BMW’s S1000RR was arguably the hottest sportsbike on the market last year, but with a raft of updates for 2017 it’s got some stiff competition from Aprilia’s latest iteration of the RSV4 RR.
In the USA the speed junkies at Sport Rider Magazine have recently paid a visit to Willow Springs Raceway in California to put two of Europe’s hottest motorcycles together for a head-to-head test.
A combination of difficult side-to-side transitions, level changes and a long straight make it an ideal track to test every aspect of the bikes performance.
The updated Italian machine is three-tenths of a second quicker around the Willow Springs circuit, and the data loggers soon reveal where it makes those marginal gains.
Turn 8 is a full throttle right-handers which spits you out down the start-finish straight, and the Aprilia is able to carry more speed through this sweeping section of tarmac in the final stages of the lap.
BMW’s big Bavarian litre-bike puts up one hell of a fight, but clearly Aprilia’s changes for 2017 have made a huge difference that takes the RSV4 RR to another level.
For the test, Sport Rider used Pirelli’s Supercorsa SC race rubber with 34psi front and 26psi rear straight off the warmers on both machines.
In the August/September edition of the magazine they said:
“The Supercorsa SC’s first drop in grip came after 15 laps then remained consistent throughout the rest of the tyre’s life.
Both the front and rear tyres provide confidence-inspiring feel and stability under heavy braking and hard acceleration.
Front tyre grip is the most impressive quality on the Supercorsa SC, with the front end feeling hooked at midcorner, helping steer the bike where you want it, when you want it.”
For the full test, get hold of a copy of Sport Rider Magazine!
Find out more about the Supercorsa SC here.
