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/1376983
P92 RIDE REVIEW I 2021 APRILIA RSV4/RSV4 FACTORY RIDE REVIEW RIDE REVIEW RIDE REVIEW I 2021 APRILIA RSV4/RSV4 FACTORY about as close to superbike nirvana as I can think of. As there's so much midrange torque, you barely need to shift out of third or fourth gears when on the back roads— simply ride the wave of torque, letting the RSV4 flow from one corner to the next. Sixth gear isn't an overdrive but unless you're travelling north of 65 mph on the freeway, you'll never use it. The revs drop right down and you're a little out of where the motor really likes to be for full-blown acceleration, so best to run in fifth most of the time. The motor gets about as close to a 10 out of 10 as I can give it, but what's equally impressive is the chassis in that it doesn't feel very different at all to any of the previous RSV4's I've ridden over the past decade and a half. This is a very good thing because Aprilia got the OG so right back in 2009, all they've needed to do is refine the mix. Aprilia has fitted their first production inverted swingarm for the '21 RSV4, which they claim is a massive 30 percent stiffer and saving 600 grams of unsprung weight. The result is the RSV4 gives such beautiful feel on the side of tire, especially when you start dialing the power back in past the apex. The 2019 edition was no slouch here, but it used technology and thinking from a number of years ago. The inverted swingarm theory was taken from Aleix Espargaro's RS-GP machine and was clearly a masterstroke, helping the RSV4 rail with the fluidity of a 600 but the power of a (bigger) superbike. However, on track at least, there's an interesting point with regards to the RSV4 versus the RSV4 Factory. The base RSV4 used to be the poor relation to the RSV4 Factory. That appears to be well in the past now because the base RSV4's game has improved drastically for 2021. The base runs the conventional Sachs 43mm fork and shock compared to the electronically adjustable Ohlins on the RSV4 Factory, and its performance was eye-opening at Laguna Seca. Compared to the always-adjusting RSV4 Factory when in Dynamic mode, The base RSV4 has impressive agility but it's the improved Sachs conventionally adjusted suspension that is the big eye- opener.