Not part of the proletariate? Or just so addicted to the upper echelon of performance motorcycles that you’ll spend whatever it takes to have the finest in moto exotica? Then you’ve come to the right place.
The group we gathered for our all-out track attack on Miller Motorsports Park's West Course covers a range of entry points from the almost-reasonable $22,499 Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC to the exclusive and exquisite $43,995 Erik Buell Racing 1190RS Carbon Edition we tested. In between are the remarkable Ducati 1199 Panigale S ($22,995 plus $1000 for ABS to go with your traction control) and the MV Agusta F4 RR ($24,998).
MV Agusta significantly updated the F4 this year with a new short-stroke engine. Its 79mm slugs give the MV a 1.55:1 bore/stroke ratio, a bit more oversquare than the Aprilia’s V-Four and the EBR’s V-Twin but much less so than the Ducati’s radical, 1.84:1 Panigale. On the dyno, the MV punched out a commendable 163 horsepower at 12,725 rpm, up a bit on all of its exotic rivals but the Ducati.
• Still sexy after all these years
• Unmatched high-rpm wail from the short-stroke mill
• Top-line brakes, suspension, attitude
• Fueling barely in the front gate, much less the ballpark
• Stock suspension settings not there, either
• Short on refinement for the dough
As ever, peak numbers do not tell the whole story. The torque curve dips just past the 10,000-rpm mark and makes the F4 RR feel like it’s taking a deep breath before scurrying up through the rest of the powerband. You could tolerate that little hiccup if the MV’s fueling wasn’t also less than fully developed. “It’s very soggy in the midrange but started going well when it finally got into the powerband,” said Eric Bostrom. Associate Editor Mark Cernicky, trying understatement on for size, opined that it had “issues in the program.”
Bostrom’s best lap on the MV trailed the third-place bike by a massive 1.65 seconds. A partial explanation is that the MV came to the competition without a handler or mechanic and, worse, sans setup information. We eventually found and wrenched in the baseline track setup according to the manual, but it wasn’t very much to Bostrom’s liking. “I think with a lot more setup time, we could have improved the bike,” he said. But most of the other competitors needed just a tweak or two, not a complete round of setup work.
E-boz was not alone; all of our riders dinged the MV in the subjective evaluations. In addition to the aforementioned throttle-response issues, our testers placed the F4 RR’s steering feel and suspension performance well below those of the other exotics.
If the MV Agusta was a serrated (and somewhat unwieldy) femur saw, the EBR 1190RS was the prototypical scalpel. Wearing the shortest wheelbase (54.9 inches, an inch shorter than the MV’s and 1.7 in. under the Ducati’s), radical 22 degrees of rake and a minuscule 3.4 in. of trail, the EBR could be expected to have quick reflexes. It’s also the lightest: 426 pounds with a full tank, just a sackful of cheeseburgers less than the amazing Ducati (431 lb.) but well under the Aprilia (465 lb.) and the MV Agusta (467 lb.).
• As exclusive and cool as you can get
• Feels like what it is, a racebike with a license plate
• The bike Erik Buell wanted to build all along
• Good power but Ducati moved the bar
• In this class, needs TC and quick-shift
• Are you going to be afraid to ride a $44K bike?
Unquestionably, the EBR is the truest "racebike with lights" of the exotic quartet. The seat is a thin foam pad. You look past the electronic instrument panel to see an unfinished carbon-fiber interior (while the exterior is gorgeous). It's clear every reasonable tactic to reduce weight and to concentrate that weight to greatest effect has been put to use. While the motor is based on the Rotax-built unit last seen in the Buell streetbikes, EBR starts with unassembled engines (a Testors Snap-Together Engine Kit, anyone?) and boosts displacement to 1190cc with a 3mm-larger bore stuffed with pistons that raise the compression ratio to a heady 13.6:1, and then assembles a powerplant that puts 159.9 hp and 86.3 ft.-lb. of torque to the rear wheel. That's more torque and horsepower than the Aprilia's V-Four.
