Aprilia RSV-R or Honda SP-1?

 

Had a go on a friends SP1 a few years ago. didnt like it, to heavy, really uncomfortable, seat like a floor- board. fuel injection is rubbish, really rough low down. Build qualitiy is good and they do hold there price. The sp2 is a  better choice, but more money.

 

 

 

That seems to suggest that the SP1 is not the better road bike, but perhaps the better track bike? Anything that doesn't  come into its own until 120mph doesn't sound like a great choice for the British roads.  It sort of mirrors my own opinion of the SP1.  Fantastic looking and sounding, well built, fast but (for me anyway) utterly tortuous to ride on the roads at anything like legal speeds, plus a woeful tank range.  It would seem to make a far better choice for a track day bike where it could do what it was designed to do very well.

The modern crop of 600's may well be faster on a long straight road than either the SP1 or RSVR but not by much, if at all.  They simply dont have the torque to pull out of corners as quick, and none I've ridden feel as planted or satisfying to ride as any litre Vee twin.  I like a little weight and size for a bike, and the modern crop of litre bikes and 600's all feel like toys to sit ion them (although the litre bikes are stunningly quick).

Point is for these comparisons, its not about which is "faster" on paper or which is "better", because one person's definition of "better" will be different to anothers.

Take Seeker 77's views above.  For him, the SP1 is a "better" bike than the Ape in many ways, but that is relative to context, so wont accord with another person's definition.

The one thing I think it's fair to say about this resurrected thread is that its not so much about being "better" as recognising some true classic bikes of our own generation.  There's something special about the pedigree of both the RSVR and the SP1/2 in that both wiped the noses of Ducati for a short while on track, both did well on road circuits, both have some unique and iconic styling points not copied by any other manufacturer and both led the way in some ways with innovation.

The RSVR was the first ever machine to be basically a detuned, cheaper version of a race bike designed for racing and not initially for the road, the first to use radial brake callipers, a leader in fairing aerodynamic design (well ahead of the field), and made a bike so good that in it's gen 1 history it took Aprilia from obscurity to a seller of a hugely successful road and track bike.  The Honda similarly produced a road going version of its hugely successful racer with perhaps fewer concessions to riding on the real world roads, and made a bike dripping with innovative features such as the side mounted rads, some of the largest diameter pistons in bike production (keeps piston speed down at high revs and allows more power from the twin) and had a unique firing sound (you couldn't mistake an SP1 for anything else really).

I love them both but for me, a road bike has to be practical for the roads in the real world, and that's where the RSVR scores more highly and I guess why so many riders who like myself have owned faster more modern machinery have returned to our Gen 1 RSVRs because in the real world on real roads, pub heros aside, they're still hard to beat on all counts.