APRILIA TUONO V4 FACTORY

Like a grownup, sophisticated KTM SuperDuke R" is what I wrote in my trusty notebook after my first road ride on the Aprilia, and I think that pretty much is all you need to know about it. Except, I've got a couple of pages to fill with my findings on the Aprilia, so I really should expand on my short but deadly accurate summary.

- WORDS: BIG MAC

First, the similarities stem from the fact that, like the KTM, the Tuono is also a tall bike, which instantly earns it a thumbs-up from me. There's not much fuel tank in front of you due to being perched so high up, and the size and sheer amount of bodywork up front means that as well as making a bit of a mockery of the term 'naked,' along with the tall riding position it does give the bike a feeling of size and presence that none of the others do, and I love it for that.

Unsurprisingly, given that the chassis is lifted straight from the RSV4 superbike, the Tuono has a real sense of focus and a feeling of being a very balanced bike. It feels nothing like any of the others in so much as you can just tell that it craves high cornering forces and wants to be really thrown about. It would be wrong to describe it as stiff - it's tauter, as though it's been meticulously assembled with all the weight from the V4 engine in just the right place beneath you. It really does feel like a superbike, but with higher handlebars, and it really feels like it does genuinely offer the best of both worlds without compromise. However, they've done it, Aprilia really has played a blinder with the adaptation - such as it is - of the RSV4 into the Tuono.

BRUCE'S BLUFF...