My new bike - first impressions

[Stormin Ben]

On sunday I picked up my new bike
Its an 01 reg RSV-R
Picked it up from over by the M11 and hopped into my waterproofs almost straight away -nice way to learn a new more powerful unfamiliar bike







Initial impressions
MOTOR
Its a belter!
On paper its only making 10bhp more than the Storm but tbh thats just a top end comparison. The midrange is phenomenal
At virtually any revs in any gear it just fugs off

SUSPENSION
Not bad.
Only not bad I hear you say? With Ohlins front and rear?
Its too track focussed for the type of roads I ride (twisty bumpy B roads -I've a Plod allergy :-) )
But I'm hopeful that some twiddling will get it working better

HANDLING
Worse
I've spent 9 years tweaking and fettling the handling on my Storm til its absolutely perfect for me -very light steering & spot on weight distribution.
The Mille has an Ohlins steering damper which I think is at the root of the handling issues
The initial movement is stiff (like the seals are sticking) so its initiall reluctant to turn in
And worse -I cant ride it with no hands coz you cant steer it with just bodyweight


ERGONOMICS
Worse
Much of this is due to things like the levers being too high and the throttle being incredibly stiff but it is also noticeable how cr@p the screen is and that the bars are a bit lower


TO DO LIST
Oh no!
The whole point of getting the R version with the fancy wheels and suspension was that I wouldnt need to spend money on it
Yet as I was riding home I was building a list:-

Sort the handling and steering damper
Double bubble screen
Get the clock bracket powder coated coz its a bit eye catching (like the big silver screw in the middle of the Storm clocks that I had to replace with an anodised black one)
Sort out underseat storage coz at the moment it pitiful and I could climb into the one on the Storm -have you fitted it yet Simon?

Fit some fixed footpegs coz going back to OEM floppy fold-ups was awful
(good job I got some lovely Sato rearsets in with the deal



CONCLUSION
I love my Storm

But the Mille has potential

[Beamish]

Good honest report Ben, I know first hand what a belter that engine is but the riding position is certainly not for me. Enjoy.

[solorider]

on a road test of an aprilia v twin they didnt mention a better mid range than the storm,it probably is no better than the storm but feels better due to the instant reaction of the fuel injection of the apprilia,on the storm there is a slight delay in response which the magazine prefered as it made the bike safer

[LotusSevenMan]

I have only ever sat over one at a bike meeting but felt at 6' 2" tall it wouldn't fit me right.
Have to say (and is my personal opinion of course) but that can looks 'orrible.
Keep us up to date with the 'long-term-living-with-it' Ben as you only get away from the initial reactions after having it a while eh?

LSM

[lee67]

nice looking bikes ben, just hope u dont need spares, cos there still shite, someone i know waited 18 months for some gearbox parts

[Beamish]

Oh yeh, the back brake on the Prila is a pain in the ass, v hard to bleed and most owners say they are not too good at the best of times. Dont agree with the statment that Solorider made though, I thought the engine felt stronger right through the rev range.

[Stormin Ben]

Mike,
It is definitely heavier on the wrists than my Storm
That said I dont know how much of that is due to things like the levers set too high etc
But the pegs are actually more comfortable

Solorider,
It is so much fitter everywhere -the difference is crystal
Admittedly the injection makes the take up instant but it is also not snatchy or brutal. I rode it back in pouring rain and had no issues whatsoever and I wasnt dawdling

LSM,
I'm 6'3" and found it spot on. These have traditionally been popular with taller blokes as being a tall bike anyway you dont look like a giraffe humping a dog
Only query was whether my legs would fit under the ledge on the tank but they did with no problem
Can is not actually too bad and sounds really fruity for a road-legal can
Mind you it weights a tonne and you do have to check there's no illegal immigrants hidden in there periodicaly


Lee,
Yikes. Now I'm gonna be paranoid

Beamish
Had the back coming round on me a few times so its no worse than the Storms at the moment. Dunno if the owners fettled it or just the pedal position was higher



Other quirks:

1. Seems to be related to aerodynamics
When I got home the TOP of the seat unit was filthy -as was the back of my helmet
Guess at speed (60mph max obviously) it creates a vacuum behind the rider -better hugger required? Or just prepare for water down the back of the neck

2. Typical Italian -it has wind deflectors to keep wind and rain off your hands. Great
Unfortunately the curve of the fairing then directs rain straight back onto the top of your hands

Hey-ho off to the garage to strip the Storm and fiddle with the Mille at the same time

