News

WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL 2009 04

‘V4 is the perfect solution’►

Michael Neeves I michael.neeves@motorcyclenews.com

Is the V-twin dead?For Aprilia, no, because we still have V-twin bikes like the Shiver and Mana. But for sportsbikes, the big V-twin is quite difficult to get more performance out of and use it effectively. Aprilia has decided to build a V4 for its new genera-tion of sportsbikes.

Which bits of the new RSV4 are just there for racing?The RSV4 project was born with both the race and road departments’ input. The target was to have a sportsbike, but at the same time to have a competitive race bike for WSB. So the solution for the engine, the removable gearbox, the electronics, the inlet trumpets and the adjustable frame is from the race department.

Why is the V4 so good?Our target was to have a small bike with a compact ‘V’ engine and perfect balance. The V4 isn’t just an engine, it affects the behaviour of the entire bike and its design – it’s the perfect solution.

►New forged aluminium wheels are 1kg less than the RSV V-twin’s. Braking wise, up front there are four-piston radial monobloc Brembos with twin 320mm discs. Rear is twin-piston Brembo caliper with 220mm disc. Tyres are Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa SP: 120/70 x 17 front, 190/55 x 17 rear.

►The simply beautiful adjustable aluminium chassis has a 52/48 front/rear weight distribution and weighs 10.1kg. Also adjustable are steering head angle, rear ride height, swingarm height and engine position. The aluminium swingarm is typical Aprilia specialness and weighs 5.1kg.

►V4 motor produces a claimed 180bhp@12,500rpm and 85ftlb@10,000rpm. It has a single block crankcase with integrated cylinder liners, titanium inlet valves and balance shaft to reduce vibration. There’s also a remov-able six-speed cassette gearbox for racing and a slipper clutch.

Where did the know-how to make a V4 come from?The knowledge comes from our history with the ‘V’ engine. We’ve had this type of engine since 1995, when we started to develop the RSV twin, and have had a lot of experience since, including our 250GP V-twin machine.

Why has the RSV4 not used the engine as part of the chassis? We decided to go for a complete frame to allow for the adjustability. To have the engine as part of the frame means it would be impossible to adjust. For us, it’s better to separate the engine from the chassis.

Will we see the V4 in any future Aprilia model?It was very expensive to build this V4 engine and this is the first bike to have it. For the future it is a possibility that it will appear in other bikes and maybe with a larger or smaller capacity. We are concentrating on the RSV4 Factory at the moment, but by the end of the year there will be an ‘R’ version.

News

WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL 2009 10

Rupert Paul I rupert.paul@motorcyclenews.com

Yamaha’s Rossi-developed R1 has won praise from a panel of 1000cc sports bike riders – but not for the reasons racers and MCN road testers are raving about it.

While the new sports bike’s crossplane crank gives amazing precision and con-trollability close to the limit on a race track, ordinary road riders are impressed by something much more down to earth: the Yamaha’s low-down power.

The panel of 1000cc sports bike own-ers spent a day riding the R1 last week at Bruntingthorpe proving ground. Rang-ing from fast trackday rider to relative novice, they all praised the new bike’s grunty, fast-revving, V4-style character – even though their own bikes were at least 10mph faster down the mile-long straight.

“It’s exactly what everyone’s wanted for years: low down power,” said Fire-blade owner Pete Lodge. GSX-R rider Paul Martin added: “The power’s there instantly, and it picks up tremendously.” And fast trackday rider Chris Drew said: “Chasing more and more power is a dead end. There’s definitely a problem with modern superbikes needing loads of revs to get anywhere. This is a good way of getting away from that.”

Although two of the panel were less keen on the R1 as an overall package, all four enjoyed the uneven-firing engine’s lazy power delivery – a side effect of the bike’s unique crankshaft design. Their comments suggest that, with sports bike horsepower levels stalling in re-cent years, riders may be ready to shun

How new R1 works for ordinary riders►

180mph top speeds for a more involving and characterful experience.

But with the Yamaha making less power than its rivals, what is it actually doing that feels so good? Yamaha won’t release measurements of the ‘inertial torque’ which they say gets in the way of a rider feeling when it’s safe to open the throttle on a conventional inline four. “You can imagine it as a lag, then a rush, every 180°,” explained BSD’s dyno expert Mark Brewin. “With the crossplane R1, the crank accelerates more smoothly because the mass is more evenly dis-tributed. So the torque the rider asks for is more immediate.”

