Got the Fazer a garage mate

[Blackfin]

Been a while since I last posted. Mostly been fucking around, working, riding the Fazer. I recently sold one of my cars to make room in the garage and in the budget to pull the trigger on a purchase I've been wanting to make for a while: An Aprilia Tuono.









Not just any Tuono: a 2017 V4 1100 Factory.

I've already added a few things (an Evotech tail-tidy, Gilles axle and swingarm sliders, Stompgrip tank pads, Pazzo levers) and have another on order (Rizoma bar-end mirrors). I'll probably opt for the Akra catless slip-on and race ECU too (this is a $CDN2400 purchase so not one to be made lightly.) The factory Euro4 muffler is just too large; I can't stand it.

Bike's already been in for its first service; I've got 1400kms on it already (only had it 3 weeks.)

She's fast...stupid fast. The Ohlins and Pirelli Supercorsa SPs offer up some kind of grip. The ergos aren't horrible for this old fart; pegs are much higher and further back than the Fazer, the seat feels higher to me than the Fazer but the straight-bar is an easy reach. I find my throttle hand gets a little numb after a long while in the saddle; thank goodness it's got cruise control

The muffler has a valve that opens above 5500RPM and provides a straighter path; at that point it sounds just awesome. Pity it's so fucking huge and ugly. Intake noise is massive. Riding without earplugs is deafening.

Would like to track-day it at some point but will see; I really hate not being able to wind it out on public roads without getting into licence-loss territory but would hate just a little more to crash it out of a trackday...

[Camo]

Congrats mate, she's fucking beautiful!!

[dgrayis5150]

That is a beauty!!!!!

Fantastic bike.

[nightttime]

I saw one of these in Minnesota yesterday, it pulled up behind me and the girl on our scooters lol. What a beast!

[Jubby]

Fuck if u dont track this its a mother fucking crime!!

Any more updates...awesome bike of dreams congrats mate

[dgrayis5150]

Bikes are tools. You have to use the tools you have. Hell its just money anyway!!!

[Blackfin]

Thanks lads. I don't really have much in the way of updates. The bike doesn't need much in terms of mods. I swapped out the Pazzo shorty levers for some CRG full-length folding units. I've got Pazzos on the Fazer and love em there but they don't work as well on the Tuono; the geometry for the clutch-side just doesn't work for me. Still on the stock exhaust; $2400 for a slip-on and flash is just too much for me at the moment.

I'm still getting used to the Tuono's power and torque. I'm fascinated by the differences between this bike and the Fazer. The Fazer's bars are narrower, it's steering "easier"; perhaps due to geometry differences. It's got much more steering lock angle than the Tuono. On the road the Fazer seems "slow"; it's not, really, but it feels it. Its torque takes a bit to arrive on the scene. The Tuono will hoist the front in 1st through 3rd with little provocation at just about any RPM; I don't get that sensation on the Fazer. Rolling on the throttle on the Fazer produces such leisurely acceleration. Once the tach gets past 6 or 7 it's pretty good but...

The throttle response on the Fazer seems snappier than the Tuono at low RPM. This makes downshift matching easier (though the Tuono has an auto-blipper going down the gears so that's kind of moot.) The gearbox on the Tuono is thick and heavy feeling; the Fazer feels lights and snicky. With the DQS quickshifter fitted to the Fazer it's just fucking butter. Maybe it's the mileage difference (3000kms on the Tuono now, 42000 on the Fazer) and the Tuono will wear in over time. I will say there are few things in life as exhilarating as upshifting on the Tuono using the quickshifter at 12000RPM and WOT. It's as close to MotoGP as I'm ever going to get. And jail...

I'm torn over exhaust notes. I love the flat-plane I4 sound of the Fazer but the baritone rumble of the V4 is addictive too. I passed a pickup on a country road yesterday, doing one of those WOT quickshifts at high RPM; all smiles under the helmet of course but I have to think the pickup driver was smiling too. Quite literally a laugh a mile.

Still no track days, probably not this season. I need to learn the bike more, grow my confidence in it, suss the suspension out. I think I may need a new rear spring; even with minimal preload I can't get decent sag in the rear (too light: I weigh in at 145 now, 165 with my gear.) But unless and until I get serious about tracking it, I'll leave that well enough alone.

[Jubby]

Any more update mate. What a bike

[crazybollox]

The few that I know that have had or got these do not have a bad word for them