APRILIA RSV1000 (1998 - 2003) Review

Version: Mille R

Year: 2000

For its age it performs very well and is still a hoot to ride on Saturday mornings. I often jump on it instead of my newer bikes.

Buying experience: Purchased privately from original owner. It was in storage for 15 years. All the plastics were in stellar condition. I retrofit a MOSFET RR and rebuilt the fuel pump hat replaced the filter and hoses. I paid under $3k in 2019.

Version: Full spec RSVR 2002 (yellow - best colour)

Year: 2002

Annual servicing cost: £120

Best bike I have ever owned or ridden and I have ridden a few over the years. I keep coming back to this bike as it is the essence of a performance V-Twin from the turn of the millennium. Aprilia got this bike just right and the R version is the one to get IF you can find one - they are getting rare indeed.AP Performance at Tamworth are your friend - they really know this bike inside out and have some bespoke kits to iron out the creases and improve performance / reliability.

Buying experience: Bought mine 18 years ago for £5000 and it is now worth £4 - 5000 and it is rising - so not a bad buy then!Still a heck of a lot cheaper than a Duke 996 or Honda SP1-2 for basically a very similar bike. Aprilia is more roomy than Honda or Duke, better handling than the Duke, and better fuel range than Honda.

Version: Mille RSVR

Year: 2001

Annual servicing cost: £150

Insanely competent and reliable motorbike with more than enough shove to make it still feel like a handful amid superbikes of today. No electronics to save you so relies on rider skill and that sublimely handling chassis. One of the best A road mile eaters which continues to impress with how rapidly it can propel you from any corner in any gear at almost anything over 2,500 revs. Gruntier than a pig fed on beans, more reliable and better made than noughties Ducaties, faster than a 998 and imho, better handling and way more comfortable and what's not to like?This bike makes more sense now than ever. It was a slow burner when released but Aprilia got it right first time out with this bike. "R" models are the ones to pick with lightweight Oz forged racing wheels and Ohlins supension. 2001-2003 models all use the same engine which is the big valve version of the earlier models and kick out real world 112 to 118bhp at the rear wheel but don't for a moment think that's tame as they have huge amounts of torque from low revs. RP58 chip in de-restricted mode using an Arrow or Akra factory spec pipe deliver about 4bhp more giving them similar performance to an early R1. 2004 Colin Edwards rep is just a Gen 2 engine with fancy graphics and twin pipes plus larger airbox and snorkels with 57mm TBs in place of the Mille and Mille R 54mm TBs but has less low and mid shove than the 2001-2003 models which remain the pick of the bunch for smiles per mile. Gen 2 versions best avoided due to numerous electrical niggles and they have less character too.

Buying experience: Be very careful which one you buy. Most won't be standard and will have been messed with. As they were cheaper than the competition and could be picked up for little money up until a few years back, expect many unloved examples shined up for sale. Check standard eprom is present, brakes are good, that there's no weeping front suspension forks or leaking slave cylinder. Look for sensible mods like 150 amp starter solenoids and forza eproms of the standard one was replaced. Check dog bone linkage. Knackered ones will make rear suspension feel sticky and some will squeek indicating dry bearings. Check electricals all work and there's no nasty rattles or smoke from the engine. Check that valve clearance checks were done on 10K mile plus machines. Check bar ends and fairings for damage indicating a slide down the road or on track (many were tracked).

Version: Race bike

Year: 2001

What a machine. Truely remarkable that Aprilia turned tbis out for their 1st superbike

Version: RSV1000 R

Year: 2002

The best bike I ever owned so far. (This is a track-only review) The bike turns in strangely to be honest, not as my 750R, but the front feel is absolutely stunning, braking performance top notch, and rear grip impressive even with a tad hard suspension setting. When you get to know the bike and understands how it works (took me 2 trackdays), you enter corners with bullet speed and get out of them even faster. As it’s my first v-twin I was concerned about throttle input coming from the lazy 750, but that’s ridiculous as the Mille is smoother and more precise than it! Riding position is just about excellent from stock, for a 1.80m tall guy.

Buying experience: The bike was bought from a friend for 2500€ (around $3000 I assume), which is much under common prices here.

Year: 2003

Annual servicing cost: £100

Best bike I've owned. Rode from Scotland to Venice with throwover luggage. Comfort was fine.