It seems that Yamaha are offering riders a trade off: you can buy a more powerful conventional bike – or you can have an R1 which will give you the force you ask for at the back tyre more quickly, and more predictably. “With road riders using small throttle openings, it’s no surprise that they like the immediacy of the R1,” said Brewin.

What’s the R1 got at the outerMCN tester Bruce Dunn is an internation-al standard 250 racer, and rode the R1 at Cartagena in Spain for MCN’s initial test three weeks ago. He said: “When you get beyond about eight-tenths of the bike’s ability, an almost surreal experience opens up. It’s a feeling for traction and controllability on the throttle, without affecting the chassis – particularly in long, horseshoe-type corners. You can trim the throttle on and off at high lean angle, on the way into, through and out of corners, and still maintain your chosen line. It feels much more precise.”

Why less grunt feels so goodWhen it comes to 1000cc sports bikes, traditional dyno curves are irrelevant. They’re obtained from a full-throttle, top-gear run over the entire rev range. Try that on the road and you’ll find yourself in orbit.

So forget the fact that the R1 makes ‘only’ 156-158bhp, when its four- cylinder rivals do 10bhp more. What really separates one superbike from another is how it feels on part-throttle. An 80mph cruise on the R1, for example, uses 3-4% of throttle. Even passing a truck swiftly only uses 40-60%.

All our test riders appreciated rolling out of a 40mph bend onto a clear straight in second gear.

Surprisingly, the bike doesn’t deliver that much thrust during this operation – about 55ftlb, well short of its 78ftlb maximum. But it delivers it quickly, and in an extremely flat torque curve (flat curves are good: they’re easy for riders to feel and control).

The second surprise is discovering how the bike produced the torque. During the four-second test the throttle butterfly was opening as much as 12% more than the rider’s instructions delivered via the twistgrip.

This is what ride-by-wire throttles are great at – using a computer to iron out the dips and peaks in torque delivery. It’s likely that the variable inlet tracts were helping by shifting their length too. Luddites might not like it, but all the rider knows is that it feels great.

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Road test KTM 990 Adventure v BMW R1200GS Adventure

WEDNESDAY 8 APRIL 2009 32

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Adam Child I adam.child@motorcyclenews.com

he only way to test these bikes is to rack up big miles – never mind what the off-road image suggests, it’s what both bikes

were designed for and what most owners will want from them. So we embarked on a mammoth journey from York to Wales and back.

After 800 miles of boring motorways, tiny Welsh lanes, sweeping A-roads and hours playing on Pendine Sands (see box alongside) we should know for sure if the expensive, heavy BMW can trounce the smaller, livelier KTM.

Make mine an extra large oneWarning: the words ‘big’, ‘large’, ‘huge’, ‘vast’ and ‘colossal’ will crop up a lot over the following pages. But they’re hard to avoid when talking about BMW’s Adventure. I’ve ridden all the GS models over the years but still get a shock every time I throw a leg over one. This is one large motorcycle.

At 5ft 7in I really struggle with the Adventure model, even with the sus-pension on its lowest setting using the clever electronic adjustable suspension (ESA, £563 extra). You can get spec- ially lowered models which are easier for the short of leg to live with, but for

the purposes of this test we stayed with the standard model.

The size is reasonable 90% of the time – you just have to be careful, as it can catch you out. Fully loaded with £30 worth of fuel, heavy panniers and top box, it’s a handful. Even with my light pillion, it caused a few oh-my-God-I’m-going-to-topple moments.

Panniers now come as standard with the GS Adventure but as the KTM didn’t have any we removed them to make the comparison fair. But still the GS was always the hardest to live with. Paddling backwards, hill starts and slow riding demanded a surgeon’s concentration. If you’re over 5ft 10in and confident, you’re not going to have a problem with the German bike, but the KTM was much easier at slow speeds.

However, the Beemer’s extra bulk and size comes into its own at high cruising speeds. It’s arguably the fastest way to cover long distance on two wheels – it eats up miles like an American eats, well, anything.

Comfort-wise it’s near perfect. The large screen means visor-up 95mph cruising speeds aren’t a problem and with the added bulk of the larger tank (13 more litres than the standard GS, giving a tank range of 250-300 miles before the fuel light comes on), you’re protected from everything Mother

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The big adventure

Pendine Sands is a seven-mile long beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. In the 1900s the beach was first used for early car and bike races and in 1922 the Welsh TT was held there. However, the beach is more famous for the land speed record attempt in the late 1920s. In 1924 Malcolm Campbell set the record of 146.16mph.

