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• Racing duel of the giants
• Yamaha YZF-R1M feels a bit more massive
• Aprilia RSV4 RF looks perfectly balanced
• R1M is always a bit slower when changing direction
• Both traction controls are equally impressive
• Brembos of the RSV4 RF convince all along the line
• Back to the showdown
• Technical specifications
• Readings
• Conclusion

40 photos

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Aprilia RSV4 RF and Yamaha YZF-R1M in comparison test.

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You sit quite high on both bikes, but with the Yamaha YZF-R1M the rider is stretched further over the tank – which is also more bulky.

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Yamaha YZF-R1M.

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Yamaha YZF-R1M.

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When the front brake is actuated, the combination system also controls the rear brake. There are no other setting options.

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The engine covers are made of expensive magnesium.

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Bass-heavy sounds come from the standard titanium exhaust system.

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The rotary knob is also a push button to confirm a selection.

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The “YRC Settings” menu is operated with the rotary knob from the figure below.

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This is one of the reasons why the Yamaha YZF-R1M looks more massive than the Aprilia RSV4 RF.

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Aprilia RSV4 RF and Yamaha YZF-R1M in comparison test.

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With a lead of seven points, the Aprilia RSV4 RF can win the track test thanks to more than competitive top performance and the finest manners. Nevertheless, Yamaha also made a real blast with the YZF-R1M. Anyone who has once swept around a circuit with her can only be thrilled.

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Yamaha YZF-R1M.

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Aprilia RSV-4 RF.

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Yamaha YZF-R1M.

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Aprilia RSV4 RF.

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Aprilia RSV4 RF and Yamaha YZF-R1M in comparison test.

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The performance curves confirm this assessment.

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Editor and ex-IDM racer Pascal Eckhardt during a brief exchange of ideas: “The Aprilia RSV4 RF goes like a pig, full of grenades!”.

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The important information is displayed larger, depending on the purpose.

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The TFT display of the Yamaha YZF-R1M is divided into track and street display …

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… switch a minus key (index finger) while driving.

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The traction control can be controlled by a plus (thumb) and …

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For this, the adjusting screws in the engine have also been turned properly: lightweight titanium valves, lighter bucket tappets and connecting rods reduced by 100 grams as well as the camshafts, which have been reduced in weight by 500 grams, ensure a significantly lower weight overall.

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With 203 hp, the bike shows 20 horses more on our test bench than the previous model.

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The Aprilia RSV4 RF has a V4 engine.

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The two bikes have different engine concepts.

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In a perfect world, neither of them would be sold out.

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While the Aprilia RSV4 RF is limited to 500 pieces, the Yamaha YZF-R1M is even rarer.

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Thanks to the variable control head, the Aprilia RSV4 RF meets the highest racer demands.

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On the left a classic round instrument, on the right in the “Track view” information such as lap time, gear level and temperature.

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A four-in-line with an irregular firing order – Yamaha calls it a crossplane and specifies 200 hp.

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The engine of the Yamaha YZF-R1M is completely redesigned.

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Aprilia RSV4 RF and Yamaha YZF-R1M during the track test.

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Aprilia RSV4 RF.

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Aprilia RSV4 RF.

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As a distinguishing mark, the limited RF version has its production number on the fork bridge.

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In order to contain handlebar bumps, a high degree of damping tends to be selected.

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The pivot point can be changed if necessary.

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Finally, a cheer for the rubber dispenser:
Over two days of race training, these skins bravely performed their duties on both test motorcycles. The Bridgestone Battlax V02 slicks in a medium mix convinced with good grip, neutral driving behavior and a consistently clean wear pattern. Air pressures (cold): rear 1.1 bar, front 1.9 bar.

Aprilia RSV4 RF and Yamaha YZF-R1M in comparison test

Racing duel of the giants

Content of

Four cylinders, different layouts. PS lets V4 and Big Bang line-of-four sing a crescendo – Aprilia RSV4 RF versus Yamaha YZF-R1M.

