It’s time to move to something new. I’ve narrowed my choices down to the R1, and an RSV4. I’d like to ride the R1 before I buy it but that’s kind of hard. No one remotely close to me is selling one, and every dealer I’ve been to has said no. I just don’t get how the industry standard is to sell something for 20k+ and you have to guess if you like it or not. The buyer takes on 100% of the risk. The bike could be a lemon! Buying a used bike, as is, no warranty, and you can’t ride it so see if anything is wrong with it? It’s just crazy! Okay I’m done my rant.

I keep hearing that the R1 is hot. Can anyone expound on this? What actually gets hot, legs, seat n ass? Balls? I’m coming off the hottest bike ever built and that rosted all three. I can deal with a little, but if it’s anywhere near my 1299, I’m going with the RSV4. Now you know why I want to ride it before I buy it.

I’ve had a 1299 and have a PaniR. Yeah I know what hot is.
I also have a 2018 R1M and immediately had it flashed by my tuner because of the throttle response and my fan now comes on early to keep the temps down. Before and after the flash I never noticed the heat. So definitely way cooler than the Duc.
I’ve test rode the RSV4’s on the street and on the track and enjoyed them. Definitely a worthy pick. But I went for my R1M as it puts a smile on my face the way the Duc does and has the growl that’s missing from many new bikes these days. My BMW S1000RR was boring to me, too electric feeling.
PS, I’m only 5’7” and the R1 is a great fit for my size.
Hope this helps some.

 

Thanks!

I’ve owned all of those, S1000RR, RSV4, and now the 1299. I’m also sensitive to vibration in the clipons. The BMW was the worst. 1299 is bad but I got it to a manageable level. The RSV4 was amazingly smooth. The 1299 is a great bike for the 1st 10 minutes, then the heat can be difficult. I’ve put up with it for 4 years, but like I said, it’s time for something new.

I’m not worried about power. The RSV4 came after the S1000RR and it was definitely slower, but it turned better, sounded better, and is 100 times smoother. Just a better all around for mostly street riding. I do make it to the track once a year to keep my skills sharp.

 

Brakes are just nowhere as strong and have a dead feel. I normally use my whole hand vs a finger or two on the other bikes. But for the street I haven’t bothered upgrading them. If I used it for the track, first step would be deleting the abs and upgrading the pads. Other’s it’s a great coffee bike for me with all the right feels and sounds. Japanese Pani lol. My coffee route is a half hour ride to my coffee place through the twisties. I’m guessing just a pad change for the street would also be an improvement from what I hear.

 

a more comfy seat from the usual aftermarket companies will raise the seat height a little. the vibrations at the clipons is pretty average. i put weighted bar ends on mine and its fine.

no issues wiht heat at all, really the only bikes that do that shit are the ones with the funky undertail exhausts.

for reference mine is a 2020 R1M. probly hard to go wrong with either the M or the aprilia, both are great bikes and theres nothing like that crossplane sexiness.

 

Thanks,

There’s a used 2020 R1M with 760 miles on it at a Suzuki dealer within 15 minutes of me. He wants 25k for it. I’m probably not going to go the M route. Although I really want to. I’m getting better at setting up the suspension and I think I can do without the Ohlins. Even with the Ohlins EC2 you still need to set it up for you. Although it is nice to change the damping in an instant. It’s looking like a 5-7k delta from R1 to R1M. I’ll save that money for a second bike.

 

It’s time to move to something new. I’ve narrowed my choices down to the R1, and an RSV4. I’d like to ride the R1 before I buy it but that’s kind of hard. No one remotely close to me is selling one, and every dealer I’ve been to has said no. I just don’t get how the industry standard is to sell something for 20k+ and you have to guess if you like it or not. The buyer takes on 100% of the risk. The bike could be a lemon! Buying a used bike, as is, no warranty, and you can’t ride it so see if anything is wrong with it? It’s just crazy! Okay I’m done my rant.

I keep hearing that the R1 is hot. Can anyone expound on this? What actually gets hot, legs, seat n ass? Balls? I’m coming off the hottest bike ever built and that rosted all three. I can deal with a little, but if it’s anywhere near my 1299, I’m going with the RSV4. Now you know why I want to ride it before I buy it.

PM sent

 

Here’s my current stable

 

Heat:
It seems to vary, for example.
1. My 2018 R1, flashed, Akrp mid and exhaust can, engine ice coolant runs extremely cool. Cooler than my old GSXR 750's and much cooler than I expect. It's not even noticeable the heat.
2. My Friends 2018 R1M, runs crazy hot, to the point of his groin burning. He bought his bike used so he doesn't know the entirely the full history of the bike but it does have mid pipe upgraded and he suspects it's been flashed.

As for build, I prefer the R1 build over RSV4. It's the minor details. The RSV4 uses little plastic screws everywhere, while the R1 is simple and uses your stand punch plastic clips. When I was working on removing the tail license plate holder and even doing some minor parts mod, it seemed so much extra work on the RSV4. I'm also not familiar with the service intervals and costs of a RSV4, but I suspect it's not cheap (like BMW and Duc rates).

Crossplane engine...love it. That was always my dream engine and that's a good reason why i bought the R1. The sound it makes is magical and it's a very linear power band once you get the bike flashed. I also like the "look" of the R1, cleaner lines, but that's all personal preference. Not to say, if I found a RSV4 for hella cheap, i'd be all over it also.

 

Yeah, I hear ya. But I bought my 2019 RSV4 Factory after riding one on the track during an Aprilia Demo day at Buttonwillow. Never rode a bike I felt so comfortable on the track so quickly. The nice thing was Aprilia did it during a normal track day. No leaders, just you and the bike. You could wheelie it, slide it, whatever you wanted to do. Their only rule was, if a bike went down, and that meant even just a simple tip over, that bike was done for the day. Both me and my buddy were ready to plop down the $25k on one that week. But then I came across a Caryover 2018 R1 and got it for a great price! I’ve been riding that on the track since. Then in 2020, I found a 2019 RSV4 Factory, the exact bike I demo’d, with only 50 miles on it. The guy bought it for the track but broke his back in a motocross wreck😢. Anyways, I got it at a very good price and it was going to be my new track bike. But I’ve had too much crap going on and haven’t even broken the thing in yet! Still only have about 350 miles on her 😡

 

I haven’t ridden them back to back yet. My R1 is set up for the track only and I lost most of its street stuff in one of the many CA wild fires in 2020. I have my first track day next month on the 9th at Thunderhill. Hopefully I’ll get a direct comparison. But I have a feeling the Aprilia will win🤔