31/5/2013 - First ride on Silver to Office

A glorious sunny morning, good traffic due to the school holidays and I decided to switch to Silver for work, while walking to the carpark. Thank goodness I have an extra set of bike gear in my Black Bison's rear seat.

The wallet had just taken a beating as a week-long check-up with an Aprilia mechanic had many parts changed due to wear and tear, with a couple of thousand moolah exiting. And so I revved the little buzzing engine like I stole it, and boy was the bike giving me a good smile on my face.

The trick was to keep the revs high so that one could extract as much juice as possible from the engine, and the bike's smaller frame made it very suitable for maneuvering between cars. I felt like I was eighteen again. This is a simple bike, and you really have to work the gears to keep the adrenalin charging. Jolly good factor!

I'm toying with the thought of changing its front fairing and adding a belly pan from this...

to this...

Parts are plug-and-play and could be ordered online. You guys think it's an improvement in the looks' department? I've also seen pics of other owners changing the front headlight to that of streetfighters'. The below is a Singaporean biker's effort.

 

I saw the newer Tuono V4R at Kajang a few days back and boy, did the bug-eyed bike looked good. It looked somewhat small for a 1,000-cc bike but it should be nimble as heck, I guess.

WTS : Set of LED Signals + Load Resistors for Japanese Bikes

I bought 2 sets of quality LED signal indicators + Load resistors; but apparently, the set that I bought was for Japanese bikes and not Italian bikes. As such, like to let go at the following prices :

1) ER6F only needs 1 pair for rear : RM140;

2) ER6N/Versys needs 2 pairs for front and rear : RM240.

If you purchase vide e-Bay, 1 pair of signal indicators and 1 pair of load resistors would cost RM52.59 x 2 + RM92.79 = RM197.97, before the overseas courier fees of RM66.31 are added thereupon.

Alternatively, trade in your current ER6/Versys stock signal indicators and you only pay RM60 nett price for 1 pair, or RM120 nett price for 2 pairs. Your stock signal indicators must still be in good condition. 

Aprilia Tuono V4R in the flesh

 
I was running some errands in the afternoon and suddenly saw a striking Aprilia Tuono V4R parked by the roadside, its yellow paintwork gleaming in the sun. I walked towards and marveled at the handsome beast.

In the flesh, it looked a tad smaller compared to the normal 1,000 cc bikes. In fact, it looked just a bit bigger than my Tuono R and a bit smaller than my Ninja 650R. I guess the other bikes looked bigger due to the bulkier fairings attached thereon.

This Tuono V4R no. plated Wxx 8078 really looked good. I weren't a big fan of its bug-eyed design as seen from the Net; but up close and personal, it really looked good. I had a new Samsung camera with me and wanted to whip it out for some photos; but the owner wasn't around so I couldn't ask for the rightful permission.

And guess what, Malaysia was the first country in Asia that saw the debut of the Aprilia Tuono V4R at a cool RM93,000!

Well, read on for the review from MCN :

Aprilia’s new Tuono V4 R APRC has genuine superbike performance, advanced electronic rider aids, a MotoGP soundtrack and a real-world, roomy riding position. Could this be the ultimate real-world superbike?

Producing a claimed 167bhp, it’s more powerful than its closest super naked rivals, like the Ducati Streetfighter, KTM 990 Super Duke and Triumph Speed Triple. It’s a serious weapon on the track thanks to its balanced chassis, strong brakes, powerful engine, quickshifter, traction control and anti-wheelie. On the road it’s loads of fun when you turn the anti-wheelie off and setting the traction control high to deal with the unexpected, is a useful safety feature. You can be the first away from the traffic light GP too, if you use the electronic launch control. With a wide spread of smooth power and an impeccable throttle response it’s far less brutal then the V-twin Tuono of old. It’s also available without the APRC package for a grand less.

The Tuono uses the same compact 65° V4 engine as the RSV4 superbike, but tweaked slightly to make it friendlier for road riding. Claimed power is 167bhp@11,500rpm and there’s 82ftlb of torque at 9500rpm. The rev limit is set at 12,300rpm.

Compared to the RSV4, the motor has new valve timing, 20mm longer fixed intake trumpets (opposed to electronically-operated in the superbike) and a heavier flywheel. The first three ratios in the cassette gearbox are shorter and it still has a slipper clutch.

