With the V4 I'll be entering this world of electronic electrickery with a hint of trepidation. I've seen loads of bikes laid up on euro trackdays with electronic issues. Last time out a lads 1299SL's fancy lean sensitive accelerometer thing thang went tits. 74k bike and he had to disarm rider aids I think. Cost him a day of dicking about/phone calls too. Aprilia's aren't without electronic problems either. On the same gig a lad lasted a morning then went back to the hotel for the remaining three and a half days. He had all the coms software interface but no go. What a pisser....
Yes full Ti system for £4k. Slip ons will obviously command less but not as much as you think, judging by the figures I've seen. Here's what you get for £4k (bellypan not shown but is included, oh and its not carbon either!)
Looks very complicated compared to an RSV4 RF Akrapovic Full System, maybe that's why it's upwards of £1200 more expensive
Just cannot beat Akrapovic when is coming to exhaust quality. Had a lengthy thought today about motorcycle prices...wtf is happening? 10 years ago a jap sportbike bike was in the region of 10k an S ducati 15k..now it seems 18k for a jap sportbike and 25k for an S Ducati. Rough rates, either way it is around 70% uplift in less than 10 years.Clearly much more than inflation not even worth to mention real wages going down. Raw material costs? Development costs? Less quantities sold?
I am an exhaust manufacturer and am completely taken aback by the level of quality of some of these aftermarket players. Arrow, akra, etc... It’s the level of detail that really amazes me. I highly doubt I could achieve that in my own factory. P.s. we manufacture exhausts for LCVs
That's an excellent shot. Thanks. The material around the headers looks thicker, looks right. And as a life long engineer, if something looks right, it usually is....
Ah c'mon @GreenOn that looks shite. Nowhere near as bendy and twisty and and and complicated as the V4 bad boy I'm astonished it even works!
It’s probably mostly R&D for all the latest tech we now have. One thing that’s been apparent for a while, is that the more premium brands just aren’t so any more. What does the extra 6-7k actually get you over a rival brands machine. That’s a lot of money for a badge and “character”. I love a twin and wouldn’t want another IL4, but it gets harder and harder to swallow the cost of the premiums, when the competition is just as good. I think that’s why the likes of the Aprilia do so well. They’ve top notch spec for middle ground money. BMW’s S thou was leagues ahead of the rest for some time and yet retained a pretty modest price. When that bike was released it made you think, how the hell are they demanding that much more for a basic bike.
I’d say both are about as reliable as each other. Early model Ducati have had their fair share of issues as much as anyone and the V4 will be new and unproven.
I think he means the parts availability issues with Aprilia. The Aprilia is a quick bike alright, plenty of poke. I was having a joust with one in Almeria a few weeks back and it was rapid up the long straight!
Mr Hinge, you have a great bike with your 1098R, and you know how to ride it, which is always a bonus. Fair play to anyone that wants to run a £30,000 track bike, but I think its just too much of a risk for me now. I am starting to see it more often now, people on £2000's worth of CBR 600 thinking they can get up the inside of the rich guy on his expensive whatever, for it only to end in the gravel for both of them. Watched a guy at Imola knock off four riders and cause another two to run off the track to avoid the carnage, one old boy on his road 1299S wasn't best pleased.
No I bet he wasn't. And I know what you mean. That's why I tend to stick with Tracksense. They're a few quid more but it tends to sift out the nutters riding nails and the groupings are much smaller. There are some super quick lads that go that will put me to shame but I don't care. I always have a fun gig with them and usually me and the bike get home in one piece.
It isn't about reliability so much as parts availability. Still if we are all having fun riding two wheeled missiles then its all good.
