My Tuono Impressions

[chimera]

Tested out a 2004 Aprillia Tuono last night.  Took a 30-40 minute ride on some of my favorite roads.  My $.02

Pros:

REALLY nice looking bike.  It was all grey with some gold accents.  The bars, clamps, and controls are all gorgeous.  From every angle the bike exudes subtle sexyness.  She is definitely one hot librarian.

It was an ergonomic "fit" for me.  Perfect seat height, bar height, foot placement, very comfortable.  Reminded me alot of a big dual sport

Sounds very nice at idle. Again, it reminded me of a big thumpin dual sport.

Torque for DAYS.  Will wheelie at will.


Cons:

The foot controls are difficult to operate.  I couldn't get the rear brakes to work at all.  The shifting was precise but notchy.  The pegs are really short and small.  

Vibrates like MAD below 4K rpm's at WOT.  At first, I thought there was something really wrong with a counter-balancer or something.  Exhaust note was not appealing to me at anything but idle.  Sounded kinda farm tractor-ish.

Would not settle in a corner.  Maybe with some fiddling on the front and rear dampening it would have worked out for us.  I wasn't even close to really agressive lean angles, but probably would not have felt comfortable doing so because of the disconnect between how the front vs. rear were reacting to the corners.  It was almost like a see-saw motion back and forth.  The front would compress then rebound.  Then the rear.  Then the front.....and so on.  Unfortunately, at that point I realized this was not going to be the bike for me.

I so wanted that sexy beast in my driveway too......what an awesome medium distance SPORT tourer for the right person.

[kurtw]

It's a Mille.  Mostly. If you're riding it hard, it rewards an aggressive sport body position, despite the tall bars. It wants you gnawing on the inside hand grip if you're pushing hard.

Reasonable set of first impressions. What else are you trying?

[Orson]

Would not settle in a corner.  Maybe with some fiddling on the front and rear dampening it would have worked out for us.  I wasn't even close to really agressive lean angles, but probably would not have felt comfortable doing so because of the disconnect between how the front vs. rear were reacting to the corners.  It was almost like a see-saw motion back and forth.  The front would compress then rebound.  Then the rear.  Then the front.....and so on.  Unfortunately, at that point I realized this was not going to be the bike for me.

I dunno. Sounds like maybe you had a worn specimen. Maybe it's been wheelied to death?

If Milles & Tuono were bad handling bikes, the word would have gotten out by now   \

Fuel injected twins can be snatchy on the throttle. Ya almost hafta think ahead and concentrate on being smooth and stay on the throttle all the way thru the corner.

I don't know if this relates to what you experienced, but my Mille demands that I hang a butt cheek off while cornering. No lollygagging on that thing  

Sounded kinda farm tractor-ish.

That's bad? I thought that wuz supposed to be good  

[chimera]

Fuel injected twins can be snatchy on the throttle. Ya almost hafta think ahead and concentrate on being smooth and stay on the throttle all the way thru the corner.

I don't know if this relates to what you experienced, but my Mille demands that I hang a butt cheek off while cornering. No lollygagging on that thing  

No issues with fueling, especially above 4K rpm, she was smooth as silk.  Very predictable as far as the throttle was concerned.  

Does half a cheek count?  As I was new to the bike and demo-ing I really didn't want to push.  Besides, I couldn't get the balance front to rear sorted out!   I'd brake to set up for the corner (fantastic front brakes too, BTW), set my line, start feeding throttle, then it would just start to wiggle around alot.  I know it sounds absurd for this type of bike but the only other thing that I can think of is chassis flex, fork flex, or maybe a tweeked frame.  

Its a Mille.  Mostly. If youre riding it hard, it rewards an aggressive sport body position, despite the tall bars. It wants you gnawing on the inside hand grip if youre pushing hard. Reasonable set of first impressions. What else are you trying?

I guess that may be the issue.  I was probably kidding myself expecting a fairly upright seating position in any way diluted the fact that this is, primarily, a sport bike.  

looking at almost anything as I am fast becoming a bike whore.  Seems like every year I want something different.........maybe a Futura would fit the bill.........

