maidenfan84
Well-known member
Rockridge two wheels is great for aprilia. If you like any bike enough, there’s no possible reasons enough that will keep you away from it. If you like it that much, just get it.
Aprilia Reliability
- Thread starter mdorkenhoff
- Start date
I've had an Aprilia SportCity scooter for three years as a daily ride. In those three years I had two problems:
1) Starter button stopped working, they had to replace it.
2) At some point the engine mounting bolts got loose and the engine tilted locking up the rear brake.
So, definitely below the Japanese bike quality.
1) Starter button stopped working, they had to replace it.
2) At some point the engine mounting bolts got loose and the engine tilted locking up the rear brake.
So, definitely below the Japanese bike quality.
happy_rider
Well-known member
I ride a 2015 Caponord 1200, bought it new, never had any issue with it. It has two known annoying “features”: unreliable gas gauge and the exhaust flapper valve sends an error message. Neither has any practical effect on how well it rides. Both could be fixed if I wasn’t so lazy. Happy customer, would buy again. Disclaimer: I don’t have much time to ride so not many miles on the bike.
NorCal Factory
Well-known member
Call an independent shop that services a lot of Aprilias for a more qualified answer.
You will get some info from a dealers service department. It may be too filtered but will still give you some info.
I have a RSV4. I just had a valve adjustment at Evolution Suspension. They used to be a dealer and service a lot of them. They see 60k mile V4’s that are fine IF people do the valve checks.
I do this type of check before buying any car as well. The mechanics know which issues come up for which series.
You will get some info from a dealers service department. It may be too filtered but will still give you some info.
I have a RSV4. I just had a valve adjustment at Evolution Suspension. They used to be a dealer and service a lot of them. They see 60k mile V4’s that are fine IF people do the valve checks.
I do this type of check before buying any car as well. The mechanics know which issues come up for which series.
mdorkenhoff
Drawing a Blank
Is it wrong to ask how much over MSRP people are paying for RS660s (it seems somehow sleazy to ask)? I stopped by a dealer yesterday, they wanted MSRP plus near $2K in freight/setup, and taxes on top of that. I have no problem paying something over MSRP, but nearly $2K seems kind of steep.
With respect to reliability - thanks for all of the thoughts. We went for a ride to the coast today and every so often I stopped, got off my bike and yelled at it in Italian (mostly pasta dishes) as practice for having an Aprilia
With respect to reliability - thanks for all of the thoughts. We went for a ride to the coast today and every so often I stopped, got off my bike and yelled at it in Italian (mostly pasta dishes) as practice for having an Aprilia
East Bay Mike
Well-known member
Is it wrong to ask how much over MSRP people are paying for RS660s (it seems somehow sleazy to ask)? I stopped by a dealer yesterday, they wanted MSRP plus near $2K in freight/setup, and taxes on top of that. I have no problem paying something over MSRP, but nearly $2K seems kind of steep.
With respect to reliability - thanks for all of the thoughts. We went for a ride to the coast today and every so often I stopped, got off my bike and yelled at it in Italian (mostly pasta dishes) as practice for having an Aprilia
We PMed but I’ll say a little more.
Nothing wrong with asking people what they paid IMO. I don’t like asking though unless I’m serious about buying the same or similar product.
I think that price is too high, but it does usually come down to supply and demand.
In general, I always look for at least 10% under MSRP before taxes. That may or may not be including freight/setup.
Out the door, I don’t want to pay over MSRP, but I may do so if I really really wanted the bike soon and if it was a rare model in high demand.
I think freight/setup should be more like $1,000, $12,500 tops.
Depends how much you can shop around and how patient you want to be.
Good luck, the bike buying process makes me go crazy.
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East Bay Mike
Well-known member
My anecdotal experience...
Knock on wood, my ‘19 Tuono has been extremely reliable after 1,300 miles. No issues. Engine hasn’t stalled by itself once.
My ‘19 Speed Triple had quite a few issues, mostly the engine stalling periodically when at a stop. Bike got lemoned. Damn thing was in the dealer 5+ times for about 2.5 months. Awesome bike besides the stalling issue.
Knock on wood, my ‘19 Tuono has been extremely reliable after 1,300 miles. No issues. Engine hasn’t stalled by itself once.
My ‘19 Speed Triple had quite a few issues, mostly the engine stalling periodically when at a stop. Bike got lemoned. Damn thing was in the dealer 5+ times for about 2.5 months. Awesome bike besides the stalling issue.
Is it wrong to ask how much over MSRP people are paying for RS660s (it seems somehow sleazy to ask)? I stopped by a dealer yesterday, they wanted MSRP plus near $2K in freight/setup, and taxes on top of that. I have no problem paying something over MSRP, but nearly $2K seems kind of steep.
