#rsv4

It’s no secret we here at MO are huge fans of the Aprilia Tuono. We’ve declared our love for the bike so much now that we’re starting to sound like a broken record. And if you’re tired of us blabbering on and on about one of Italy’s finest motorcycles, there’s bad news: Aprilia has gone and made the Tuono even better with the Tuono V4 1100 series, the $14,799 RR and the $16,999 Factory. Head Honcho Kevin Duke got to spend time aboard the RR version at the bike’s launch, which you can read about here. The up-spec Factory version, with Öhlins suspension and steering damper, aluminum (rather than the RR’s steel) front brake rotor flanges, a wider 200/55-17 rear tire and red wheels, wasn’t available for Duke to ride, but we have one now. So how does it stack up? First a little back story.

The Aprilia RSV4 is a favorite among the MO staff, even if the limited edition RF version (UPDATE: while the RF will be a limited edition model elsewhere, its numbers will not be limited for the U.S. market) narrowly lost our six-bike Superbike shootout by the slimmest of margins. At EICMA 2015, however, Aprilia has announced that the up-spec RF version will receive further updates.

Aprilia’s V-Four Italian scallions, have won seven titles in the World Superbike Championship since they came online in 2009, in addition to winning the Rider and Manufacturers titles for the FIM Cup Superstock 1000 in 2015.

First off, we’re going to assume you’ve read our three-part 2015 Superbike Shootout series, because, really, shame on you if you haven’t (but if you really aren’t caught up, here are the track, street and overall results).

Rejoice, sportbike fans, as 2015 is bound to go down as the year of the liter-class superbike. After riding this latest crop of superbikes at their individual intros, your respective MO editors all came back gushing, proclaiming the bike they just finished riding is a viable contender for top honors in the class. Of course, with statements like that, pitting them all together and settling the score was the natural thing to do. And here for you now, we bring you the epic showdown you’ve long been waiting for, pitting five all-new or significantly revised superbikes on the racetrack against the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, winner of our 2012 Japanese Literbike Shootout. Stay tuned next week for our street impressions.

This year marks the debuts of several remarkable new motorcycles tugging hard at the moto spotlight, and the most intense category is the literbike supersport/superbike category. BMW’s class-leading S1000RR has been updated and tested here. Yamaha offers a ground-up re-do of its R1 tested here, and it comes equipped with perhaps the most advanced electronic rider aids of any company. And let’s not forget Ducati’s awesome 205-horse 1299 Panigale tested here, nor the outrageous supercharged Kawasaki H2 tested here!

I was on a GSX-R600 the last time I was at Misano, and the world-renowned Italian racetrack seemed quite lengthy, with several long straights to stretch throttle cables for extended durations. Aboard Aprilia‘s new and more powerful RSV4, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli seemed like an overgrown go-kart track.

For this week’s video, we decided to do a public service announcement for all of our readers with young children. Toddlers are curious creatures, and parents have to be especially careful about letting them around small items that they may put into their mouths and try to swallow. Or perhaps use to damage an expensive motorcyle.

If you’re like us, then you must be salivating over the 2015 literbike prospects. With no less than eight new bleeding-edge sportbikes on the table from both European and Japanese marques, the bar is being raised in the quest for track domination or, in the case of the Kawasaki H2 and H2R, simply having the rider experience intense acceleration like they’ve never felt before. However, there’s an interesting trend in the method in which each manufacturer is going about upping the literbike ante. More and more, a greater emphasis is placed on technology and electronics rather than hardware. Sure, hardware isn’t being ignored, but with today’s bikes making so much power, being able to harness it effectively is of utmost importance.

Milan, Italy, hosts the world’s largest motorcycle show, EICMA, in November each year, where the latest and greatest motorbikes are on display, most of which are receiving their first public display. The Esposizione Mondiale del Motociclismo, as it’s officially called, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2014, and I was pleased to be one of the 6,945 journalists attending the November 3-8 event.

By now, we’ll assume you’ve thoroughly read, digested and formed your own conclusions about the street portion of our Exotic Superbike Shootout featuring the Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC ABS SBK SE, BMW HP4 and Ducati 1199 Panigale R. If not, click on the link to get yourself caught up. Simply put, these street-legal superbikes are apex predators, residing at the top of the most exotic, cutting-edge and downright fastest sportbikes on Earth.