Buying experience: Bought new from a dealer for list price or thereabouts

Version: RSV-R

Year: 2002

Owned a 2002 Aprilia RSV-R which includes the Ohlins suspension, carbon trims & OZ wheels as standard. Over all a really good bike but never felt the urge to just go riding for the sake of it sadly.. I had the full Arrow system that sounded like thunder at any rpm but the thought of touching any traffic would soon take the fun out of the ride with its jerky power pick up that required constant clutch slip.. short video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGgU9rQ4Dp8

Buying experience: Look for a well cared example with no nasty noises on start up, fork seals go often with most spending there life on the rear wheel, have a google on checking the oil level as its a little more complicated with a dry sump set up.

My 3rd big bike after owning a RS250 and an '07 ZX6R, and boy am I glad to be back on an aprilia. I found the ZX6R handled superbly and it had more than enough power for me, it's comfort however made it nearly impossible to ride for more than an hour or two. I had a few goes on a Mille last year and knew it had everything I needed, so in Feb I got myself a 2003 RSVR with carbon everwhere and Ohlins suspension/steering damper, OZ wheels, spare race pipe/chip etc with 8,000m on the clock for £3.5k. It's alot of bike for that money! The Mille is a little large by modern standards and I'm sure a modern 600 with a fair rider, let alone a new breed 1000, could sithe past a novice (such as me)on a Mille. I however got the Mille based on it's real world ability. After my previous bikes the Mille feels unrushed and kind of lazy in the way you can role through the corners, the setup on mine does feel stiff (the previous owner could well of had a tinker) but it never loses it's composure and the grunt out of the corners is superb (even in too high a gear). I'm still getting used to the bike (and am missing the Kwak's gear position display) but so far so good, I've got a feeling this ones going to be in my garage for a very long time. Now to find a tidier exhaust...

This is the best handling bike I have ever owned. Its much better than my 2005 cbr600rr. The quality of this bike is up to par with the jap bikes as well. I would recomend this bike to every one. Get one of these now!

after many years on big il4's i really fancied a change & the opertunity came to buy this mille at a very good price. At first I found it top heavy & the engine felt agriculteral at best, especially in town & I began to wonder if I had made a mistake after my smooth jap il4's. I have had it for 3 months now & it has really grown on me & now I can not see me going back to the 4's. The sheer grunt punches you out of corners while the CT2's keep perfect traction at extreme lean. The engine really gets going from 4k & will fly round to the 10k mark with ease. The front brake is as you would expect from Brembo on a sport bike, strong & with plenty of feel & feed back, the rear brake, it has to be said, is all but pointless as soon as the bike heats up. The digital clocks, while now a bit dated in looks, have a small array of gadjets like top speed, ave speed, temp, battery voltage & even a lap timer! Overall, once you have got your head tuned into v-twin mode you have a machine that can give great satisfaction & thrills without the dedication of a racer. It is something that you must allow time for though if you are not used to a big twin.

I had two of these a 99 RSV (2000-2002) and a 2002 RSVR (2002-2004) and they were both wicked. Have to say the R version was loads better with the ohlins kit etc, and in Yellow was always turning heads everywhere I went. I went abroad a couple of times on the Yellow RSVR and every time I stopped a services to refuel people would come over and look at it. Went on to a jap four after for a couple of years, but now gone back to a v-twin again and now have the 2007 model.