With respect to reliability - thanks for all of the thoughts. We went for a ride to the coast today and every so often I stopped, got off my bike and yelled at it in Italian (mostly pasta dishes) as practice for having an Aprilia
You can put a refundable deposit and still try to bargain when it arrives. If the numbers don't look right then get your deposit back.
East Bay Mike
Well-known member
With what I said above, that assumes 0% financing. Or very low, 1.99% at the worst.
Of course, I don’t care if it’s a high rate if they discount the bike enough.
Of course, I don’t care if it’s a high rate if they discount the bike enough.
NorCal Factory
Well-known member
A new bike in demand with few units allocated is going to be list price. Freight is usually $450 ish and so is setup. Taxes and license are non negotiable. You can wait till you find a dealer with excess inventory but that may be a year or two for this bike.
Dirt bikes are going for MSRP - it’s a hot market with limited inventories right now.
Dirt bikes are going for MSRP - it’s a hot market with limited inventories right now.
cg_ops
1-Armed Bandit
My good buddy, riding partner, track bro, and racing nemesis just picked up his 660. So far he seems to be in love with it. I'll see if I can get him to lay out his first impressions, especially compared to his old RSVR...
Can't wait to go play and compare the 660 to my 890. HP aside, they seem very similarly spec'd and targeted, despite one being a sport and the other being sexy... err, naked.
Can't wait to go play and compare the 660 to my 890. HP aside, they seem very similarly spec'd and targeted, despite one being a sport and the other being sexy... err, naked.
OVerLoRDI
Well-known member
I have been summoned by cg_ops.
My street bike history:
- Heavily modded 03 SV650S
- 04 Aprilia RSVR Factory
I have about 200 miles on my RS. I picked it up from Scuderia West in the city and they charged me MSRP + about 1200 in combined setup/freight. I put my name down for it back in September of 2020.
My initial impressions are that it is a super fun bike. The center of mass is quite low and its light to begin with. Extremely flickable and the ergos are similar to an SV650S. The power is great, exactly what I wanted, more than my SV but not stupid for the street. The power delivery is very linear and the engine wakes up around 7k and really wants to go. I felt at home on it pretty quickly. I can't speak to reliability yet obviously but I can speak to the fact the thing is loaded with more tech than I know what to do with. I'm used to bikes that have a rev counter and a light that goes on when gas is a bit low, my SV hasn't had a speedo for a while. This thing is stacked with goodies that I haven't yet figured out.
Aprilias in general have gotten much better than the RSVR era at the beginning of the century. The reliability of those older bikes was 100% dependent on you going out of your way to mod/fix a number of poor electrical design choices. Underrated plugs, stupid stator choices, dumb rectifiers. Once you fixed all of Aprilia's boneheaded electrical choices it was a rock solid bike. But we're talking about a bike that was primarily designed in the late 90s. The RS660 we don't know a lot about but if we base its potential reliability more along the lines of the RSV4 then it should be reasonable. It's still an incredibly new bike, my vin is sub 100, so we'll see if I made a good choice. First service is 600 miles. First intermediate service is 6000. First major is 12,000.
The stock throttle is also 75*, which with my damaged right wrist is annoying. The short throw "race" throttle from the RSVR works on it, but you lose cruise control and requires throttle training at a dealer. I haven't decided if I'm gonna sacrifice cruise control for a shorter throttle throw, but I likely will given my range of motion limitations in my wrist (got an R6 throttle tube on my SV).
Going to go visit Catalyst tomorrow and have them dial in the suspension as best they can with the stock gear. Then I took Thursday and Friday off to go ride up the coast, weather permitting. I'll have a better impression then on familiar roads without weekend traffic. My initial gut is that I might swap the rear shock, I was spoiled on my old SV with a fully adjustable Nitron reservoir shock and at stock configuration the OEM setup is a bit bouncy. We'll see what Catalyst makes of it after they twiddle some nobs.
My street bike history:
- Heavily modded 03 SV650S
- 04 Aprilia RSVR Factory
I have about 200 miles on my RS. I picked it up from Scuderia West in the city and they charged me MSRP + about 1200 in combined setup/freight. I put my name down for it back in September of 2020.
My initial impressions are that it is a super fun bike. The center of mass is quite low and its light to begin with. Extremely flickable and the ergos are similar to an SV650S. The power is great, exactly what I wanted, more than my SV but not stupid for the street. The power delivery is very linear and the engine wakes up around 7k and really wants to go. I felt at home on it pretty quickly. I can't speak to reliability yet obviously but I can speak to the fact the thing is loaded with more tech than I know what to do with. I'm used to bikes that have a rev counter and a light that goes on when gas is a bit low, my SV hasn't had a speedo for a while. This thing is stacked with goodies that I haven't yet figured out.
