Anyone ridden one? I've been offered a good deal on a 2010 factory with lots of goodies. Tell me why I shouldn't!
I almost bought one of these instead of the blade, loved the sound and ride on the test ride and the kit is top notch, ohlins etc but I have just looked on the RSV4.net forum and there seem to be a lot of problems like: After taking in my rsv4 for its annual 1st service the bike has run terrible. they changed the fueling map and now its been into dealers 3 times since with no improvement!!! now its been in shop for 4 weeks and has had ecu changed, valves done and numerous other tests and its still broke!! its still under warranty and the mechanics cant do anymore work on it till they get the go ahaed from aprilia!! this is disgraceful treatment in my opinion. ive hardly ridden this bike since early june(cept back n forth to dealers) ive forked out 15k + on this bike and im now heartbroken to the point that i wish theyd just give me my money back. so anyone thinking of buying a aprilia bike , please take into consideration the treatment im now receiving in this matter. because should anything happen to your bike you can expect the same!! im very upset and disgruntled at the moment and dont know how to proceed. the riding year is virtually over and ive barely put 800 miles on it this year!! anyone wanna buy it from me? when its repaired of course!!!Cry and I've just heard they are stripping the engine at the end of the week after suspecting that the engine is seizing!!! Surprised thank god its under warranty!! and hi folks just wondered if any of you guys have had any gearbox problems? i bought a new rsv4r 5 months ago and have been out just about every weekend since i got it. After the first 1000 mile on the way back from the isle of man tt i noticed 4th gear was sometimes hard to engage but never thought much of it. anyway to cut a story short last week it reached 2700 miles and fourth gear started jumping. At first i thought the chain was slipping but after a few more mile it got worse and on the way home i couldn't use it at all. i rang the dealer and they said it sounded like it had stripped fouth gear. Also if you have a akrapovic exhaust watch out that the cat doesn't melt its self as mine did. apart from that i love the bike. Not saying don't buy one just make sure you get a good warranty
Thanks for the replies guys. I went to check a few other RSV's out today just to compare. Indeed they have some issues. Bit like our oil burning '08 blades (which apparently only affected a few early machines.... apparently) most bikes have their glitches. I'd keep the blade for a while as well, just in case I make a mistake of buying an RSV4 and me not liking it. One I've been offered is full of goodies, which of course makes it more appealing (full Akra system, racing ecu, carbon bits, spare parts etc etc) but trying to look past that! Still within warranty as well. hmmmm oh the sound... hmmm you only live one... hmmmm... its just a toy... hmmm thoughts going through my head!
Ive never trusted my own judgment so I just tend do what makes me happy, having ridden the RSV4 and loved the sound etc, I would say buy it if its in warrenty and hope you get a good one, like you say all bikes have there problems
Its up to you, bit your paying a premium for a bike that is much worse than your blade. along with the dog-bang r1, its got the slowest motor of them all, that includes the APRC, its overweight, yes, really, for such a tiny thing its hideously heavy, they muncg gearboxs and the electronics are true to the old italian stereotype. This isnt hearsay btw, ive got 2 mates with road going ones, 1 who has a track aprc and one who has the 'base' model with all the goodies and he raced it for the first part of this year. until he realised he was quicker on his 2009 superstock zx6r. when a bunch of us visited the dyno last year, mr APRC was boasting how Aprilia quote there BHP at the wheel, until he saw his dyno figures, less than the 06 r1, my 07 blade and walloped by the bmw & gsxr that were with us. 159bhp & a crap curve, it also made less power/tq between 5-10k than any of the others, and this was the supposedly 180bhp aprc with full akra, pipercross filter, the aprilia plug in to fully open up the motor. Mr base model also currently has his rsv4 in a dealers in manchster waiting (4 months now) for his gearbox to be replaced under warranty, thats after they have already replaced all 4 rods because 2 of them were showng signs of fatigue, the bikes only done 800 miles. Still, pays your money you takes your chances, but only 1 company can build proper V4's.
I thought they were lovely bikes until i saw one spew it's guts on the first morning at Le Mans in September. I never expected a new bike to be so fragile TBH...
I love them, fella at work has one, I thought they were quick and light so was interested to read the posts on here, was actually considering one!
15k for a bike thats underpowered, overweight and unreliable. not for me ta, you cant fly without wings.
Helpful stuff, cheers. I still want one, but only cos Honda are too slow to build a new RVF! Realistically, I wouldn't pay that much for a bike anyway though.
