2017 APRILIA TUONO 1100 RR & FACTORY
FIRST TEST
P90
NAKED
RACER
T
o be honest, before testing
for this article, I hadn't had
a lot of experience riding
naked bikes.
So, when arriving to COTA to
evaluate the newly refined 2017
Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 RR ABS and
Tuono V4 1100 Factory ABS, there
were a few questions buzzing
around my head.
The first question was, what
are these naked bikes actually
designed to do? Their aerodynam-
ics don't offer the kind of wind
protection needed to take us
cross-country comfortably, and
the near superbike-spec engine,
suspension, brakes and electron-
ics won't allow you to homologate
the machine to race against full-
fairing weapons like the Kawa-
saki ZX-10R, BMW S 1000 RR or
Yamaha YZF-R1.
If someone wants to carve up
and down a twisty road in anger,
they typically opt for the most
aggressive ergonomics available
to safely promote that high-perfor-
mance activity, right? If they want
the option to go on- and off-road,
they grab a dual-sport or even a
supermoto.
DO NO CLOTHES EQUAL
MORE FUN? IN THE APRILIA TUONO'S
CASE, YES IT DOES
BY MARK MILLER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY APRILIA USA
