Aprilia RSVR Gen1 Review (2000)
2002 RSV1000R
What Is It?
The Aprilia RSVR Gen1 is a dedicated sports bike and is powered by a liquid cooled four stroke 997.6 cc 60° V-Twin, producing 128 bhp at 9,500 rpm and maximum torque at 7,500 rpm.
Specs
- Seat Height: Average (825 mm / 32.5 inches)
- Weight: Heavy (210 kg / 463 lbs)
- Fuel Capacity: High (20.0 litres / 5.3 US gallons)
- Economy: Poor (33 mpg / 8.6 l/100km / 11.7 km/l)
- Range: Average (150 miles / 241 km)
- Top Speed: Very High (170 mph / 274 km/h)
- Capacity: High (998 cc)
- Power: High (128 bhp / 95 kW)
- Power to Weight: High (0.610 bhp/kg / 0.455 kW/kg)
- Redline: High (11,000 rpm)
Pros
- Comfortable riding position
- Build quality
- Suspension
- Handling
- Looks
Cons
- Hard work in town and on long trips
- Gets through tyres
- High seat
What Is It Like?
Tell us a bit about you
I'm a 58 year old male, 183cm and I have 30 years riding experience.
Why did you choose it?
I love the looks and reputation for handling superbly.
What is good about it?
Handling, reliability, looks, grunt and build quality.
What could be improved?
Fitting a Power Commander to smooth low speed throttle response, replace primary wiring to starter and back to main frame to improve starting performance and battery charging.
Any mods or upgrades?
- Colin Edwards air tubes
- 2000 model air intake collector,
- Yamaha starter solenoid
- Power Commander
What is the economy like?
140 miles from a tank.
How is the engine?
Grunt heaven and mega reliable.
How does it handle?
Best handling bike I have ever owned. The feel is incredible.
What are the brakes like?
Brembos - enough said.
Is it comfortable?
For a supersport bike it is roomy and I'm happy to ride all day. It gets “wristy” at low speeds in town but is more comfy than modern supersports.
How reliable have you found it?
Absolutely. Owned for 18 years and never let me down. Only issue was that it was eating batteries until I was told about a mod to change the primary wiring (kit available and takes less than an hour to fit). After that I had no more issues.
What's the servicing frequency and cost like?
£300 / year on average and I service mine every year.
To Sum Up
Compared to the fickle Ducati 996 and Honda SP1-2 this bike is comfy, reliable, fast, handles like a dream and will cost you less than half what the other two will. It's better built than the Duke, and costs less to maintain, it handles at least as well as the Honda and is built to the same quality.
In my humble opinion this is by far the best “WSBK inspired V twin” for the money and I will not be selling mine any time soon.
- Richard H, 2022
Price Guide
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Add Your Review
Do you own this bike? We would love to hear anything good, bad, unexpected or that you have changed plus anything that a prospective new owner might find interesting or useful.