The motor is soft and friendly at low revs, builds strongly in the midrange and explodes into an arm-wrenching frenzy at high rpm. It’s fabulous. Both the APRC and non-APRC versions have three power maps to choose from: T (track), S (sport) and R (road). 

Handling and braking on-track is as good as any superbike and it’s impressively stable for a super naked machine with high handlebars, thanks to its superb chassis set-up and anti-wheelie control. It’s the same confidence-inspiring story on the road and your body isn’t contorted into a race crouch, like on a superbike. The seat is very hard, though and becomes a pain within an hour’s riding.

Compared to the RSV4, the chassis is the same but the engine is positioned 5mm lower, the front end kicked out by 10mm and the swingarm pivot lowered by 5mm, to suit the Tuono’s more upright riding position.

Plump for the APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) version and you get anti-wheelie, launch and traction control and a quickshifter. That’s on top of a beautifully-crafted aluminium frame and swingarm, fully-adjustable Sachs suspension, Brembo brakes and a switchable display (road/race) LCD dash. You get an amazing amount of equipment for your money. 

The Tuono is superbly built, has robust paintwork and a polished frame and swingarm. Reliability should be top notch too.

When you consider how much the price of Japanese machinery has increased over the past few years, the Tuono V4 R look like the bargain of the century, especially when you consider its high performance and level of equipment.

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Biker Brother

It's a public holiday being Wesak Day, so here's wishing our fellow readers whom are celebrating the day a Happy Wesak and joyous day with the prayers.

It's a chilly morning and just the right weather to go for a ride before the hot sun comes out. I heard some loud rumblings from outside and saw that there were 2 riders on a road nearby. Evidently, the front KTM had lost its braking power so the bikers had to attach a tow rope to the rear KTM so that it could helped slow down the front bike.

Hope that they make it to a bike shop safely to rectify the bike's problem.

An excellent example of "he ain't heavy, he's my biker brother".

Gizmag : Aprilia RS250 - the last fire-breathing 2-stroke roadster

It's the closest thing you'll find to a genuine Grand Prix racing machine on the road, be it two wheels or four. Its 250cc two-stroke motor produces in excess of 60 brake horses, giving it a specific output of 240 bhp per litre - more than the fastest MotoGP bikes and on a par with competitive Formula One engines. And it's the last one - the fire-breathing two-stroke racer-roadster is about to become extinct. The next batch of Aprilia RS250 road bikes will be the last - as the last bike of its type, it's the last chance to own one new. Ever!!!!

Around 40 years ago, the two-stroke engine came into its heyday. The engines were cheap to manufacture, and produced exceptional performance in comparison to four-strokes of equivalent capacity.

Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki sold thousands of 250 two-strokes based around their racing machines and many of the biggest names in motorcycle sport got their start in the 250 production racing class. In Grand Prix racing, the two-stroke quickly became unbeatable. Producing an unreliable 50bhp in the sixties, the development of the two-stroke racing motorcycle continued at breakneck speed for four decades, with the top 250s of today producing 100bhp plus.

 
Throughout the sixties the wail of expansion chambers slowly but surely banished the roar of four-stroke racing machinery at world championship level, at first in the smaller classes, and eventually in all classes. Once Yamaha worked out that it could shoehorn two 250s together and make a four-cylinder 500, the writing was on the wall. Jarno Saarinen scored the first win in the premier-class by a four-cylinder two-stroke machine in May 1973, and Giacomo Agostini rode to the last four-stroke machine to victory (prior to the current rule changes), at the Nurburgring in August 1976. It was the end of the four-stroke era, the last victory by MV Agusta and Agostini's last as well.

 
Aprilia didn't enter racing until the late eighties, winning its first GP in 1987, its first 125 title in 1992 and its first 250 title in the hands of Max Biaggi in 1994 and since that time the majority of bikes on the 125 and 250 World Championship grids have been produced by Aprilia.The need for harsher emission standards for road-going machinery was having an opposite effect on the two-stroke's success on the road however.

The last 250 two-stroke manufacturer of road bikes in Japan was Suzuki and Aprilia has been using the Suzuki v-twin 250 two-stroke motor as the heart of its roadster since then. With Suzuki ceasing production, Aprilia no longer has a supply of motors and is running out its road bike RS250 models and the 2004 model will be the last - the very last example of a breed of motorcycle which will hold a special place in the heart of motorcycle enthusiasts forever.

