The new motor is a
complete beast
RIDING
217hp. 199kg. Think about that for a second.
That’s a power to weight ratio of way more
than 1:1 – something which was unthinkable
for a road bike less than 10 years ago. The
1100 RSV4 has HUGE amounts of go, pretty
much at any revs in any gear. Wind the throttle
wide open and let it pull in any gear, and you’ll
be rewarded with, quite frankly, ridiculous
acceleration. Phillip Island is a wide-open and
very fast racetrack, which can often make a bike
seem quite slow… but that’s not the case with
the new 1100.
There’s noticeably more go from the bigger
engine. This thing simply hauls. The mid-range
is strong and from 6000rpm there’s a lot of
power. Things are quick at 8000rpm, silly
quick at 10,000rpm and faintly ridiculous at
12,000rpm. That said, it’s all very progressive
– unlike Kawasaki’s ZX-10R which feels like a
two-stroke with its big hit of power.
It was an interesting exercise to play with the
traction control, reducing the intrusion one
level at a time. Starting off with level 8 the
system is very sensitive, ‘saving’ me on every
corner. By the time it was down to level 4 it
took more effort to get it to flash the dash
lights. Level 2 allowed me to play, attempting
to slide the back tyre between the two left
handers leading onto the start/finish straight,
knowing that the system wouldn’t let it get too
out of control. This is a sophisticated system
that allowed even the really fast boys (Cameron
Donald, Steve Martin) to play.
The new brakes really are top-drawer. The
last RSV4 I rode had an inconsistent lever,
sometimes coming in a long way to the bar,
enough to give me the occasional scare.
The new brakes didn’t display any of that
inconsistent behaviour, just giving huge
amounts of stopping power lap after lap.
I have a soft-spot for the RSV4 Factory. It feels
special, the kind of special that’s normally
associated with WSBK homologation specials
like Honda’s VFR750R RC30 and Yamaha’s
FZR750R OW01. You get the best of everything
on the RSV4 from the suspension to the
brakes and the adjustable chassis angles. The
build quality is second to none with beautiful
attention to detail that’s apparent wherever you
look. This is a bike for those who want to have
the ultimate racer-on-the-road experience. It’s
not the easiest bike to ride fast, but it feels the
fastest with a seat of the pants experience not
available anywhere else, and the new motor is
a complete beast.