Shaman
Well-known member
I've really enjoyed the Tuono 1000R that I've owned for the last four seasons, and am now looking at the new Tuono V4 version with green envy, since by the reports from other magazines and my own experience with the RSV4-R (owned by my friend Shawn Voight of Danton Machine), it's just about the only street machine I can ever see myself desiring for a long, long, long time. Once you ride one of the Apes you realize that the build quality and overall experience of most other makes is poo... if you can overlook the atrocious gas milage.
Don't really care about the traction control even if it does make a rider godlike... but for the money I'd spring for it anyways, just to play with...
So, there's the background: to my point.
{vent mode: on}
Aprilia dealerships in Ontario are about as lazy as it gets. They want the Aprilia and Piaggio scooters and the rest is inconsequential. They don't try to hype up the products (and let's face it, the RSV4-R is a hell of a product - and it's priced for *LESS* than the MSRP on a new R1), they almost never go to a bike show; they don't advertise worth a damn. Except the scooters... Aprilia even has a 7-speed, automatic motorcycle of reasonable performance and which is a true motorcycle in all senses of the word, but do they spend time marketing it? Nope. Nor the Moto Guzzis, which are again, truly unique in the market.
OK, so there's that part of the rant out of the way. Now on to the next. Voight can't get ECU flashes for his RSV4-R because nobody in Ontario (that we know of, anyways) has invested in getting the hardware needed to do that. Gearhead in Ottawa says they can order parts and do basic work but "hasn't sold anything larger than a Tuono," whatever that's supposed to mean. The appearance is that they don't intend to educate their mechanics on the V4 or invest in any support systems for them... which means they also won't be selling the new Tuono in any numbers, or supporting it in the garage.
So WTF, Aprilia and dealers... you have these unique products which are currently priced very similarly to the Japanese counterparts (heck, the Factory with APRC came *down* in price and is now not much more than aforementioned R1 for a lot more bike), and either Aprilia is hamstringing its dealers with large investment costs, or the dealers aren't even trying to sell the products.
What dufus wouldn't buy a RSV4-R for the same money as a new Japanese litre bike? They get a Sachs shock with separate damping and rebound circuits, Brembo monobloc brakes, a chassis that is unlike anything else on the market, and a V4 engine that constantly makes its welcome presence known. Not to mention Aprilia's other products, like the Dorsudoro 1200 and the Mana.
It's ridiculous. They should be selling these bikes by the truckload. They've no clue how to do it.
{vent mode: off}
Not that I'm in a giant hurry to sell off the 1000R, mind.
(repost from CMG Online)
Don't really care about the traction control even if it does make a rider godlike... but for the money I'd spring for it anyways, just to play with...
So, there's the background: to my point.
{vent mode: on}
Aprilia dealerships in Ontario are about as lazy as it gets. They want the Aprilia and Piaggio scooters and the rest is inconsequential. They don't try to hype up the products (and let's face it, the RSV4-R is a hell of a product - and it's priced for *LESS* than the MSRP on a new R1), they almost never go to a bike show; they don't advertise worth a damn. Except the scooters... Aprilia even has a 7-speed, automatic motorcycle of reasonable performance and which is a true motorcycle in all senses of the word, but do they spend time marketing it? Nope. Nor the Moto Guzzis, which are again, truly unique in the market.
OK, so there's that part of the rant out of the way. Now on to the next. Voight can't get ECU flashes for his RSV4-R because nobody in Ontario (that we know of, anyways) has invested in getting the hardware needed to do that. Gearhead in Ottawa says they can order parts and do basic work but "hasn't sold anything larger than a Tuono," whatever that's supposed to mean. The appearance is that they don't intend to educate their mechanics on the V4 or invest in any support systems for them... which means they also won't be selling the new Tuono in any numbers, or supporting it in the garage.
So WTF, Aprilia and dealers... you have these unique products which are currently priced very similarly to the Japanese counterparts (heck, the Factory with APRC came *down* in price and is now not much more than aforementioned R1 for a lot more bike), and either Aprilia is hamstringing its dealers with large investment costs, or the dealers aren't even trying to sell the products.
What dufus wouldn't buy a RSV4-R for the same money as a new Japanese litre bike? They get a Sachs shock with separate damping and rebound circuits, Brembo monobloc brakes, a chassis that is unlike anything else on the market, and a V4 engine that constantly makes its welcome presence known. Not to mention Aprilia's other products, like the Dorsudoro 1200 and the Mana.
It's ridiculous. They should be selling these bikes by the truckload. They've no clue how to do it.
{vent mode: off}
Not that I'm in a giant hurry to sell off the 1000R, mind.
(repost from CMG Online)
