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2007 APRILIA TUONO R

RAGE WITH THE MACHINE

Story by Boris
Pictures by Mick

 

I've had a cheery pubescent chubby for Aprilias ever since the day I first rode one. That was the day Brother Silverback gave me the keys to his insane Limited Edition 2002 Tuono R at the start of the Oxley Highway, so it was a most meaningful and memorable encounter.

I haven't taken a step back from that position in five years and have watched with admiration as Aprilia has continued to improve and upgrade its bikes to a point where they now quite outshine Ducatis in terms of street cred, and are only a few steps off the fabled MV Agusta when it comes to quality of finish.

I was fortunate enough to liberate the 2007 Tuono R from the fevered clutches of Ms Kelly Buckley at AMCN by offering to swap it for the Triumph 675 over the Easter long weekend. To my immense surprise, she agreed.

 

Right...

...left...

...front... it doesn't have an ugly side

So many things to touch... and fondly... caress... and polish

You can feel my licence wanting to tear itself apart

I have now had six hootingly wonderful days aboard this Italian weapon and I cannot actually articulate a reason why a man should not own one. This is a bike you could have a long and passionate love affair with. It is worthy of your love in every way and will repay you with a ride experience so essentially primal and fulfilling it will serve to remind you of why you took up riding in the first place.

Aprilia have never stuffed around with their nakeds. From Day One, the factory has offered naked bikes with all the grunt of the faired models. None of this watered-down-motor shit just 'cos it doesn't have a fairing. You just needed balls big enough to take them up on the offer.

The bike I got was the white one with the red (even though it's more orange than red) detailing, and in my opinion, the pick of the colour schemes. It looks like a toy, a great, big fuck-off man toy. And its black headlight cowl reminded me of a Tim Burton character or one of my son's Transformers, Optimus Prime, I believe its name is. This is a bike with a true "face", and I don't mind that.

As has become the norm for Aprilia, attention to detail is vast and very impressive. Yes, there are knobs under that sexy-as tailpiece you can hook ocky straps to. Yes, there is a heel stop on the pillion's footpegs, and yes, there is a three-position switch on the left block that will scroll you though the trip meters.

The paint looks a mile deep and the metalwork is a vision splendid. But there's so much more splendiferousness when you kick the sucker into life and piss off down the road.

Gone is the Hail Mary gulp that presaged you tucking an Aprilia  into a corner. The 2007 Tuono R rolls into bends like an upmarket escort rolls into bed. It's eager to dance. It wants you to try harder. It dares you to twist its throttle like you mean business. The lower seat height certainly helps, and the integrity of the frame and the swingarm is beyond question.

Pick a line and own it. The whole sled-on-rails cliché rings ever so true with the Tuono R. This is easily one of the best-handling bikes on earth right now. It is also one of the best-braked bikes on earth, too. Two doses of Brembo gold radial four-potters on a 320mm disc is halting glory. All the feel you could want and all the power you could ever need is everything any man could ever ask for in brake technology. It came shod with Rennsports, for which I've developed a whole new respect.

At lower speeds I found no hint of a hunting fuel injection. At legal speeds this is a well-mannered, well-sorted and incredibly easy bike to ride. And it's such a revelation to find that it doesn't get any harder to ride when the demons tickle your cortex and tell you to have a go. Bitch.

Twist the grip and you get a snarl of intake followed by what appears to be an endless surge of V-twin thunder. It seems to pause for breath around five thousand, but this is obviously nothing but a pollution control gremlin that can be swiftly removed with a set of pipes and maybe a chip. After that, the power builds in a relentless surge of fulfilment, before topping out at, well, I don't know what it tops out at. It was a double points weekend and I wasn't about to find out what happens at 10,500rpm in top. From what I can work out, it won't be much shy of 270km/h, if you're keen enough to hang on.

But I have two questions. Why has some idiot ensured that the two plastic electrical clips on the back of the headlight bulbs face upwards? The first time its washed or it gets rained on will certainly turn the back of the headlights into electrical ponds. Hmm... there could be something here that I'm missing, but that's what it looks like to me. And why that side stand? It's short, steep and requires thought when deciding on where you want it to be. It's not as bad as the nightmare on Brother Silverback's Tuono, but it's not a peace-of-mind kinda deal either. The clutch is heavyish - and while I don't have an issue with this 'cos I'm not a weak-wristed poove (and I rode a Shovelhead for longer than I care to remember), some of the more gentler-gripped riders may cry after long periods in traffic.

Questions aside, this is a great bike. A truly great bike. Aprilia has done a marvelous job creating one of the world's pre-eminent naked bikes. It's easy and fun to ride normally and immensely rewarding to ride hard.  

 

It would be churlish to ask for more than that.

How's it stack up against the original daddy?

Incredibly well. In fact, the 2007 Tuono R is a good deal more enjoyable to ride at most speeds than Brother Silverback's criminally insane 2002 item. Its suspension is gentler, its acceleration (by no means wimpy) is not as savage, and its seat is a good deal closer to the ground than the highchair provided five years ago. But when you wanna get serious and the red mist descends, there is no substitute for the Ohlins-impregnated, fire-breathing butchery of the original. Sure, it's showing its age a little around the instruments and the switch blocks, but with 50,000km on its clock, it's not put a weld wrong in five years of touring, commuting and late-night silly buggers. The riding position is almost identical, though the 2002 model does force your genitals into the tank more than it should, and in all other ways the family resemblance is evident and welcome. You'd be hard pressed to name another five-year old bike that measures up (and even exceeds in some areas) to its latest incarnation. And this speaks loads about Aprilia and the way it builds bikes.

