occasio ns I wo uld en t er th e turn o ne brak ing zone sit up and st art downshifti ng and realize th at th e re ar tire wa sn 't even on th e ground. T here is noth ing like 100-plus m il e per hour stop pies. The chass i s feels excellent with not a touch of noticeable flex - at lea st flex of the neg at ive kind . Th e bik e never tied itself into knots, even in th e quick Esses and th e chicanes , BO • , offering tons of st ability and goo d feel from the chassis. The ch as sis allows th e bike to m aintain m echanical gri p through th e reall y fast c orn er s, all ow ing the suspension to do it s job . The whee lba se is 14 15m m (56 .6 inches), which is o n the lo ng sid e for a sportbik e, bu t this m ay expla in the bike's m idc orner characteristics, stable an d a little relu ctant t o tighten up it s lin e, but in th e fast sweepers the bike was infalli b le. The ba lance of the chassis fe els very good f ront t o re ar b oth while accelerating and under brakin g . As for the all -n ew 998c c V -60 Mag nesium motor, it fee ls strong ; it 's ha rd to co mpare it wi th anything else without riding th em back to back , but it left me im p ressed , noneth el ess. The RSV pulls w ith authority, especially o ut of the tig hter chica nes and slowe r c o rn e rs. T he fue l delivery fr om the new fuel -in j ection system is excelle nt • not p er f ec t , bu t ex ce llent. Out of some of th e tighter co rne rs, th ere was a t t im es a slig h t h e si tat i on in t h e d el i ver y , but it w a s mi ni mal a n d so met hi ng th at I fo rgot ab ou t after getting used to the bi k e. I guess a t r ue test o f a bik e at M uge llo is ho w quickly it's ab le to eat up that long front straight. In the case of the RSV it went by p retty fast. A good drive out of the second -q ear Bucine left-bender with a shift to th ird befo re getting the b ike upright launched me onto the straight with a ~ .1.-' APRILIA f?J@@c§j [XJ~r!l f} @@@ [XJ [?@@{]@D)'f U ST PRICE ""., N/ A DISPLACEMENT 997.62cc ENGINE TYPE Uquid-cooled, 60-degree, V-twin four-stroke BORE x STROKE : 97 x 67.5 COMPRESSION RATIO 11.8: 1 CARBORETION , EFI, 57mm throttle bodies IGNmON , , ,,, Digital .Six -speed TRANSMISSION STARTING SYSTEM Electric FOEL CAPACITY .4.68 gal. WHEELBASE 1418mm, 56.72 in. RAKEffRAIL 24.8°/l0 1.7mm SEAT HEIGHT 32.4 in. ", 120/70ZR 17 FRONT TIRE , REAR TIRE 180/55ZR 17 FRONT·WHEEL TRAVEL .4.8 in. REAR·WHEEL TRAVEL , 5.32 in. FRONT BRAKE Dual 320mm discs, Brembo radial-mounted 4-piston calipers REAR BRAKE ... . ... .... ... ... .• . . . . ......Single 220mm disc, 2-piston caliper A NAL DRIVE " , " Chain CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT , , .407 Ibs. E PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS X PER lEN C September :ZO, :ZI, PRO: US" a :zsocc Practice Fri Sept I9 Qualifying a F"mals Sat Sept :zo E ever, we were told it shou ld be in the sam e ballpark as last year's models . eN ROAD COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS SeptemberI9,:zo,:ZI ,:z00~ :zoo~ Pro a Amateur Classes Test a Tune Fri Sept I9 Qualifying Sat Sept :zo Finals Sun Sept :ZI 10,000 purse Eddie Mulder Presents September I 9, :ZO, :ZI , I f> Class e s Pro a Amateur Classes Call ( 7 0:Z) &sI-IO~O For m o re i nfo rmatio n DRAG RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS September I9, :ZO, :ZI, FREESTYLE MX CHAMPIONSHIPS ~ asses GREAT AMERICAN DESERT GRAND PRIX September :ZO, :ZI, G.A.M.E. (8&&)202-8832 ~ o E-'I~tls.Aomat _ -,eur, Novice 6 Peewee Classe s Call ( 7 0 :z) f>n-IO~o For more information Tic:ketmaster ( 702) 474-4000 and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (800) 644-4444 For m ....." infonnation or to enter ~:d" BEEF JERKY from Top Fuel to E .T. Bracket Bikes Test a Tune Fri Sept I 9 Qualifying Sat Sept :ZO Finals Sun Sept :ZI TICKETS ON SALE AT :z00~ $5, '0,000 PU .- :z00~ :z00~ 11"_ I N A S S O C I A T I O N WITH prici ng hasn 't yet been finalized , How - Las Vegas Motor Speedway FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS :z00~ Freestyle Qualifying Thur Sept 1:S Big Air Competition Fri Sept I., Finals Sat Sept :ZO ava ilable at the end of September, but Call ( 7 0 :Z) &sI -IO~O For more information SPEEDWAY BIKES CHAMPIONSHIPS ~o ($ Aprilia Black / Diablo Black, and Lead Grey/Mag net Gre y. The bik es will be Ama t e u r Cl~Jse.l Prac:tice a Qualifying Sat Sept :ZO Final s Sun Sept :ZI $50,000 ~ur8e :z00~ will be available in Aprili a Black / Diablo Black, and Red/Lead Grey. Th e Mille R F actory that we rode is availa b le in 17-21,2003 AMATEUR MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS :zoo~ September IS, I9, :ZO, should be very co ncerned about losing mark et share to this bik e. Th e Mille R September J!DBIiBIICWfII[== P RESENTS September I9, tain Ita lia n m oto rcycl e co m pany tha t GREA..T GAMING )/fflililfl!lBlfN[101fB September I9, :ZO, nam e it, it' s bett er. I ca n th ink of a cer- head of stea m. T wo m ore gears and it's a ll a bo ut g etti ng rid of all th at spee d . Th ere aren 't too m any fro nt straig hts o ut there that are ac tua ll y fun , but Mu gell o 's is on e of th em . The th em e for Aprili a' s la unc h was " -0 1.00 second " bec au se tha t is ho w much quicker th eir pri mary test rider was able to la p Mu gell o on the new bike than on the old M ill e. The bottom lin e is that the new RSV 1000 R Factory is a m uch better motorcycle than the o ne it replaces in every regard - motor, suspension, styling, you G,A,M~E. (lMoIo) 202-8832 K IND OF" B I!:E:R. · cue --. - .... Visit us at _.great-motorcyc:le-ellp.com ... n .. ON S • S EPTEMBER 3 , 2003 37.