Aprilia RSV Factory vs Fireblade vs R1

Posted by James Marriott on March 4, 2009 under Morotoring | Be the First to Comment

Honda make what I consider to be the finest piece of motorcycle technology ever created, the CBR1000RR Fireblade. This bike started out back in about 92 as the CBR900RR. The bike that finally stole the number 1 spot away from my beloved Yamaha FZR1000.
Since that time we have seen manufacturers developing machines that are just sublime. From Kawasaki we have the ZX-10R Ninja (was ZX-9R), Yamaha gave us the current favourite R1 and Suzuki (*spit*) barged in with their animal of a bike, the GSXR.

I’ve been fortunate enough to ride some of those bikes listed above, namely the Honda Fireblade and the Yamaha R1. I’ve only been pillion on the Ninja and I stay away from Gixers. Here follows a brief summary of those experiences:

Honda Fireblade: I wanted to ride this bike ever since it first arrived in 1992. I was *ahem* a teenager running around on an old Honda CB125T and easily impressed except my love affairs were more Harris Magnum’s, CB900F’s, evil looking Z1’s and Katana’s but that all changed with the Fireblade. It was stunning. It was tiny (relatively). It had holes in the fairing. It was fast. And it was gorgeous. I wanted one and I wanted one bad.
They say you should never meet your hero as they’ll more often than not disappoint. The Fireblade I got to ride was the exception. I loved this thing already but I didn’t dare imagine it would be this good. When I got on the bike and rode off I did so with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. By the time I got back from the ride and stepped off the bike, that grin was in danger of removing the top half of my head. The only words I could get out were “that… is… a… fuckin… good… bike”. It took weeks to stop grinning and longer still to stop telling everyone about it. I wanted one.

Yamaha R1: Up until this point I had a bit of a love hate thing with Yamaha. My FZR (florafumi) was the first Yamaha I’d ever ridden and the first Yamaha to make me think “actually, these are bleedin’ good, these are”. I just couldn’t (and still can’t) forgive them for the V-Max. When the R1 first came out I was angry and annoyed immediately. People were already shouting about how it was going to knock the Fireblade off it’s perch. People were crashing them instantly. I hated it.
But when offered a ride on one I thought it rude to say no. But this was really only because this particular R1 belonged to the above Fireblade owner and he was waxing on about it. I had to find out why.
The short version is that I got off the bike with an equally stupid grin but this time my words were “Now that was a fuckin good ride”. It’s true. The Fireblade will always be the bike my heart desires. It will always be the best piece of motorcycle engineering. But I’d buy an R1. Bastid.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing could be better than this.
Wait, I can hear you all screaming “Ducati” but I don’t care. No, I’ve not ridden one. I have my own reasons for not wanting one and I’m keeping them to myself, for the moment.
I repeat, NOTHING could be better than the ‘Blade and R1.

…

Then, one day, along comes an Aprilia RSV1000 Factory. Gold frame. Ohlins front and back. Angles to make the new spy planes look rounded. And sweet Jesus did it shout and spit at a deafening roar. I was hysterical just looking and listening to it.
The English language doesn’t contain the right words to describe how much I loved riding this bike. The way it… the way it did everything.
I wasn’t grinning when I got off. My senses were on overload. Imagine believing in God and actually meeting him/her/them/it. I just can’t explain it.
Oh and the noise. The bike I got to ride was fitted with some very special Akrapovic titanium “intelligent” pipes that made the greatest sound ever. And LOUD. It was the first time in all my motorcycling years that traffic got out of my way. Seriously, it was like Moses parting the sea. Proof that a nice fruity exhaust note (read: ear splitting) is a safety feature.

It used to really annoy me when people said things like “…I had to get rid or I’ll lose either my life or license”. A bike will only go as fast as you twist the throttle but whilst that is still true, when you’re used to the feeling of speed on an in-line four, nothing prepares you for the power and grunt of the Aprilia v-twin. It takes every ounce of self control and will and concentration to keep within usual dual carriageway speeds. “Effortless” is an understatement.

I’ll finish by saying: “The Fireblade, the R1 the what ever; You can stick ‘em. Mere pretenders. I’m having an Aprilia RSV1000 Factory”.