 
In 2003, Aprilia's 250 race bikes won 14 of the 16 world championship races, with five different Aprilia riders standing atop the podium. Significantly, the speed traps often showed the fastest ten riders were all Aprilia mounted. Not surprisingly, the roadster bears a very strong visual relationship to Aprilia works racing bikes which won the World 250 title last year in the hands of Manual Poggiali.And riding it was a HOOT!

At low engine speeds, it has less power than a 125 scooter, and even when the revs climb past 5000 rpm, the engine is still clearing its throat, but pedal the gearbox to keep the revs above 8000rpm, and it is one of the most thrilling experiences you'll have on two wheels.Though the two-stroke 90' V twin engine may have originated from Suzuki, it's Aprilia's knowledge of the induction and exhaust cycles which give the RS250 the edge over the same motor in its last guise as a Suzuki. Actually, an edge is too much of an understatement.

 
For the last few years the Aprilia 250 has won every production race at the Australian titles and in some years has scored every POINT - i.e. it took all 15 point scoring places at all rounds of the title. There are almost as many changes to the motor than bits you'd recognise as Suzuki, with the resultant unit having the finest credentials ever to grace a 250 two-stroke roadster.

Funnily enough, while the motor kicks hard over 8000rpm, it is not the motor that is most likely to catch the RS250 rider out - it's the brakes.

With a dry weight of 140 kilograms and two 298 mm diameter floating disks on the front wheel, with two Brembo twin-piston callipres on each (with four differentiated diameter pistons), the front brake has more power than you'd have thought possible. Though it has loads of feel, it warrants immense respect because once you've become comfortable with the RS around the roads, you'll find yourself getting into corners with the back wheel OFF THE GROUND!!!

 
If you fancy yourself backing a road bike into corners this is the bike you can do it on. Alongside a Buell, this is the easiest bike we've ever ridden upon which to perform very impressive stoppies (getting the back wheel waaay off the ground under brakes. Given its tenuous relationship to the tarmac under deceleration, the 220 mm diameter twin-piston rear brake is gentle and progressive. Nor is the 60 horsepower motor and its 220 kmh top speed the most impressive aspect - that's almost certainly the chassis and suspension set-up, which offers a precision unmatched by anything registerable on two wheels.

So precise is the steering that it feels like you can claim any spot on the road just by willing the machine over it, regardless of the speed or camber of the bend.So it is a roadbike, and it can be ridden on the roads every day without the motor filling up with gunk, but the road is just not its natural habitat.

The RS250 is a racer first and a roadster second. Though it has pillion pegs, don't even think about trying to carry a pillion unless there's absolutely no alternative - it's painfully uncomfortable for both, the bike is unbalanced and walking might be a better solution.

The RS250 is ideally something to buy to put in the garage and stay there except for track days. It is a motorcycle to be oggled for its craftsmanship - next time you get near one of these babies, take a bit of time to check out the swinging-arm, the effort that has gone into wrapping those expansion chambers around the motorcycle so NOTHING scrapes (this is a motorcycle upon which you'll get your knee on the ground before something else touches), and just behold the attention to detail, all the way down to the race computer with adjustable redline and lap timing which nestles inside the fairing.

It is the finest example of a breed of motorcycle which is about to become extinct. It is also the final example - the point at which evolution stopped after 50 years of refinement and development of the roadgoing two-stroke.

I think I'll go and have a good cry!!!!

23/5/2013 - Silver @ Moto Work Services

After checking out on my baby from morning to afternoon, I decided to take a spin on Silver. I took the Garmin with me just in case; and lo and behold, I made my way to the legendary Aprilia specialist workshop located at Gombak's coordinate nos. 101.686605, 3.236289.The racer-cum-mechanic who was also an Aprilia specialist ie Az, was in the shop. He was a really friendly chap and I had had a long chat over the phone with him previously with regards to Silver's condition, as he had maintained her previously.

Az helped me to test Silver and proposed that the following be done on the bike :

1)  replacement of balance shaft drive gears (2 pieces) for smoother gear changes and to eliminate the vibration on the front foot pegs;

  

2) re-build the original rear suspension setup for better cornering capabilities;

3) work on the horn or to change to BM air-horn;

4) change of rear view mirrors and handlebar ends;

5) engine works as deemed necessary pursuant to his further testing of the bike.

Well, Silver is in good hands and I shall be seeing her again in 2 weeks' time or so. Az informed me to set aside some RM5k thereabouts and we should have this baby working like it was just out from the showroom again. In the meantime, I'll fill you in on other details.

Sleep tight, Silver! See you soon.