v-four engine, that chassis, that clutch-
less up- and down-shifting (The gear lever
was too low again). This is a serious bike
for serious, and very focused, riders.
TUONO 1100 FACTORY
Mamma BEAR is still a bear. You know
what I’m saying? You don’t want to mess
with her without knowing what you are
getting into. She can get wild but you at
least have the illusion of keeping up with
what is going on. The quick-shifter and
auto blip on the downshift are qualities
shared with the RSV4. And, oh my, does
she welcome you into her arms!
The scallops in the tank, the best fit for
my legs, the height and angle of the bars
and semi-upright riding position is the
most at home I remember feeling on a
bike of this kind. The same, though less
aggressive and powerful, v-four power-
house has been dropped into a little more
upright, slightly more accommodating
place. Lovely. It’s an all-time favourite.
The gear lever height was juuuust right.
HANDING CONTROL TO A
COMPUTER
Aprilia racer Stephen Leggett summed
up one of the RSV4’s ‘special powers’.
Leggett, a campaigner of the RSV4,
explained how, in a practise session the
year before, fellow RSV4 racer Dillon Telford (who
raced the bikes in Italy last year) had the bike sliding
on the exit of the 120km/h turn six, the last turn
at Hampton Downs. Leggett, too, had his machine
sliding, cocked at an angle as the rear end drifted.
Leggett explained as he was grappling to control
the 200hp RSV4, driving off the turn hanging
on to the back of Telford, he watched as Telford
simple rolled the throttle open. Telford was
able to shift his focus from controlling the slide,
and managing all the other variables involved in
piloting a superbike, to ‘just’ concentrating on those
other variables. Telford gave the control of the
THROTTLE to the computer. While it was sliding!
From the outside it sounds simple enough
but it is something of a quantum shift from
everything that us riders have learnt to survive.
This is perhaps why Telford, and those at the sharp
end, are on a completely different level.
www.ntbracing.co.nz
ntbracing@mac.com
80 KIWI RIDER