Bostrom’s initial impressions focused on the EBR’s race-intended chassis. “The Buell is fantastic. Mostly it’s in the connection of the suspension and the chassis. The bike wants to turn, it offers great feedback and the suspension is tuned extremely well. It has great feel and is great on the bumps—in fact, it’s great all across the range.” Cernicky gushed that the EBR is a “four-stroke TZ250. Super-light chassis feel.”
Have a look at our track map and find where we measured the Section 2 Average Speed (through the Black Rock Hairpin). "This section is all about braking. The EBR is so light-feeling and has such good feedback that I could drive into that on the brakes very comfortably," said Bostrom. "It's about the ultimate feel at the front tire." No kidding. The EBR posted the highest average speed through that section, illustrating how confidence on the bike and quick reflexes net huge dividends in slower corners. Our group universally praised the EBR's single, rim-mounted front brake, now sporting an eight-piston caliper and a dandy carbon-fiber cooling shroud. Editor-in-ChiefMark Hoyer proclaimed, "Finally, a rim-mounted disc that does not suck."
It’s the faster bends that hurt the EBR in our comparison. The two highest peak speeds on the track lay bare the engine’s comparatively narrow powerband. At 131.65 mph, the EBR was slowest at Peak Speed 1 (just before the braking point for the Sunset Bend, or Turn 1, on the West Course) and similarly had the slowest speed at Peak Speed 2, located at the exit of the Scream kink. “Horsepower, pure and simple,” said Bostrom. “The engine has good manners but lacks low-end pull and still peters out at the top.” Whereas the top two finishers felt like they had an endless supply of power, you’re aware of having to keep the EBR on the boil. The Buell is an amazing machine. When EBR finds those last few percentage points of engine refinement, it’ll be truly great.
We’re going to call this a first-class upset. From the first time the charismatic Ducati fired up in the Miller pit lane, the bark of its all-new 90-degree V-Twin, allied to a seriousness of intent a blind man could sense, had the assembled masses proclaiming it as the one to beat. Pity the poor Aprilia RSV4, last year’s news.
Yes, so. The Panigale arrives with the expectation ofItalybehind it—all ofItaly, not justBologna. After EIC Hoyer returned from the international press launch blathering about world-beating this and paradigm-shifting that, we had to wonder if it was jet lag talking or if the Ducati was really that good.
• The best big-bore V-Twin ever made. Period.
• Seamless integration of rideraids and electronic suspension adjustment
• All that power is matched with smooth, effortless control
•Your screwdrivers will be bored without suspension clickers
• Spring preload takes wrenches. Sheesh!
• Ducati really, really wants you to buy Pirellis
It wasn't jet lag. Let's start with power. With 174.4 hp on tap, the desmo-valved, ride-by-wire engine lays waste to all the Twins and Fours in the exotic category. At 88 ft.-lb., the Ducati's max torque bests the EBR by a little and the four-bangers by a significant margin. Consider the dyno curve: An early torque peak makes the Panigale feel strong off the line, but it's what you get on the far side of 7000 rpm that leaves an impression. Power builds smoothly to a peak at 8780 rpm and hangs on right through 11,000 rpm. From the saddle, the Ducati rider senses a bottomless reserve of thrust, perfectly modulated and utterly predictable.
Rhapsodized Bostrom, “The Panigale has one of the most incredible motors ever built. Everything is so smooth. It’s strong throughout a wide range, it doesn’t have any weird torque curves like I’ve felt in Ducatis before...it’s just fantastic.” Better yet, the 1199’s electronic aids garnered strong approval. Bostrom described the engine’s power delivery in one word, “Wow!” while Cernicky deemed it “fast and easy to use.” Hoyer described the power as, “As much as you need, everywhere you want it.” And to the back-torque-limiting system, Bostrom awarded a 10 with the comment, “It works so well a monkey could ride the thing.” Not sure which one of us he was looking at when he said that.