Let’s assume we lived on a fantastic planet with a request concert every day. In that world are the Aprilia, limited to 500 pieces R.SV4 RF and the even smaller number of available Yamaha YZF-R1M not yet sold out. Sure, you want concert tickets for both superstars’ performances. But it is well known that you cannot shake the dance floor at any of the festivities. A decision aid must first be found. Ready for a little sound check?

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Aprilia RSV4 RF and Yamaha YZF-R1M in comparison test
Racing duel of the giants

Aprilia RSV4 RF only makes the special paint in combination with the production number on the fork bridge the abbreviation “RF” (Racing Factory). In addition to the polished look, the Yamaha YZF-R1M is ennobled by a carbon cladding, an integrated recorder (Communication Control Unit – CCU) and, most importantly, a semi-active Ohlins chassis.

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Aprilia RSV-4 RF.

Electric blankets gradually bring the Bridgestone V02 slicks up to operating temperature on this cool morning. Both machines come with 200/55 tires on the rear wheel as standard. More than 200 measured horsepower somehow want to be put on the road, and with the 200s, thanks to the larger tire contact area, the Luzi can really do well at the corner exit thanks to the larger tire contact area. In advance, our test bench of the Aprilia RSV4 RF attested a phenomenal 203 Cavallos. That’s about 20 more than the previous model and a real surprise. 

In the past, the series model of the multiple SBK winner had to put up with a lack of top performance as a point of criticism. But now the Aprilians seem to have done their homework particularly thoroughly. The adjusting screws have been turned tremendously on the new V4 engine of the Aprilia RSV4 RF. Light titanium valves with modified springs, lighter bucket tappets and connecting rods each 100 grams lighter are now doing their job. The camshafts are sharper and reduced in weight by a total of 500 grams, which has allowed the rated speed to be increased. In addition, the suction system was redesigned. Furthermore, the variable velocity stacks work over a larger area than before. The full list of fine-tuning, however, includes many more items. The bottom line was that the engine was able to work off 1.5 kilograms of excess pounds. Super linear, almost as if drawn with a ruler, the performance curve now extends to a good 13,500 revolutions.

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Yamaha YZF-R1M.

Let’s take a look at the completely redesigned propellant for the R1. A four-row four with an irregular firing order and thus a big banger – Yamaha calls it a crossplane. The engine not only sounds dull and a bit towards V4, it also delivers a finely adjustable torque due to the concept, as the voltage peaks on the rear wheel are not set as tight as with a screamer. Yamaha proclaims 200 hp, our copy (although the engine of the Yamaha YZF-R1M is in no way different from the engine of the normal R1) pushes 202 hp on the dyno roller.

The CP4 (Crossplane Four Cylinder) is not stingy when it comes to technical delicacies. Here, too, it is all about maximum power output in combination with low weight and the question of how this combination can still be made stable. Yamaha’s answer is: Take broken titanium connecting rods in the foot area, forged pistons made of aluminum (piston pins with DLC coating) and let the valve drive take place via low-friction and speed-fixed rocker arms. If you compare the performance curves of both motorcycles, however, the Yamaha YZF-R1M has a bad hole between about 5500 rpm and 7200 rpm. In return, the CP4 puts a little more coals in the fire from 8000 rpm than the Aprilia RSV4 RF and heats the stove up to the maximum speed of 14,000 rpm, always a bit more brutally.

Yamaha YZF-R1M feels a bit more massive

The Aprilia RSV4 RF positions its pilot quite high on a rock-hard racing pad and offers a clean, tight knee joint on the tank. Furthermore, the handlebars lie in the hand like fine dissecting utensils. As a result, Aprilia already shares some of its traits at this point. As sharp and filigree as the bike appears when you sit on it, it needs to be ridden with feeling. In this respect, it is a very honest motorcycle with quick accessibility. Once you’ve swung your leg over the RSV4 RF, you immediately know what’s going on. The Yamaha YZF-R1M can also be at least roughly assessed in this way. You also sit high, but the driver is stretched further over the tank, which is also more bulky. That’s why the Yamaha feels a bit more massive than its Italian counterpart. But the Edel-R1 is anything but a thick ship, which can be recognized, for example, by the fact that no part protrudes beyond the width of the main frame. However, it does not come close to the contours of its opponent.