The record went back and forth between Campbell and J.G Parry-

KTM 990 ADVENTURE £10,895 BMW ADVENTURE £12,567 (+Sat Nav £450) 1 Brakes need four fingersStandard Brembos are disappointingly weak, needing plenty of lever pressure. They come with ABS.2 Seat not as comfy as BMW’sSkinny, mean feeling seat could do with some extra foam to make things more pleasant on big-mileage journeys.

3 19.5-litre tank. Twin filler caps Two petrol tanks to keep mass central. The fillers are linked.4 EngineNow with an extra 9hp, it feels lively as it’s 14kg lighter than the BMW.5 TyresOff-road biased tyres worked well on-road – they even grip on the sand.

1 ABS assisted brakesABS stoppers in conjunction with Telelever front have plenty of power.2 1000-mile seatPlush roomy seat is well padded and extremely comfortable for big miles3 Vast 300-mile tankSimply monstrous 33-litre tank is good for an easy 300 cruising miles.

Okay until you need a toilet break.4 Boxer engineOn paper it promises to deliver but at high speeds with everything loaded it needs more power.5 Panniers and mounting railsRails and panniers come as standard fitment as of now, pretty handy for the hardened European big-touring rider.

Thomas during the 20s and Pendine was the centre of world attention.

In 1927 Parry-Thomas tried to beat Campbell’s 174mph record but was killed during the attempt when his car rolled at 170mph. This was the last-ever record attempt at Pendine.

In 2009 cars and bikes were banned. However, you can still ride there in special circumstances. Contact the park ranger and make a donation towards beach maintenance. Visit: www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk

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CRUTCHLOWThe 23-year-old Yama-ha rider claimed pole, victory, fastest lap and championship lead. Rac-ing with Anthony West, he proved to be fast, patient and tactical backing up his WSS title hopes.

SPIESThree-race winning spree came to an end when he low-sided his R1 at turn one. The crash was noth-ing dramatic but the way his Yamaha cartwheeled made it a very expensive incident.

GINO REAThe 19-year-old rode one of the best laps of his ca-reer to push his way onto the podium first time out on the Ten Kate Honda in Superstock 600. Rea rode the bike for the first time on Friday.

PITTLed the Supersport cham-pionship before Valen-cia but left fourth in the standings. He crashed three times in final quali-fying before claiming 13th and just three champion-ship points.

HAGAUnmatchable on the Xer-ox Ducati at a track that he loves. His race pace was 17 seconds faster than last year’s total race time, firing a warn-ing to his rivals. Heads the standings by 35 points.

LAVERTYThe Qatar race winner looked set for a strong weekend it didn’t mate-rialise. A tentative start in damp conditions was the story of Laverty’s race. But he’s still third overall in WSS.

PIRELLI After the inconsistency experienced by riders in the opening two rounds, Pirelli got things right with a new lap record thanks to Haga and unbelievably fast race times.

TEN KATE HONDAHad a weekend to forget with Checa and Rea crashing in race one. The only consolation was the third-place podium in WSS for Kenan Sofuoglu (right).

WSB-o-meter

NORIYUKI HAGA

HIGHSLOWS

There was a lot expected of former MotoGP star John Hopkins’ much-publicised switch to the Stiggy Honda WSB team – but there was no fairytale debut for him at Valencia.

The American got just 45 minutes of dry track time at Almeria the Monday before the race, having last ridden a race bike at the Valencia MotoGP in November.

Technical problems kept him from clocking laps on Friday but he made Superpole on Saturday, even though he lost time in the pits again, with a chatter problem. He said: “It was hard giving it my all on a qualifier I’ve never ridden.”

In Sunday’s first race, he finished

Hopper’s tough baptism11th, the second Honda across the line, and added: “It was a wild first lap and there were bikes everywhere, bodies flying and my bike was sliding. Good times! I just didn’t get my head down early enough.”

In race two, he ran as high as sixth after a blistering start from 16th on the grid but wound up 12th. Hopkins said: “I made a great start. I got a little aggressive which is a part of the whole Superbike thing.

“I was running with Leon for a little while but got a bit lonely until the end when I had a fuel problem just as I got caught by a group of guys. My battle with Shakey was real good fun.”