We’ve heaped a lot of praise upon the Ducati’s angular shoulders, so why isn’t it the fastest? We don’t think it has to do with the fact that the Ducati was running on Pirellis rather than Dunlops (see sidebar), but more with Bostrom’s confidence level at the limit. He was stoked to see Ducati’s techs change the damping settings on the electronic suspension with just a few button pushes on the left handlbar (“No way!”), but the chassis still wasn’t quite there for him. “We definitely have some stability issues that with more time we might figure out. The bike doesn’t quite settle down midcorner,” Bostrom concluded.
You can see this characteristic in the VBOX data. Eric's average speed through Section 1 (the high-speed Workout corner) was lower on the Ducati than on the Aprilia or the EBR. "That corner is 100 percent about balance," he said. "You really need nothing else. In a fast corner like that, you need the bike to be settled, and the Panigale wasn't as much as I'd like." Even so, the Ducati posted the highest velocity at Peak Speed 2 on the straight just after this turn, and did so again at the Peak Speed 3 point, both suggesting that its front-end bias worked in its favor for the slower corners, as did the Ducati's ability to put its prodigious power to the ground. Across the board, the Panigale impressed our riders—but still wasn't quite the fastest.
You’ve done the math right. A razor-thin margin, just 0.37 sec., separates first and second in this shootout. The stout and agelessly sexy Aprilia prevailed on the strength of its balance. “I was blown away,” said Bostrom after his first setup laps and then again at the end of the day. “It felt like home straight away. It’s a small motorcycle, and you automatically think it might lack some drive grip and it might be too ‘knifey’ because it’s so compact. But it was none of those things. It was bolted-down, accurate and you never have to think on it.”
Hoyer tempered his comments on the Aprilia’s smooth and sophisticated V-Four, saying it had “substantial pull and broad delivery but not up to the 1199’s level. Feels good, not great.” Cernicky countered with “...love the noise/music.” Hoyer went on to praise the RSV’s front-end grip, echoing Bostrom’s sentiment by saying it had “great front-end feel and willingness to turn...instantly comfortable.”
• Shrieking, glorious-sounding motor
• Top-line electronic aids work in the rider’s favor, always
• Least-expensive Exotic and the best lapper!
• Compact riding position might cramp taller riders
• ABS not even an option
• We didn’t get to keep ours long enough
Perhaps it was the Aprilia’s happy demeanor that made the fast guys go faster and the slow guys go just a teensy bit less slow. Those powerful Brembo Monobloc front brakes bite predictably, and the bike’s weight distribution and steering geometry make trail-braking a stress-free act. “Felt awesome entering corners,” said Hoyer. “It was the easiest to hit my marks and get down to the apex.” Its electronics—traction control, quick shift, ride-by-wire—work so well with the mechanical slipper clutch and engine tuning that the results are seamless competence.
From the VBOX data, the Aprilia’s strengths are clear. It just edged the EBR in Section 1 Average Speed (the fast left-hander at Workout) while lagging behind the Ducati and the EBR in the other sections because, according to Bostrom, “Once the Aprilia dropped in , I had trouble getting it to continue to want to turn. Both the Ducati and the EBR would tighten their lines easily.” But he added that once locked into a corner, “it settled really well. It has excellent side grip and gives a lot of confidence.” The RSV4 was fastest of the exotics at the end of the front straight, partly because Eric could carry impressive speed into the tight, last corner but also because the Aprilia put its power down effectively.
E-boz concluded his assessment of the Aprilia simply: “There’s so little you can complain about. I think it needed a little ride height...we did add rear preload, but I think it could have used a ride-height adjustment there...but that’s something we’d do to get that last little bit.” Right off the trailer, on tires it wasn’t designed for, the Aprilia stepped up, ran like a train and threw down the winning time.