Writing about bikes for 20 years. Published in dozens of titles on five continents. Mildly obsessed with discovering how things work.
Aprilia’s MotoGP fortunes have swung dramatically in 2022 as the honed RS-GP racer has come on song alongside riders Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales – bring the company its first top-class win. Now the same aerodynamic ideas pioneered on the race bike are being brought to the showroom in the form of the RSV4 XTrenta.
A rebodied and tuned version of the RSV4 superbike, the XTrenta gets carbon-fibre fairings made by PAN Compositi, using the same techniques used for the RS-GP’s panels, and thanks to its revised shape gains a remarkable 25% increase in downforce and a 4% reduction in drag compared to the stock bike.
The track-only XTrenta’s most obvious change is the vast shelf of a front wing – it’s really too big to be called a ‘winglet’ at this stage – extending either side of the nose. Essentially similar to the design used on the RS-GP, it’s not hamstrung by the regulations limiting MotoGP aero, so actually appears to be bigger than the MotoGP bike’s version.
The aerodynamic changes extend back to a new bellypan, which adopts a similar curved underbody shape to the RS-GP race bike and leads back to a ‘spoon’ under-wing attached to the swingarm.
These spoons were initially controversial when introduced in MotoGP but have since been adopted by several bikes in the championship, helping to scoop air travelling under the bike upwards before it has the chance to hit the rear tyre.
Above it, the tail unit – a single-seat design for the XTrenta, of course – follows the same design as the RSV4 but with enlarged diagonal fins that now flatten at the top to form additional upper winglets.
Under all this lies a bike based on the RSV4 Factory, with a 230hp version of the road bike’s V4 engine gaining increased compression and a new titanium and carbon SC-Project exhaust and a Sprint air filter. An all-titanium silencer is to be offered as an extra. Upgraded Magneti Marelli electronics, a PBR titanium sprocket and JetPrime race switch panel are also added.
The chassis is essentially from the RSV4, but the Öhlins suspension is modified by Andreani, with input from Aprilia’s MotoGP team, and there’s a billet alloy steering plate. Brembo GP4-MS monobloc calipers do the stopping, and there are Pirelli Diablo SBK slicks on Marchesini M7R Genesi rims, 2kg lighter than stock, connecting the bike to the ground, 120/70-17 at the front, 200/65-17 at the rear.
Just 100 examples of the XTrenta are set to be sold, with bookings open tomorrow (6 September) via factoryworks.aprilia.com . How much, you ask? That will be €50,000 to you, sir, plus VAT. In GB pounds, that would work out as around £43,277 plus 20% VAT, totalling £51,932 at today’s exchange rates.
The cost doesn’t include shipping the bike here, but buyers will probably want to take advantage of the offer to collect their XTrentas from the Aprilia Racing facility at the company’s factory in Noale, Italy.
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