Took a Tuono Factory out for a spin this morning, beautiful looking bike and for 2017 it comes with a colour TFT dash, sporting lean angle display etc, an autoblipper (hurray!), cruise control, riding modes, separate traction and wheelie controls and updated (but not active) Ohlins forks and shock. It also comes with the least unattractive Euro 4 exhaust can I've seen with a fabulous V4 rasp 
I've always thought that RSV4's look tiny and they are indeed compact but I found this surprisingly roomy, foot peg position is less radical than the gen3 Sthou but still 'sporty', the straight bars are er straight but immediately feel much more comfortable than your usual sports bike fair. I've got the bike in race mode (there's also sport and track) to start with and head off out of town, the fuelling seems Ok, not quite as smooth as the S1K but certainly not snatchy like some other bikes I could mention, the quickshifter and autoblipper work fine, just like the Beemer the action is slicker the more rev's you use.
The Tuono feels light, I don't know what it weighs but it feels rather less than my S1000 and has light, sharp steering which I guess is also helped by the additional leverage you get from wider bars. One thing I'm not overwhelmed by is the harshness of the Ohlins suspension which is a bit of a surprise because I expected this to be a strong point, OK I'm used to DDC but I'm feeling pretty much every bump, which isn't a huge issue but it does feel the least refined of all the big capacity sportsbikes I've ridden in the last couple of years. I'm sure its just a set up thing but it would need sorting if I was to buy the bike.
So 'is it fast mister?', well yes, it certainly has a broad spread of power and an angry top end which feels stronger than the KTM 1290 R I rode a couple of weeks ago but not as strong as the S1K - not many bikes do! The gearing feels quite tall, not as stratospheric as the current R1 where you find yourself using 1st a lot of the time on the road, but nonetheless I'd say there's scope for playing around with sprocket sizes to give it even more vim although it's plenty quick enough as it is. It also sounds damn good even with the Euro 4 can, an Austin racing GP1 equipped bike would be awesome!
Comfort wise it gets a big tick, the small fairing keeps off most of the wind blast up to a ton at which point licence cushioning wind blast starts to take hold if you're sat upright and the seat's nicely shaped and padded.
So what's the verdict? It's really fun to ride, sharp handling, great to chuck about, plenty of accessible power, all the latest gadgets (apart from heated grips - doh!) and looks and sounds very cool. The suspension needs setting up and I guess if I got one I'd go for some Gilles adjustable rear sets to optimise the foot/peg/gear lever ergonomics but otherwise there's little to criticise. It's more sportsbike like than the KTM Superduke R and overall I prefer the Aprilia because of that, I get back on my S1000RR and straightaway it feels bigger, heavier and less roomy than the Tuono, no question the BMW has a lot more oomph and remains a formidable bit of kit but the RSV4 has more 'character' and is easier just to tool about on at road speeds which for me is becoming more of a priority for nowadays.
I've always thought that RSV4's look tiny and they are indeed compact but I found this surprisingly roomy, foot peg position is less radical than the gen3 Sthou but still 'sporty', the straight bars are er straight but immediately feel much more comfortable than your usual sports bike fair. I've got the bike in race mode (there's also sport and track) to start with and head off out of town, the fuelling seems Ok, not quite as smooth as the S1K but certainly not snatchy like some other bikes I could mention, the quickshifter and autoblipper work fine, just like the Beemer the action is slicker the more rev's you use.
The Tuono feels light, I don't know what it weighs but it feels rather less than my S1000 and has light, sharp steering which I guess is also helped by the additional leverage you get from wider bars. One thing I'm not overwhelmed by is the harshness of the Ohlins suspension which is a bit of a surprise because I expected this to be a strong point, OK I'm used to DDC but I'm feeling pretty much every bump, which isn't a huge issue but it does feel the least refined of all the big capacity sportsbikes I've ridden in the last couple of years. I'm sure its just a set up thing but it would need sorting if I was to buy the bike.
So 'is it fast mister?', well yes, it certainly has a broad spread of power and an angry top end which feels stronger than the KTM 1290 R I rode a couple of weeks ago but not as strong as the S1K - not many bikes do! The gearing feels quite tall, not as stratospheric as the current R1 where you find yourself using 1st a lot of the time on the road, but nonetheless I'd say there's scope for playing around with sprocket sizes to give it even more vim although it's plenty quick enough as it is. It also sounds damn good even with the Euro 4 can, an Austin racing GP1 equipped bike would be awesome!
Comfort wise it gets a big tick, the small fairing keeps off most of the wind blast up to a ton at which point licence cushioning wind blast starts to take hold if you're sat upright and the seat's nicely shaped and padded.
So what's the verdict? It's really fun to ride, sharp handling, great to chuck about, plenty of accessible power, all the latest gadgets (apart from heated grips - doh!) and looks and sounds very cool. The suspension needs setting up and I guess if I got one I'd go for some Gilles adjustable rear sets to optimise the foot/peg/gear lever ergonomics but otherwise there's little to criticise. It's more sportsbike like than the KTM Superduke R and overall I prefer the Aprilia because of that, I get back on my S1000RR and straightaway it feels bigger, heavier and less roomy than the Tuono, no question the BMW has a lot more oomph and remains a formidable bit of kit but the RSV4 has more 'character' and is easier just to tool about on at road speeds which for me is becoming more of a priority for nowadays.
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