This is my first litre bike and was bought by me as a way into 1000cc machines without the insurance bankrupting me. I came from a background and love of inline 4s. At first I thought this was a terrible mistake but as time goes on I've grown to love this bike more and more. Bad points: • It takes time for an iL4 rider to learn how to ride it and what gear to be in. • No Fuel gauge, just a warning light. • Eats batteries - buy the best battery you can afford and keep it hooked up to an optimate. • Over geared - Get a 16 (or even 15) tooth front sprocket. • Hard work in town - What do you expect it's a big twin, it was always going to need lots of clutch feathering in slow traffic. • Clocks look like they were stolen from British Leyland... • Quite a thirsty bike when doing stop/start riding, sometimes the light comes on (with 4/5 litres left) at 90 miles. • Burns oil. • Starter sprag clutch is real weak point and is very expensive to replace. • It shakes bolts and screws lose with the big V-twin vibrations. • The rear brake master cylinder gets cooked by the down pipes and the brake slowly stops working. • Very tall - not for the stumpy of leg. • Pain in the arse to check the oil. Good points: • Very economical at long distance motorway work - Mine returns about 50mpg sat at 90mph. • Surprisingly comfortable, I've done a 620 mile day from the south of France on mine. • The drive out of corners is deeply, deeply addictive and flatters your riding making you look faster than you are. • The handling on sweeping A roads is very easy and stable. For a big bike it's pretty nimble. I've had it shake it's bars when it's hit cat's eyes etc. but it hasn't slapped despite provocation. • Clocks are incredibly comprehensive if you can figure out how they work • Italian exotica carries a surprising amount of kudos with fellow bikers. I'm always surprised at how much attention my Mille gets. • Even on the standard can it sounds great. • There are loads of bling parts available for RSVs and they are quite easy to tune for even more grunt. • An active and friendly online community. • Once I'd dealt with the awful maintenance of it's past owner mine has been very reliable. • Very handy under seat storage, I've got half an RAC van under there. • That big 'ol fairing is great for distance work and weather protection, this really is a sports bike that will tour. • The lights - especially the high beams - are excellent. • The front brakes are the best I've ever used - Braided steel lines attached to four pad, goldline Brembos! Single finger pressure is all that's needed to stop. • Very tall - good for the bigger riders. • Decent pillion seat, not like the brillo pad most bikes have. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this bike until I took it on some long distance, high paced ride outs with riders who are much more experienced than I am. It was so good on these ride outs that I'm properly impressed by this machine. It flattered my riding and cosseted me through long days in the saddle. It kept up with or kept in sight some very quick machines - New Fireblade, ZZR1400, 'Busa etc. All the good points about the Mille have really impressed me, it's a real rider's machine and the bad points have faded in my estimation. You get a hell of a lot of bike for your money when you buy an RSV. Sure there are bikes out there with much more BHP/top speed but for real world riding this bike will stay with pretty much anything. Try one, you might like it.

This is my first litre bike and was bought by me as a way into 1000cc machines without the insurance bankrupting me. I came from a background and love of inline 4s. At first I thought this was a terrible mistake but as time goes on I've grown to love this bike more and more. Bad points: • It takes time for an iL4 rider to learn how to ride it and what gear to be in. • No Fuel gauge, just a warning light. • Eats batteries - buy the best battery you can afford and keep it hooked up to an optimate. • Over geared - Get a 16 (or even 15) tooth front sprocket. • Hard work in town - What do you expect it's a big twin, it was always going to need lots of clutch feathering in slow traffic. • Clocks look like they were stolen from British Leyland... • Quite a thirsty bike when doing stop/start riding, sometimes the light comes on (with 4/5 litres left) at 90 miles. • Burns oil. • Starter sprag clutch is real weak point and is very expensive to replace. • It shakes bolts and screws lose with the big V-twin vibrations. • The rear brake master cylinder gets cooked by the down pipes and the brake slowly stops working. • Very tall - not for the stumpy of leg. • Pain in the arse to check the oil. Good points: • Very economical at long distance motorway work - Mine returns about 50mpg sat at 90mph. • Surprisingly comfortable, I've done a 620 mile day from the south of France on mine. • The drive out of corners is deeply, deeply addictive and flatters your riding making you look faster than you are. • The handling on sweeping A roads is very easy and stable. For a big bike it's pretty nimble. I've had it shake it's bars when it's hit cat's eyes etc. but it hasn't slapped despite provocation. • Clocks are incredibly comprehensive if you can figure out how they work • Italian exotica carries a surprising amount of kudos with fellow bikers. I'm always surprised at how much attention my Mille gets. • Even on the standard can it sounds great. • There are loads of bling parts available for RSVs and they are quite easy to tune for even more grunt. • An active and friendly online community. • Once I'd dealt with the awful maintenance of it's past owner mine has been very reliable. • Very handy under seat storage, I've got half an RAC van under there. • That big 'ol fairing is great for distance work and weather protection, this really is a sports bike that will tour. • The lights - especially the high beams - are excellent. • The front brakes are the best I've ever used - Braided steel lines attached to four pad, goldline Brembos! Single finger pressure is all that's needed to stop. • Very tall - good for the bigger riders. • Decent pillion seat, not like the brillo pad most bikes have. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this bike until I took it on some long distance, high paced ride outs with riders who are much more experienced than I am. It was so good on these ride outs that I'm properly impressed by this machine. It flattered my riding and cosseted me through long days in the saddle. It kept up with or kept in sight some very quick machines - New Fireblade, ZZR1400, 'Busa etc. All the good points about the Mille have really impressed me, it's a real rider's machine and the bad points have faded in my estimation. You get a hell of a lot of bike for your money when you buy an RSV. Sure there are bikes out there with much more BHP/top speed but for real world riding this bike will stay with pretty much anything. Try one, you might like it.

