June 2, 2009 - Alan Dowds

Aprilia's given us this lovely cutaway pic of the new RSV4 engine. It's techno-porn in the finest sense of the term! UPDATED ... Scroll down for the full story

We've currently got the new Aprilia RSV4 tazzing round the roads of East Anglia, challenging Ducati's awesome 1198S and the superstar of 2009, Yamaha's new R1. Back here in the office though, we're reduced to staring at hot pics of the new RSV4. Pics like this juicy technophiliac cutaway photo.

It's pretty huge, but once you've opened it, you can clearly see the simplicity of the design. The space-saving single-shaft cam drive is on show, as is the narrow-angle 'V' layout, short stroke and mini-skirted pistons. The balance shaft drive is out front, under the elegant starter motor gearing (although the salt will get to the motor on winter commutes...). Further up you can see the variable inlet trumpets, and the large black box that contains the fly-by-wire motor gubbins. The upper and lower injector plumbing is also clearly on show.

It's striking how compact the motor is back-to-front. This shortness does make it seem a little tall, but that's a price worth paying for the chassis design freedom and handling advantages of a shorter engine. It allows a longer swingarm too, with all the attendent stability and drive benefits. Finally, note the unusual slotted rear engine mount holes. The RSV4 is unique in having an adjustable engine position - not something we reckon you'll need for the typical trackday setup of course. But it is rather cool...

UPDATE
The fine fellows at Apriliaforum.com have been commenting on this pic. One user queried the extended slots in the cam drive sprockets, but another poster solved the issue. The slots are for setting up the combined chain/gear timing, rather than for altering the timing in the conventional engine tuning way. More info and nice pics at the Apriliaforum page.


More on the RSV4 later...