APRILIA RSV Help

[Gilesie Boy]

Hi Guy’s,

I’m after a little help if possible I’ve just passed my bike test and now I’m ready to buy my first bike I’m 6ft 5in and around 16 stone. I’m looking at 2002 RSV tomorrow night but want to know if there’s anything I need to look out for etc, the bike has a full service history and only done 8000 miles.

Any info would be great.

Regards

Giles

[trumpet600]

Hell, 30 posts in 82 months.

I hope you use the bike more than you do PH

[PolarExpress]

RSV great bike... but as your first bike? Just thinking for your safety... (although you could always be the next Carl Fogerty and be like a fish to water on the RSV)

[Liam_uk]

Crap rear brake, gearbox prone to throwing you a false neutral anywhere in the box, clutch needs bleed frequently. awesome front brakes and handling. that is all i have to say about them

[Stu R]

Liam_uk said:

Crap rear brake, gearbox prone to throwing you a false neutral anywhere in the box, clutch needs bleed frequently.

Rear brake isn't too bad, certainly no worse than my R1's is or GSXR's was, the front brake was st hot which probably made it look worse. Gearbox should be slick as a button, I've never had one false neutral on mine which was 51 plate RSVR, it's quite positive when shifting into gear, but still very smooth with a reasurring 'thunk'. Not clunky like a honda, just positive.
Clutch I never had to bleed on mine but I've heard similar tales.

Engine is rock solid being a Rotax unit, nothing to worry about there. Make sure it's had the delimiting mods done which shouldn't be applicable on a 2002 anyway, but it basically consists of the blue/green wire on the corner of the middle ECU plug being snipped, the airbox restrictor being removed and the exhaust mid section having a silencer sleeve removed.

One thing to look out for on the R models is fork seals on the ohlins forks, they're pretty track orientated so show them a bumpy road and they can go at anytime, not expensive to fix, nor complex. Can be spotted by an oily sheen / residue being left on the fork legs after you compress them.

Other than that there's not a great deal to look out for, other than small colonies of immigrants hiding under in the tail unit, it really is amazing how much you can get in there if you have the cowl too (2 pairs of jeans, pair of trainers, 3 t-shirts, 2 bottles of aftershave, ipod, 2 phones and 40 ciggies was my record )

I'm 6'3 and 18 stone and had no problems whatsoever on mine, even on 300 mile rides / all day jobs.
It's a great bike for taller folks, not too hard going on the wrists and the pegs are fairly forgiving. My mate who's around your size and well built had no probs riding mine.

apriliaforum.com and rsvr.net are both great forums, the former especially, RSVR is very quiet.

Very solid bikes, and bloody good fun. Best of luck

Edited by Stu R on Tuesday 12th August 18:13

[Stu R]

oh and i've got a spare pillion seat pad and RSVR cowl in black with white decals going spare if you do buy it and need either, my RSVR got nicked so they're of no use to me now.

[Gilesie Boy]

Cool thanks for the info guys.

I did want the R version but the INS cost was over double plus having two other cars to Ins I cannot justify the extra £600 for the R so just looking at the standard RSV, will let you know the outcome.

Thanks

Giles

[Steve_T]

Just a footnote, but look for a regular RSV, with an aftermarket damper if you can find one. The standard damper is not bad, but the ride with a well setup ohlins is sublime.

Edited by Steve_T on Tuesday 12th August 18:34

[Stu R]

phone around for R's mate, insurance is very hit and miss on them as I found out. I had prices much the same as what you've experienced (2 or 3x a normal mille) but eventually found a few that only wanted a few quid more, the extra bits are well worth having Not that you can't upgrade, always someone with the bits up for sale

[Gilesie Boy]

I've spent a lot of time on the phone to INS and most are quoting £1500 for the R, even had the same price for the standard RSV, got one company E-bike that will do the standard RSV for £600.

It's my first bike and not sure if i would be able to tell the two bikes apart but i've set a limt of 3K to buy the bike and can not have justified any more money in toy, have a Lotus aswell.

[Chilli]

Didn't these bikes have a recall for a replacement swingarm?