In advance, we set the mappings of both machines for the sharpest response. With the Aprilia “T” stands for track, with the Yamaha “PWR1” for power mode 1. Some of the other mappings also release full power (the Aprilia RSV4 RF even has full power in rain mode) and only differ in that Power output. There can be no single blissful recommendation for the power mode, because one prefers a direct response behavior, for the other a softer one works better. The fact is that the Yamaha YZF-R1M accelerates more rudely in PWR1 than in PWR2, but revs up emotionally more aggressively. And the tester likes that very much. First we set the traction controls to level five, the anti-wheelie controls to one and the Aprilia’s race ABS also to one. The combination brake of the R1M does not offer any adjustment or storage options.

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Yamaha YZF-R1 in the driving report

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Aprilia RSV4 RF looks perfectly balanced

Here we go! After the first bends on the Aprilia RSV4 RF you almost get the impression that you had eaten a little too much target water the night before. The editor turns too early in every curve and has to open the line again. The Aprilia sticks out into the radii with agility and folds down in an inclined position in the blink of an eye, as not many production motorcycles can do, perhaps even no other production motorbike can. As long as the suspension setting is correct, the machine appears perfectly balanced, never unsettling with a vague feeling for the grip on the front or rear wheel. 

However, it can take a few drops of sweat to reach this state, because the Aprilia reacts extremely sensitively to every click on the spring elements. With a successful set-up, the handling is so easy that rascals first have to learn how to handle this piece of jewelry. If the Aprilia RSV4 RF is not touched with sufficient concentration, it can sometimes react capriciously. Pulling the handlebars forcefully at the exit of the curve, the front begins to flutter violently on the following straight. You can turn the steering damper as far as you want, but it still gets fidgety at the front. It is better to let the machine run smoothly, because the Aprilia doesn’t like an “ax-in-the-forest driving style” at all. The slim V4, which can be placed in the chassis with a favorable focus, offers professionals an almost limitless range of setting options. The motor position, pivot point and steering head angle are variable. Accompanied by this fast-firing, angry sound, accelerating with the RSV4 RF is a pleasure from the first meter and is highly addictive!

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Aprilia RSV4 RF (2015) in the driving report

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R1M is always a bit slower when changing direction

The Aprilia is already putting forward a lot. In order to maintain this pace, the R1M driver cannot afford to be tired. From the mid-rev range, however, the Yamaha does not stab against the clean midrange power of the V4 weapon from Noale. The R1’s TFT display offers the two different display formats “Street” and “Track”. The lap time and the gear engaged appear over a large area in “Track”. In addition, the tachometer scale only starts at 8000 rpm, and there is a reason for that. If the speed drops below this value, you are lost. For fat laps it is essential to keep the Yamaha happy in the range above 10,000 rpm. The harder you thresh the Yamaha YZF-R1M, the better it works. However, the motorcycle always feels less spectacular than the Aprilia RSV4 RF, which on the one hand is due to the drive, but largely on the handling.

Although the lap times achieved by ex-IDM crack Pascal Eckhardt do not differ from each other by up to a tenth, the Yam always seems a bit slower than the Aprilia RSV4 RF when changing direction and must be moved more decisively. This peculiarity becomes a virtue elsewhere, because the semi-active Ohlins chassis gives the Yamaha YZF-R1M a bomb-proof cornering stability. As if on rails, the Yamaha beats around the Sachsenring, no trace of any unrest. If necessary, the rebound and compression levels can still be set manually, also via the “YRC Settings” menu. For amateur racers, however, this will hardly make sense, the semi-active chassis works far too well for that.

Both traction controls are equally impressive

In the afternoon we have optimal temperatures of almost 20 degrees, the traction controls of both machines are now at level one. In favorable weather and track conditions, the slicks offer enormous liability potential, so that more traction control intervention is rather a hindrance – if you are hunting for lap times. Only when the tires begin to lubricate at the end of the second day of testing on the Sachsenring do we set the TCs uniformly to level three. The Yamaha also has a slide control system for “sideways movements of the rear wheel that do not match the current driving condition”. However, the SCS seems to have hardly anything to do even at level one of three, because the Yamaha YZF-R1M holds the line incredibly stubbornly at the corner exit despite its minimalist wheelbase.

