P104
RIDE REVIEW I APRILIA TUONO 660 FACTORY AND TUONO V4 1100 FACTORY
the 660, although it's not with-
out its charms. The 660's light
weight makes the
turn three
to eight switchback section a
breeze, and unless you're Joe
Roberts, it's going to be impos-
sible to ride the V4 through
there
faster.
The 660 runs the IMU and
allows you to tune traction,
wheelie and ABS, but the chas-
sis is so well sorted you can
put
the settings on level one to
give you some safety net and let
the mechanical grip take over—
helped no doubt by the SC3 Pire-
lli slicks, which is altogether too
much tire for this bike.
One
hundred horsepower is
spot on for Streets, and I only
saw fifth gear for a brief second
the might tighter Streets of Wil-
low the next day.
STREETS OF
WILLOW
The Streets of Willow track was
repaved a couple of years ago
and is now one of my favorites
in SoCal. The tiny layout crams
13 corners into 1.6 miles and
is a haven for good-handling
bikes. By that reckoning, the 660
should be the goer, but I was
amazed at how much more I
enjoyed it compared to the V4.
The V4 is like driving a go-kart
in your bedroom compared to
The parallel-twin four-stroke
motor doesn't love bouncing into
the redline, however. Keep the
revs in the mid to lower half of
the top-end and there's always
drive to be had. Any higher than
that and the forward momentum
begins to run out and you're left
searching for the next gear.
High-speed stability on the
660 is good but not great. The
1100 has the weight behind it
and thus manages to impart a
sense of solidity just not there
on the 660.
However, the 660, with its
skinnier profile and much lighter
weight, retains an agility the
1100 could only dream of. This
gets emphasized even further
when we turn our attention to
The tight Streets of Willow
is the perfect place to maximize
the turn speed of 660.