[Liam_uk]

Stu R said:

Rear brake isn't too bad, certainly no worse than my R1's is or GSXR's was, the front brake was st hot which probably made it look worse. Gearbox should be slick as a button, I've never had one false neutral on mine which was 51 plate RSVR, it's quite positive when shifting into gear, but still very smooth with a reasurring 'thunk'. Not clunky like a honda, just positive.
Clutch I never had to bleed on mine but I've heard similar tales.

The rear brake IS useless and much more so than any other bike i have ever rode, i thought the pistons or brake pedal had sezied until i put some serious pressure on it. Put it this way, if i had to apply that same amount of pressure my GSXR back brake i would have a nasty flat spot on my rear tyre.

I found false neutrals on the test bike i had and a mate that uses his RSVR on track found them aswell, so it is common. Clutch bleeding was something i read on the forums you mentioned.

so there :P

[randlemarcus]

Mostly as above, but watch out for dings on the swingarm. Any offs,and it will be marked by the gear or brake pegs,or the exhaust.
Clutch is air ingress through the Aprilia slave cylinder,needs regular bleeding, back brake is great for about 10 miles,then gets ignored till the next bleed.
You'll have a lovely time on it.
Make sure it goes in a straight line on its own at low speeds (took me a while to find the ever so slightly off true damper,bloody thing.)
Also, check for a realistic service history. the clocks can fully reset to 0 miles on lack of voltage, but surely no one would try to pull a fast one with a second hand bike - would they?

[Stu R]

Liam_uk said:

Stu R said:

Rear brake isn't too bad, certainly no worse than my R1's is or GSXR's was, the front brake was st hot which probably made it look worse. Gearbox should be slick as a button, I've never had one false neutral on mine which was 51 plate RSVR, it's quite positive when shifting into gear, but still very smooth with a reasurring 'thunk'. Not clunky like a honda, just positive.
Clutch I never had to bleed on mine but I've heard similar tales.

The rear brake IS useless and much more so than any other bike i have ever rode, i thought the pistons or brake pedal had sezied until i put some serious pressure on it. Put it this way, if i had to apply that same amount of pressure my GSXR back brake i would have a nasty flat spot on my rear tyre.

I found false neutrals on the test bike i had and a mate that uses his RSVR on track found them aswell, so it is common. Clutch bleeding was something i read on the forums you mentioned.

so there :P

So you're trying to tell me, a VERY recent owner of both that you're right because you've had a ride of a test bike, and 2 people makes it common? Perhaps it's not as positive, but it's as effective as a rear brake needs to be and certainly locks the back wheel if you jump on it. It's as powerful as my GSXR thou's just with a longer span. To say it's the worst of any bike you've ever ridden tells me one of two things, you've either not ridden many bikes or the test bike you rode had a shagged back brake, as the R's I've ridden have been fine, a tad wooden perhaps, but still work fine.
FWIW I've done thousands of miles in the last few weeks on the RSVR until it was stolen last weekend, very few of them at a relaxed or sedate pace, so I like to think I know what I'm talking about, so there

Agree to disagree I s'pose, but I've never had any problems with the R's back brake, having moved onto a much newer R1 I'm not exactly overwhelmed by the drastic improvement in rear brake performance put it that way.

[Stu R]

Chilli said:

Didn't these bikes have a recall for a replacement swingarm?

2004 onwards did, the new shape ones.

[Liam_uk]

Stu R said:

So you're trying to tell me, a VERY recent owner of both that you're right because you've had a ride of a test bike, and 2 people makes it common? Perhaps it's not as positive, but it's as effective as a rear brake needs to be and certainly locks the back wheel if you jump on it. It's as powerful as my GSXR thou's just with a longer span. To say it's the worst of any bike you've ever ridden tells me one of two things, you've either not ridden many bikes or the test bike you rode had a shagged back brake, as the R's I've ridden have been fine, a tad wooden perhaps, but still work fine.
FWIW I've done thousands of miles in the last few weeks on the RSVR until it was stolen last weekend, very few of them at a relaxed or sedate pace, so I like to think I know what I'm talking about, so there

Agree to disagree I s'pose, but I've never had any problems with the R's back brake, having moved onto a much newer R1 I'm not exactly overwhelmed by the drastic improvement in rear brake performance put it that way.

You can either believe 1 person or you can believe 2, choice is yours. I've posted what i got out of the RSVR experiance and what a mate gets out of it.
the rear brake should be progressive and not require the rider to "jump" on it.