Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory

[Dave Swanson]

I have been watching YouTube vids of the Tuono and stopped and looked at one tonight.   I think I might sell a bike or two and buy it.   I  still feel like I can ride well enough to not kill myself on it. 

I think it would be bags of fun!!

[vstevens]

Gorgeous and I've read they are relatively comfortable as well

[LowRyter]

 

[arveno]

  ohh boy......

[lucian]

I have a 2016 1100f and had lusted over a super sport for some time. I bought it without even a test ride  and was surprised at what an insane machine it is. It's a hoot to ride and the ergo's are not too bad for a sport bike. It does have a forward lean that will tire your wrists on longer rides. It also is a gas guzzler. I only get 120 miles to a tank ridding sanely. The ohlin's suspension is above and beyond good and the chassis is like a rock. The electronics package is excellent and the wheelie control is a blast, and necessary. It will destroy rear tires in 2,500 miles even with the TC turned up. I keep mine at level 3 mostly. I went with the Arko can and race ECU which smooths out low rev fueling considerably. The quik shifter works great once you get the hang of it and the 2017's have auto blip downshift as well. They also come with the tft display. As good as it is ,mine gets very few miles and here's  why. It is way too much power for the street. Around town you will never leave first or second gear. It will eliminate your driving privileges if you use it as intended. It would be a great track day bike but a little pricey for that IMO. Mine has been reliable since new with 2,500 miles now. Be aware that a valve check ( every 12,000 miles will set you back 500 and if they need re shimming you'll be out around 1,200. Also the Ohlins shocks need more servicing than the Sachs units on the base model. I am considering parting with mine as the griso seems always to get the miles here and provides just as many smiles with better comfort and economy.  96 hp is more than enough for the street and alot easier to live with.  Ride before you buy. And hold on.

[Dave Swanson]

[Dave Swanson]

Lucian, thanks for the input.  That’s good food for thought.  I have wondered even while deep in lust for this bike that it may be too much...

[jlburgess]

Your girlfriend better be hanging on real tight.  Why did they even bother with passenger pegs? 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Uh huh.. Uh huh.. you  look good on it.   

[Huzo]

Lucian, thanks for the input.  That�s good food for thought.  I have wondered even while deep in lust for this bike that it may be too much...

Hmmm... Lovely to look at and needs to be ridden hard.
Oh, BTW...
Did I tell you the one about the old bloke who scored a date with Stormy Daniels ?
He got her home ok, but then the rot set in...!
Just in the name of research (and dollars to donuts I'm not alone on this one..!)
Checked out her work ethic, looks "relatively comfortable" but you'll fall off eventually, and imagine the "ongoing maintenance costs"...

[Larry Wiechman]

 Do it Dave!
 
 You can't put a price tag on a good time.

[pete roper]

Lucian summed it up very well.

The Aprilia V4 motor is actually a joy to work on but when it’s in the frame getting to the front bank is a nightmare! Servicing costs, not to mention fuel and tyres, will be very high if it is used at all.

They are really far too much bike for the road for most people, a fact reinforced to me by the fact that when I was a service agent for ‘Prilla I had probably half a dozen to ten *Regular* V4 customers most of them had bits missing, (Fingers, an ear in one case. You get the picture?) and most of them were on their second RSV or TV4 because they had tossed the first one into the scrub!

Like all modern ‘True’ sports bikes they are completely unforgiving. They perform absolutely brilliantly right up until the moment they kill you! That is something you have to be very aware of and have the discipline and self control as well as the skills to deal with. I don’t, which is why even though I’ve been very tempted more than once I’ve always stepped back from the precipice!

I’ve always thought the most sensible way to *Own* something like a TV4 would be to band together with a few mates and buy one ‘Collectively’. That way you amortise the costs of ownership between several people and they really are a bike you wouldn’t want to ride very often because as a ‘Daily Rider’ they are a really poor choice!

Best of luck whatever you decide. They are a truly great motorbike but one demanding an awful lot of respect if you don’t want it coming back and biting you on the bum!

Pete

[Huzo]

Do it Dave!
 
 You can't put a price tag on a good time.

I know a guy in DC who'd disagree.

[lucian]

Are you calling my Tuono a porn star?  I don't see it.

[Yeahoo Whoyah]

A few years ago I demo rode one and it was truly amazing.  The sound of the V4 engine on full song is incredible  It took quite awhile for me to get over the "buy me" vibe this bike enveloped me in. I decided it was too much machine for me.  This famous 1916 quote by George Fitch of the Atlanta Constitution fits this particular machine: "A motorcycle is a bicycle with a pandemonium attachment, and is designed for the special use of mechanical geniuses, daredevils and lunatics"

[Huzo]

Are you calling my Tuono a porn star?  I don't see it.