In terms of control behavior, both traction controls are equally convincing, even if the Aprilia scores one point more in comparison due to the possibility of fine adjustment while driving. The Yamaha engineers did a very good job of tuning the wheelie control. When you fire up the hill on the left in the direction of the start-finish with the Yamaha YZF-R1M on the Sachsenring and the front of the bike slowly climbs up, it wheezes up half the straight of its own accord before the electronics put the front wheel back on the ground surprisingly gently puts. The Aprilia RSV4 RF’s wheelie control cannot do that quite so cleanly.

Brembos of the RSV4 RF convince all along the line

Slowly but surely the vibes increase and our soundcheck comes to a head. Now the subtleties between the V4 dissecting set and the Big Bang cannon are increasingly important. When it comes to brakes, the Aprilia RSV4 RF’s Brembos are convincing across the board. They bite extremely hard and can be dosed with great precision at the front and rear. The ABS regulates heroically late at level one and lets the rear wheel rise dramatically from the ground.

In the great Superbike comparison of the colleagues from MOTORRAD, ex-racer Christian Kellner switched off the ABS of the Aprilia RSV4 RF after it apparently opened the brake completely twice for incomprehensible reasons. However, both recently at the presentation in Misano and here at the Sachsenring, the system convinced us completely. We suspect that the dubious control process could have something to do with the tires, as MOTORRAD’s masterbike comparison test was carried out with street-legal rubbers.

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Back to the showdown

Yamaha of course has high technical standards and has come up with the complex combination system for the braking system of the new superbike. It can probably make a contribution to braking stability through the intelligent brake force distribution, but it is nowhere near as snappy as the Aprilia’s brakes. Point clarity prevails in the control behavior of the ABS. Where the Aprilia RSV4 RF still delays the full program, with the Yamaha YZF-R1M you have long been in the control range. Really hard, precise maneuvers for experienced guys are therefore more successful with the Aprilia.

The Yamaha YZF-R1M received the greatest criticism from all testers for the hard throttle response and the resulting load change reactions. You get used to it, but the Aprilia RSV4 RF accelerates more directly and at the same time more gently. If you allow yourself a moment of silence after this listening pleasure, you can feel the bass vibrate for a while. The award of points is based on facts, everything else is a matter of taste. You just have to have a few more dancing legs. But hey, life is not a request concert!

Technical specifications

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Both bikes have different engine concepts.

Readings

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The Aprilia RSV4 RF shines with a clean performance curve, but the Yamaha YZF-R1M wants to be turned.

While the Yamaha YZF-R1M makes a blatant drop between just over 5000 / min to almost 8000 / min, the engine of the Aprilia RSV4 RF impresses with a sparkling clean performance curve without any faults or blame. It couldn’t have been ironed in a more linear way, respect. It remains to be seen how much of this virtue has actually passed into the series models that are now available from dealers. For R1 drivers, the way to the goal only leads over speeds above 10,000 rpm, where the CP4 then swings the hatchet more powerfully than the diagram would suggest.

Conclusion

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With a lead of seven points, the Aprilia RSV-4 RF can win the track test thanks to more than competitive top performance and the finest manners. Nevertheless, Yamaha also made a real blast with the YZF-R1M. Anyone who has once swept around a circuit with her can only be thrilled.

1. Aprilia RSV4 RF

What a machine. The current Aprilia RSV4, RF or not, now obviously has more than competitive top performance and the finest manners, so that the power can be used optimally. Electronics? Currently at the highest level. Handling? Brilliant. Driving pleasure and optics? Difficult to put into words. But go to the Aprilia dealer, get in the saddle and just start the engine …

2. Yamaha YZF-R1M

Finally, Yamaha ignites a real blast again! Anyone who has ever thrashed a Yamaha YZF-R1M around a circuit can only be thrilled. That it has to put a few points behind the Aprilia RSV4 RF in the final ranking – in the end it’s a free gift! “M” is already an icon.

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