I bought my 06 model at 3 months old with just over a thousand miles showing. I've had every Jap sports bike R1/Blade/ZX/GSXR etc and after 30 years of inline fours they were all beginning to feel the same, plus the latest models are to be honest getting too small for a 6ft 2" 15 stone man who has a pillion 99% of the time. I've now owned the RSV for 12 months and have clocked up 8000 miles..Great bike that needs time to grow on you as its so different from the inline fours. Nothing has broken gone wrong in that time. I've had it serviced once (6250 mile intervals) I find it very comfortable for long journeys with plenty of room to move around, I was crippled on my last R1 because of it being so small and cramped..One niggle though is the fuel consumption, the bike does get ridden hard but it drinks fuel at an alarming rate. Overall though I've been so impressed I would by another when the time comes to change. One word about spares..Managed to drop mine while putting it on the paddock stand, snapping the mirror off. Got one over the counter at my local dealer (Cobb & Jagger)and a brake lever off ebay (£8.00 as apposed to £62.00)

Acquired a mint 2002 Mille in April 2007 with only 3300 miles on the clock. Awesome bike! Love the looks, the stonking engine, and the thumping sound it makes everytime I open up the throttle. Beautiful.... I always wanted a V-Twin and no regrets at all trading up to this from my last bike which was an R6. The R6 was extremely good fun but the RSV is in a different league....If you've ever pondered about an RSV...go try one...you'll be smiling for a while!

Bought this fine example of a 2002 Mille last September after a series of Jap inline fours and Honda V4's. At first I was very worried about reliability, but did my homework and could't find a bad word to be said about the bike. 6 months later and the reviews were correct. Not a single thing has gone wrong with the bike and she starts first time, even after being laid up for several weeks, mid winter. I have treated myself to a Full-on race pipe (sounds incredible) and have carried out a derestriction mod' and she really flies. The bike already came with a 16T front sprocket which aids town riding but you still suffer in town from aching wrists, well with my weight you do! Engine and all alloy frame are a masterpiece of engineering and that rear swinger is plain gorgeous. Strengths: Value for money (600cc Jap money), Handling, Build quality. Weaknesses: Ins group 17, Prices falling (Good news for buyers), Parts delays (took 3 weeks to get a couple of replacement bolts that had corroded).

Just traded up from an RS250, and I loved that but what a change, the acceleration alone surprised me not to mention the engine braking, but the thrills remain unchanged, and my clutch hand isn't sore anymore. I highly recommend the Mille, it just pulls and pulls and pulls. Strengths: Value, Comfort, handling and style and genuine wow factor! Weaknesses: Highish riding position, stiff clutch and a bit of a notchy gear box, and what's with the hole in the hugger, just baffles me that one! But these are minor gripes.

I swapped my 1200 Bandit for the Mille back in September as I was bored of the Suzuki. It was fast, cheap to run and fun but just lacked that certain something. Fell in love with this one on sight and after a quick test ride there was no going back. Its special in a way the Jap bikes will never be. Sure its not as fast as the latest tackle but every time you go out it makes you smile. It handles very well, goes like well and sounds brilliant with an aftermarket can. It's even reliable and most servicing jobs are a doddle if you are reasonably competent with the spanners. The only problem I have had since I got the bike is a failed clutch thrust bearing. Cost £7.50 in parts and half an hour to change. Ironicaly its also more comfy on the open road than the Bandit was, sore wrists in town are the only down side but I can live with that.Build quality also appears to be good, certainly much better than a lot of the Jap bikes. The only sign of corrosion on my one is the disc bolts. Strengths: Performance/handling, looks, practicality and build quality. Weaknesses: Hard work in town

Power and handling inspire confidence, a steering damper is a must and well worth the price. Smooth power delivery except for a small glitch between 3 and 4 thou. Strengths: Power and handling. Weaknesses: Steering damper not standard on R model, sidestand gives a few worrying moments on anything but a flat surface.