But what about the factory?

Yeah, well, what about it? It's a few grand more and quite frankly, you ain't gonna get a better handling or faster bike. Not so's you'd notice, anyway. For your money, you get Ohlins bouncers front and rear, a piddly 6bhp more oomph, and genuine OZ forged aluminium wheels that'll save you 2.5kg in weight over the ones the Tuono R is carrying stock. Yes, it is worth the money on one level ? and no, you won't notice it, like I said.  

 

AN ALLEGED DISPASSIONATE VIEW FROM BROTHER SILVERBACK

Given the opportunity to ride the new 2007 Aprilia Tuono R in the illustrious company of no less than Brother Boris, how could I resist? Simply say no, actually. It was double points weekend yet again. Despite that dark cloud of gloom and misgivings over my head, I set out on my 2002 Aprilia Tuono R to meet up with The Scowly One at a secret location from whence some exploration of the abilities of the ever so pretty new Tuono could be had and compared with its ancestor.  

Over the last five years on the '02 Tuono, I have learnt to take that "leap of faith" (it was Easter), in tipping it in for serious cornering. It has something to do with frame geometry, weight location and seat height, or so I am given to understand. Whatever. That deep breath gulped in an instant, that feeling of falling, was just that, a feeling. The '02 Tuono handled it all; it just raised the heartbeat of the rider a little, that's all.

There is no such feeling for the rider when embarking upon bend swinging on the '07 Tuono. It dropped into corners and held a line beautifully without any feeling of falling whatsoever and certainly does not require any "leap of faith" when getting serious about fast turn-ins. It would be aided by better rubber; the Rennsports were so-so in the damp conditions. The suspension was good and compliant, certainly set for more legal road speeds on bumpy roads than the '02 black beast. It would probably need some determined adjustment for more adventurous road riding or track days.

Make no mistake; this bike would cut it on ride days at Eastern Creek. Sure, a little would be given away down the straight due to the upright riding position and absence of a fairing but it would be no reflection on the quality or the horsepower within the motor. It is a gem, slightly smoother and less aggressive than its grand daddy but with the assistance of a pipe and a chip, would prove to be the equal, if not superior, to any other naked twin.

The new Tuono has radial Brembos, which are excellent. Black Daddy came with four spot Brembos, and there does not appear to be any noticeable difference between the various set-ups.

Aesthetics are always subjective. Styling is however, not. It either has integrity or it hasn't. The new Tuono certainly has it. One may or may not like orange and white - black and grey is available, but Aprilia has done a great job in keeping the Tuono pure. The rear end, the most marked update, is to me, without peer in the bike voyeur's world-wide guide to rumps. The front end on the other hand, is virtually naked. A mere negligee adorns the lights and does nothing to insulate one from the forces of the natural world. However, the '07 Tuono has lost the beautiful mirrors of yesteryear. Those were the manifestation of Marie Antoinette's perfect form, not mere champagne glasses. Still, it is a sexy bit of kit and a man could feel right proud in riding her.

I thought the Tuono R was top of the pile when I purchased it for an outrageous amount of money in 2002. Its civilised progeny, the 2007 Tuono R, has retained that position in the affordable market. What it needs is a little more animal in the motor and more refined suspension. Maybe the Black Daddy could find an equal in the Tuono Factory?

 

Mick says:

"We've got to ride 'em back to back", grunted Boris.

"Cool," I thought, Brother Silverback's machine, as a naked, is about as good as it gets... now that the suspension has been fettled.

His 'old' un is just gorgeous, good power, its been chipped and sorted, nice note, nice pipe, and as Brother Silverback is around the same weight it's all dialled in for yours truly. How could this young upstart come close?

Enter the Tuona R. It's got the same donk from the RSV-R, which chucks out a very healthy 100kw, which is all totally useable.  It's linked up to the same close ratio gearbox as the RSV-R so it's a huge bundle of fun squirting it around.

You have to remember that Brother Silverback's bike is fully sorted and this 07 puppy is still strangled with catalytic converters etc, however until the pace got more than 7/10ths the pupil would stay with the master... after that or round the track I'd take Brother Silverback's bike every time.

It feels shorter and lower than Brother Silverback's and is so easy to hoik mono's on even Boris gave us a demonstration of one wheeled tom foolery - just because he could - and because I asked.

To compare the two, you have no chance of fault finding.  Everything works reliably and religiously, hot or cold, rain or shine, on both. Unlike other Italian two wheeled nags.

I love the arse end of the new one and the smaller fairing, but only because it's offered. If I didn't know, I wouldn't moan about what was offered. Brother Silverback's is covered in carbon Kevlar and cost a squillion dollars when it was released and the new one is a large wedge cheaper. I actually think it is testament to Aprillia about how right they got it from the start because there are no big drastic changes.

Give us the new one and I'd spend the savings on making it go like Brother Silverback's... and still have a large bundle of get happy vouchers left so that's the way I'd opt, however if I knew no better and had chosen the 'older' one I'd still be as happy as a Brit in shit.
 

 

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