Cycle News

2016 APRILIA TUONO 1100 RR FIRST RIDE P100 >>MULTI-CYLINDER MUSCLE As with the RSV4, most Tuono engine components have been redesigned in pursuit of the increased performance which according to Aprilia's chief R&D engineer Piero Soatti, has been obtained primarily via reduced friction, improved combus- tion efficiency and higher revs, plus less weight, with the revamped motor scaling 2.5kg less than before. So the upper half of the newly overbored 81 x 52.3mm 1078cc 65° V4 engine's horizontally split crankcase comprises a new 1.5kg lighter casting, still with the water-cooled cylinders containing separate Nikasil-lined aluminum liners cast integrally for greater stiffness, but now with an optimized ventilation system aimed at reducing pumping losses caused by air pressure inside the crankcase. The oil system has been completely revamped, and the lower crankcase half now incorporates a redesigned magnesium sump cast- ing to optimize lubrication at full lean, and under maximum acceleration or braking—and especially when wheely- ing, if you switch off the electronic AWC anti-wheelie control. The Tuono's forged pistons now sit on new 100g lighter Pankl forged steel conrods, running on a rede- signed plain-bearing forged one-piece crankshaft that's gone on a 0.45kg diet, with its crankpins each reduced in diameter to 36mm, making for a crank assembly that's a whole 0.85kg lighter than before, in turn delivering quicker acceleration. To keep the polished aluminum twin-spar chas- sis as narrow as possible—an issue essentially dictated by the width of the cylinder heads, where the frame spars wrap around them—Aprilia has retained its modular camdrive arrangement with a lateral chain for each twin-cylinder head casting driven via an idler gear running off the crank, which in turn drives the inlet camshaft for each DOHC cylinder block. Another pair of idler gears then drives the exhaust camshaft, permitting a narrow 250mm width across the top of the engine, which is actually less than the old RSV1000 V-twin. However, the new Tuono 1100 motor retains the cylinder heads and camshaft profiles of the older V4 engine, rather than the uprated, re- ported items found on the new RSV4. This means the four-valve combus- tion chambers are still cast in rather than machined from solid, and while the pairs of 32mm titanium inlet and 28mm nimonic steel exhaust valves for each cylinder are unchanged, sitting at an ultra-flat 22° included angle to each other, the valve timing is differ- ent, for greater torque. The airbox design is unchanged and the bank of four 48mm Marelli throttle bodies are each still fitted with single injectors positioned upstream of the throttle butterfly, not dual ones as on the Su- perbike. The variable intake system of the RSV4 has been jettisoned in favor of attaching all four intake trumpets in a fixed position to the throttle bod- ies, and these are 20mm longer to fatten low-rpm pickup and midrange performance. As on the RSV4, engine management has been entrusted to a new, more powerful Magneti Marelli ECU, but with Aprilia responsible for calibration of the software in-house. In addition, a trio of different throttle maps is offered via a switch on the handlebar, though these have been renamed from before, and are now Race, Track and Sport instead of Track, Sport and Road. The Tuono 1100's six-speed side- loading cassette-type gearbox uses straight-cut primary gears, and as be- fore is matched to a ramp-type oil-bath slipper clutch. The gearbox has the same new choice of ratios as on the RSV4 RR/RF to reflect the engine's increased power, and features a light- ened mainshaft, layshaft and primary drive plus narrower gear pinions for a total weight saving of 0.45kg. The single counterbalancer needed to iron out the vibration caused by the narrow 65° cylinder angle is mounted low down in front of the front cylinder block, and gear-driven directly off the crank, and has also been reweighted compared to the RSV4, at the cost of a 3bhp power loss in driving it. The 4-2-1 stainless steel exhaust carries a single oxygen sensor—rather than two as on the new RSV4—and a three-way catalyst. This uprated engine is installed in an unchanged version of the RSV4's multi-adjustable twin-spar frame composed of aluminum pressings and castings to form a light but stiff chassis weighing just 22.2 pounds, plus another 11.2 pounds for the asym- metric swingarm pivoting in it. This is 4mm longer than before, in order to help improve traction and combat wheelies via the slightly longer 57-inch wheelbase, and as on the new RF/ RR models, the Tuono's engine is positioned 5mm lower than before for extra stability in harnessing the meaty motor's extra performance. The seat height is 0.59 inches lower at 32.4 inches, and is claimed to be more comfortably padded. Each variant of the bike, RR and Factory, has fully adjustable suspen- sion via a 43mm upside down fork set at an angle of 24.7° (reduced from 25.1º on the previous Tuono), with a much less rangy 3.9 inches of trail (4.2 inches before), thanks to the offset on the triple-clamps being in- creased from 1.1 inches to 1.3 inches. On the Tuono RR this fork comes from Sachs while the Factory gets an Öh- lins, although each offers a rather stiff 110mm of travel, with the same choice of manufacturers at the rear, where their fully adjustable monoshocks each give 130mm of travel. Brakes on both bikes come courtesy up front of

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