Sure is cute enough..!

[Tusayan]

Plastic fantastic

[Huzo]

Plastic fantastic

I'm reminded of the Benny Hill story of facing a gunslinger at high noon.
"He was clutching a pair of 38's"

[Dave Swanson]

I appreciate all the input!  Pete, Lucian, Larry, and Yeahoo :)

There are a lot of factors at play here.  I would prefer not to call it "mid life crisis" but at my age (64) I do sense the beginning of the end, especially in the regard  of being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want.  One of which is having the chops to handle a serious sport bike.  It has been a few years since I have owned a serious sportbike.  The last one was a 2003 CBR 954RR I purchased new and sold 2011.  The 954 was putting out about 133 hp.  Before that the most serious sport tackle I had was a Ducati 916.   I bowed out from owning them due to advancing years which made the extreme ergos change from tolerable  to very uncomfortable . 

The Tuono is definitely a step up in the ludicrous power/speed category from my old CBR.  I never felt that my 954RR was too much to handle, but not having ridden the Tuono I will admit it  probably has crossed over into the too much threshold, but the SOUND of the V4 is indeed intoxicating.  I do find the appearance of the bike to be the over the top "rocket boy" look.  Understated it is not!

The most skilled, smoothest, and fastest rider I have ever had the privilege of trying to keep up with used to ride an old converted Honda 500 thumper of some kind.  He enjoyed hustling that piece of junk along on curvy roads at speeds that were mind bending.  He really wrung every last bit out of that bike and it was a sight to behold from behind.  You could have sworn he was on a litre bike they way he was moving along.   He got the bug to buy a Speed Triple a few years ago.  Believe me, he could ride that ST like no other, but he got bored with it, sold it, and went back to the Honda.  The old adage of having more fun riding a slow bike fast vs. a fast bike fastish was true in his regard.  He preferred wringing  out that Honda to within an inch of its life, vs. leaving  untapped portions of the ST behind. 

I have really bonded with  my slow, old tech, V7 Special (2015).  It is such an elemental machine that is superlative at nothing, but none the less I find it very enjoyable to push along.   Monday night I was riding with a group of 4 young guys that all had much more capable bikes.  But these machines were being ridden so slowly I had to frequently stop and let them catch up.  Over burgers I asked them why the oldest guy on the slowest bike has to wait?  They didn't have much to say. 

I still have the yearning to climb back in the saddle of a bike that is capable of scaring the bejesus out of me.  Maybe the Tuono is a bit too much.  It would be a pricey experiment that is for sure. 

[JohninVT]

When the V4 came out I test rode one.  After 30 minutes I realized I’d scared the hell out of myself a half dozen times and that I will never, ever be old enough to own a motorcycle with 160hp.  My personal limit is about 100hp.  Anything above that is superfluous.  I can’t ride a 160hp machine one bit faster than I can a 100hp bike.  The Aprilia is the most amazing motorcycle I’ve ever ridden from a performance standpoint.  It’s just....incredible.  I’d like to own one just to stare at in the garage over our long, New England winters.  I can’t though because if I bought one I’d ride it and if I rode one regularly I’d kill myself on it.

[Tusayan]

When the V4 came out I test rode one.  After 30 minutes I realized I�d scared the hell out of myself a half dozen times and that I will never, ever be old enough to own a motorcycle with 160hp.  My personal limit is about 100hp.  Anything above that is superfluous.  I can�t ride a 160hp machine one bit faster than I can a 100hp bike.  The Aprilia is the most amazing motorcycle I�ve ever ridden from a performance standpoint.  It�s just....incredible.  I�d like to own one just to stare at in the garage over our long, New England winters.  I can�t though because if I bought one I�d ride it and if I rode one regularly I�d kill myself on it.

On my recent test ride of a 1299 Panigale Ducati, my thought was how much better a bike you could make with one cylinder of the same engine, a nuovo Supermono.  A lighter less powerful single with 90 HP would be faster down any kind of entertaining road.  The 1299 was ludicrous for anything but track duty, which I don't enjoy, and lurchy in its ability to deliver the power you actually needed with fine throttle control.  The reaction of its owner after getting off my carb 900SS was telling:  "that thing is just fun"...

[Larry Wiechman]

 Dave,
 Before you pull the trigger on the Aprilla deal, take my KTM 1290 for a ride. I think you'll find it more "user friendly" than the Aprilia.