Aprilias in general have gotten much better than the RSVR era at the beginning of the century. The reliability of those older bikes was 100% dependent on you going out of your way to mod/fix a number of poor electrical design choices. Underrated plugs, stupid stator choices, dumb rectifiers. Once you fixed all of Aprilia's boneheaded electrical choices it was a rock solid bike. But we're talking about a bike that was primarily designed in the late 90s. The RS660 we don't know a lot about but if we base its potential reliability more along the lines of the RSV4 then it should be reasonable. It's still an incredibly new bike, my vin is sub 100, so we'll see if I made a good choice. First service is 600 miles. First intermediate service is 6000. First major is 12,000.
The stock throttle is also 75*, which with my damaged right wrist is annoying. The short throw "race" throttle from the RSVR works on it, but you lose cruise control and requires throttle training at a dealer. I haven't decided if I'm gonna sacrifice cruise control for a shorter throttle throw, but I likely will given my range of motion limitations in my wrist (got an R6 throttle tube on my SV).
Going to go visit Catalyst tomorrow and have them dial in the suspension as best they can with the stock gear. Then I took Thursday and Friday off to go ride up the coast, weather permitting. I'll have a better impression then on familiar roads without weekend traffic. My initial gut is that I might swap the rear shock, I was spoiled on my old SV with a fully adjustable Nitron reservoir shock and at stock configuration the OEM setup is a bit bouncy. We'll see what Catalyst makes of it after they twiddle some nobs.
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chrisweir.com
Home Loans for Riders!
That's the thing about the RSVR and Tuono R, buying one today is a really, really good idea because all the problems are known, DIY repairs are easy, parts are cheap and the bikes themselves are $4500-$5500 with low miles, presumably because everyone was afraid to ride them. And after you fix the problems you can enjoy one of the best looking, and best sounding engine and chassis combos ever made. Even the weird stock 190/50 rear tire size is now solved because we have 180/60 dunlops and pirellis... And who cares about dynamic tc when you have Pirelli SPV3's?
The only caveat is that I'm still dealing with a leaky clutch slave that gets motor oil into the line so I bleed the line every couple weeks (yes I've bought the oberon slave and replaced the seals), but thats not a big deal. Whenever the clutch doesnt feel like its disengaging enough to make smooth shifts i just bleed it... and i've been nursing the same bottle of brake fluid forever. BEsides that.... you're not road tripping without mapping where the gas stations are, I havent been brave enough to ride further than 100 miles on one tank. Gas light sticks on for a little bit after a refuel... and that's about it.
This bike is the best $4500 i've ever spent in my life. I have no doubt that this engine will see 100k miles. Right now it's in the "cheap parts on ebay" phase so im buying what i can in case i drop it too.
Honestly if we're talking used middleweight sportsbikes (its a 1000 but it's a v2 with 120 hp so..)what other bike out there looks as good as an RSVR, sounds as good as an RSVR, handles as good as an rsvr, has ohlins, brembos, (OZ magnesium wheels,) and costs under $6k?
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OVerLoRDI
Well-known member
That's why I ended up with it too. It is an incredibly beautiful machine, sounds awesome and has all the right kit. I parted with it simply because despite all its perks it wasn't a great bike for the type of street riding I do (norcal backroads, multi-day trips, etc) and it just murdered tires at the track. Fantastic bikes and you're right once you dial in the stuff around the motor that motor is gonna keep rocking for a long time. I miss the idea of it, but I don't miss it that much.
Following this thread closely. I picked up a 19' RVS4 Factory 1100 with 1 mile on it from NPA (National Powersports Auction). Was a repo off the dealer floor and it went cheap. Fingers crossed on reliability. So far, it sure is neat sitting on my garage lift. Any advice from owners welcomed.
Danny, The 200/65 -125/70 Pirelli's are full Gangster BTW (for the track).
Danny, The 200/65 -125/70 Pirelli's are full Gangster BTW (for the track).
mdorkenhoff
Drawing a Blank
Thanks for the great write up. I'm sold on Aprilia. I sat on someone else's RS660 at Spirit in SJ over the weekend (thanks new RS660 owner, you have an awesome bike).
I'm more interested in a Tuono 660. The dealer was more interested in making a killing on the (future) sale - they said I could either pay somewhere around $13500 otd (MSRP + $2000 + tax), or "leave a $1000 deposit and we can talk price when the bikes arrive in March".
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