[lee67]

dont get paranoid ben, there great bikes...look the dogs...its just the parts fiasco..always been same with aprillia, im sure you will have many many miles of fun oh as for your first impressions, i would imagine its similar to my last bike tl1000.....more beeef than storm thru all the gears, smooth...but heavy steering at slow speeds( steering damper again)..now is suzuki made a new tl1000s..id buy one tomoz

[Zer0Zer0]

what size tyre u got on the back m8.. as i said in an earlier post.. mine had a 180/55 on when i got it.. and it almost fell down into corners .and i hated it, i got a 190/50 on it now. and the turn in is much more predictable for me..
I.m 6ft4. and i find it just right height wise, the reach to the bars is spot on too i dont get wrist ache anymore since i learned to relax my arms whilst riding.
i reckon after a little fettling of the suspenders. and a week or so getting aquainted. you will love it m8..is the steering damper adjustable? i would guess being an ohlins it would be..the guys on the Aprilia forum reckon it's pretty much spot on suspension wise as it leaves the factory and should only need tweeking for trackdays..
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/.. ignore the rowdy bikerbar threads it's all politics m8 being an american based forum but there are quite a few brits on including myself..and there is loads of good info and help to be had..,
as for spares try aprilia yorkshire, they seem to have a decent stock of parts.
and a double bubble is a must, it was the only other thing apart from the 180 that i hated about mine....

[Stormin Ben]

00

Its got a 180 on the rear and TBH I like my bike to fall into corners sharply so have no urgency to change it

WRT the damper, yes its the adjustable Ohlins one and I've wound it right off. Next step is to remove it and see how that feels
by all accounts but we'll see

I've stripped and lubed the throttle now so will see how that goes (although it still feels really heavy compared to the Storm sat next to it)
Also moved the levers to suit me more
Just need to find time and weather to ride it now (cue Travis singing my biking anthem )

[RedStormV]

Hi Ben,

Hope you're liking the RSVR.

Talking to mate at work (ex-bike mechanic) who's had standard and RSVR millies as well as Firestorms, SP1, SP2 and a whole heap of other bikes.

Overall he reckons the one you can live with the most (good all rounder) is the Storm. You'll make your own mind up though - and report back of course.

Couple of things he mentioned which may be of use to you in future, hopefully not, but with the reliability reputation of Italian bikes, who knows!

Apparently in the main loom (LHS I think) there's a large 'T' ing point which caters for most if not all the earths on the bike. It's housed in a section of clear tubing along with other wires, and is 'protected?' from the elements with tape at either end.

Thing is, this section of loom is at such an angle, that, in time, water gets though the tape, into the tubing and suddenly electrical probs occur and everything's green around the earthing 'T' point!

He says there's enough slack to pull this section of loom through the frame far enough to slit the tube and make amends, but only just!

Now I've depressed you, on the upside there's a big plus + .....

In the tail there's what looks like a pair of loom connectors that aren't (connected that is). These are a sort of 'fault diagnosis' system, plug them together and switch ignition on, an error code number 'should' come up on the clocks. Each number corresponding to a particular fault or problem.

Think the list he has starts at 3 or 4 though so just hope it never comes up with 1, 2 or 3!!. Perhaps a Millie forum may have web addy for D/L this list?

Another thing he mentioned is that they hate (will not start or even turn) any battery that's not in tip top condition. Apparently the 'standard' battery is ONLY JUST big enough to run the bike.

He went to service his mate's other week and although optimiser said it was good, it must've been down on power slightly, as after buggering about checking connections etc including the above mentioned 'T' conntector for a few hours, a new battery sorted it.

HTH

Graeme.

[Jbrebel]

Looks sweet Ben

I looked at a falco not long back. It'd be a better all round package for me. Find the RSV a bit tall in the leg department (5ft8 and all...)!

Got a TLS atm, but I'll be interested to see how you get on with it! Keep fancying a cahnge but cant make my mind up yet!

Cheers

[alan]

very nice ben wanna swap for my vtr and a project ccm easy fix lol

[lee67]

easy fix pmsl......one carefull owner hey alan

[sirch345]

A very nice looking bike Ben
A good non biased write up too As you say they do sound good with the standard can, I know as a mate of mine use to own one.

Some useful info from RSV (now that's confused things ) I'd better change that I think to RedStormV

Keep us up dated Ben, on your opinion, once we get some good weather and you can get some miles done on the new machine

Chris.