You could say Aprilia has a slightly unfair advantage as they smartly fitted a Akrapovic silencer to the test bikes, to simply add to the amusement around Misano. It does sound amazing, even at tick-over. I know from experience that Aprilia’s V4 has always had distinctive ‘character’ but now, with more rpm to play with (300rpm more) this has amplified the experience to overindulgent levels.
Leaving the famous pitlane at Misano, and the new Factory sounds magnificent, the V4 blasting pulsating vibrations off the pit wall. Out on to the track on pre-heated Pirelli slicks (no need to warm up) the bike is straight into it, accelerating hard to join the swarm of Italian racers already up to race speed.
The noise is lovely, what a voice. This is escorted by the smoothest of quickshifter changes I’ve experienced on a road bike.
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