And then, just as my tenure with Nicole was
approaching a measure of rationality, I met
Nicole’s younger sister. Not quite as cosmetically
pretty, but 25bhp more playful. And that is
at the limits of my capacity to describe.
God above.
The Aprilia RSV4 1000RR Racing is basically a
World SuperBike incarnate. I’m told you can even
be given the very latest WSB map settings on
a stick, just in case you wished to learn to fly.
There are three major settings on the 1000 race
bike. And lots more, just as on the Tuono.
The lowest is SPORT, then TRACK, and then RACE.
I never got near Race.
Normal roads have cars, nearby goats,
wet, trucks, 4 wheel-drives, potholes,
fences, unexpected gravel, and limits.
And so do I, and I reached mine fairly early.
This is the epitome of motorcycling; as fast
and as fierce as I dared to go, and there
seemed 10 times more than that on offer.
I enjoyed the experience hugely, the
privilege of being aboard one of the greatest
motorcycles of the twenty-first century (so
far), was awesome. But I hit my wall.
I am not a 58kg twenty-year-old with cojones of
steel, sinews of carbon fibre, and reflexes of the
pico-second variety. Nor am I leather-clad, riding
smooth grippy surfaces with tyres matched to heat,
everyone going the same direction and wired as hell.
But by the lord Harry, I loved it! Inevitably, these
fierce mounts had to go back to their owners, I was
happy to return them unmarked, they taught me
as much as I was able to learn, and I am sincerely
grateful for the experience. But as much as it pains
me, they were out of my league. Well, my comfort
zone perhaps, but if I learnt that lesson, that is useful
and it remains something very special indeed.
Weird biker angels can come visit anytime!
Stunning capability; quick-shifter
operation; awesome brakes
Almost too much to take in
*(My sincere apologies to Ms Scherzinger,
oh, and Lewis H.)
www.ntbracing.co.nz
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