2000 Aprilia RSV

Two years have passed since with a heavy heart and hand I parted with the readies to secure my Blue Mille RSV.

Would she live up to expectations or alternatively was I throwing more wedge into the bottomless pit sometimes referred to as misspent youth.

Before I called to collect her I phoned the dealer and put some more money into the pit by ordering the Aprilia racing Titanium can. A must if only because of the 5 kilo weight saving over the original, of course there are also few more ponies to look forward to and an enhanced midrange, but really in all fairness it’s the sound, words do not do it justice, it is beautiful and loud. I even had people asking for photographs of their sons and daughters sitting on my Mille whilst I revved the t*ts off it. Of course that was not before she was properly run in.

The running in mileage was completed in less than one week. It became an exhibition and even when stopping for a pi** I would return to the bike and find it surrounded by admirers (the bike that is).

All of which was maybe the reason for her first wheelie, pulling away rather exuberantly one day, ” you did want the full acoustics from my race can didn’t you ” , yes I thought so, I found myself on the back wheel in a narrow cobbled street, hey we must have looked cool though.

Luckily I had booked the first service as I took delivery of the bike and after seven days abuse it was back at the dealers. Everything seemed to be fine, except one of the bar-ends had vibrated off. Well maybe not vibrated, maybe it was just loose, but lets be honest, this is a twin and it does vibrate, however as the Beach Boys once intimated there are ‘good & bad vibrations’ and these big twin pulses are definitely of the good variety.

The first service was free and the bar-end was replaced under warranty.

Life with my Mille continued with track days, touring miles, and countless smiles. How could a track novice run at the top of the intermediate group on his second track day? How could I do 700kms in a day and arrive feeling less stressed than I would have been on my Thunder Ace. I mean the Ace is a real sports tourer, and the Mille is supposed to be a track bike with a liking for good roads, some things just don’t add up.

This bike does not intimidate, it encourages just as a good friend should.

Well people who know have often said, ” Leave the RSV, and Get the RSV-R ” , and who am I to argue, but I didn’t and now the bottomless pit was getting hungry again.

A set of OZ wheels would be nice, and a real Ohlins shock, ” Visa ” that’ll be fine sir!

” Oh by the way Sir if you’d have purchased the RSV-R ” , shaddup….

Seriously though it is partially true that in the economic sense buying an RSV-R instead of the standard RSV is better. The Ohlins shock and the OZ wheels more than cover the difference in price and make an appreciable difference to handling and ride, but you also get an Ohlins Steering damper and forks, have a look in the catalogue for the price of those!

The only way to learn about riding a Mille is to try one your self, all you need is a good day and at least one hour, less is certainly not enough, one needs to become intimate with this bike, treat her like a sophisticated lady and she will respond to your every desire.

One other thing that the Mille responds to is set-up; unless you are an Italian with average build forget what it says in the book. Get out the tape measure and dial it in a bit, I’m sure that you can improve on the factory settings. OK it will work and work well on the factory settings but she will be ‘sublime’ if you can take a little care to adjust her essential dynamics.

Remember this is a bike for the enthusiastic, it demands dedication and care.

After two years and 20,000 miles we are still ‘happy together’, I have a hankering for the SP version, there are few around and the original price of these 120 WSB reps is a lot lower than the starting bid of £22,000, but I’m in no hurry my RSV still satisfies in everyway.