[kurtw]

Front to rear balance may not feel right if you're sitting upright. The suspension isn't changed much from the Mille, which is design for a more forward position.  

On any of the naked sport bikes that I've ridden, you need to use your body in what feels like really exaggerated ways (both foreward/rear and shifting side/side) compared to a true sport bike where your position is naturally dictated by the bars. This is even more true on the Tuono than others. With the upright bars, it can be tempting to just sit up and lean your body a lot less than you think you are. If you think about it, your chest (center of mass) is up a lot higher off the tank and thus needs to move through a larger arc as you corner the bike. This leads to a really crappy handling feel at speed if you aren't working your body.


$0.02

[scottzilla]

"Sachs" is Euro-talk for "Sucks".
Sounds to me like the suspension was not set up right for you, or the previous owner simply didn't pay attention to how the bike felt.
It has fully adjustable suspension so you can get it handling right.  Worse case, there's an Ohlins in your future.
As a former Falco owner, I can agree the engine sounds like a bunch of bolts rattling around in there somewhere.  Aprilia owners learn to ignore the noise and there's never any engine problems.  My bike also handled horribily until I got the suspension sorted.

[traveler]

Ok, I've never ridden one, but I've been with folks who rail on those things. You know who you are.

My first thoughts when I read the op was that the tires were not correctly inflated, or worn badly enough to affect handling. The suspension was also probably not optimized for the test rider.

I think they're pretty nice bikes and wouldn't mind having one at all. Too bad we lost our local Aprilia/Guzzi dealer.

[MisterSmooth]

Ok, I've never ridden one, but I've been with folks who rail on those things. You know who you are.

My first thoughts when I read the op was that the tires were not correctly inflated, or worn badly enough to affect handling. The suspension was also probably not optimized for the test rider.

I think they're pretty nice bikes and wouldn't mind having one at all. Too bad we lost our local Aprilia/Guzzi dealer.

Yeah, traveler, I thought the same.  Bad suspension setup, or maybe just tire pressure which can make quite a difference.  Also, if the fork oil is 5 years old it's time for a freshen up.

They're great bikes, Tuonos.  The 2003-2005 models are better if you're tall, the 2007 and more recent better if you're short (the more recent bike is about an inch closer to the ground).

Joe, you're welcome to give mine a try next time we're out riding together.  I know it's not a VFR but it's pretty damn fun.  

[chornbe]

On any of the naked sport bikes that I've ridden, you need to use your body in what feels like really exaggerated ways (both foreward/rear and shifting side/side) compared to a true sport bike where your position is naturally dictated by the bars. This is even more true on the Tuono than others. With the upright bars, it can be tempting to just sit up and lean your body a lot less than you think you are. If you think about it, your chest (center of mass) is up a lot higher off the tank and thus needs to move through a larger arc as you corner the bike. This leads to a really crappy handling feel at speed if you aren't working your body.

+1

I throw *lots* of body english at my FZ and Sportster and they both give back just fine if you don't mind crawling over the bike a little.

[traveler]

Joe, you're welcome to give mine a try next time we're out riding together.  I know it's not a VFR but it's pretty damn fun.  

Wow, thanks for the offer. I'd love to take you up on that, as I've never ridden an Aprilia, of any sort.

You think I might succumb to the lure of "big twins"?

[njcaponut]

You think I might succumb to the lure of "big twins"?

I'd say hell yea!  

I've had my 04 Tuono for a year...Took me weeks of tweaking the suspention to get it right for me.

[Dan K]

Chimera - sounds like something was up with that bike, maybe beyond suspension.  I just picked up an '03 Tuono, based on a 15-20 minute test drive 3 plus years ago.  It is better than I imagined.  My suspension is still set up a bit stiff, but sorting that out.

Snatchy throttle?  Could be the exhaust / chip combo.  The Factory Pro chip is rough on some bikes and requires very fine adjustment to throttle bodies and fuel pressure to ride right down low.

If you like the bike, don't let that one ride ruin the bike for you.  If ergos are good, and you like massive torque down low with an equally crazy top end, you can't go wrong.  Thing handles like a scalpel but with smoothness bestowed by a guiding hand wired to your brain.

- Dan