First ride on the Tuono

[russell_bynum]

This afternoon, I rolled the new (to me) Tuono out for a ride. I didn't have a real plan for where I was going, but I knew I wanted to try some freeway riding to see how the minimal fairing does, and then have some fun in the twisties.

 

I wound up going down to Temecula, out Sandia Creeek to Fallbrook, then Lilac/West Lilac to Valley Center. From there, I picked up the 76 and made a run up Palomar's South Grade Rd. I basically retraced my route back, then zipped up the 15/215 and picked up the other side of CA-74, the Palms to Pines Highway. I got some lane splitting going through Hemet on 74, then ran up the twisty part, and took 243 up to Idylwild. Then I basically just turned around and came back down 243, down 74 to the freeway and home. It wound up being about 250 miles and covered a fairly wide range of roads, so it worked out to be a good first ride to see what the bike is all about.

 

OK, first the riding position. You're poised on the bike, but fairly upright instead of being in a crouch like a sportbike. The bars are at a good angle and my hands naturally fall onto the grips. The bars are nice and wide, which gives you TONS of leverage for throwing the bike around, but it also takes any upper body stiffnesss and magnifies every little bump in the road. It is VERY important to stay loose with your upper body. The cutouts in the tank just barely fit me, and the first time you crack the throttle in the bottom three gears, you understand exactly what they're there for. This bike has a Sargent saddle that's pretty OK. I did 250 miles in about 5 hours and was probably only off the bike for 10 minutes that whole time.

 

The motor is amazing. It pulls hard from idle, but above about 7K you had better be hanging on, and have some weight on the front end when you open the throttle. My only complaint is a pretty harsh on/off throttle transition that makes it difficult to be smooth rolling it on in corners.

 

The bike has a gearbox, but I'm not sure why since it seems like 3rd gear is totally adequate for just about everything. First gear is an exercise in throttle control and steering damper (Ohlins, by the way) effectiveness.

 

The wind protection from the small fairing is suprisingly good. Freeway cruise at 85-90mph felt fine. It isn't the bike I'd pick to do an SS1K in Montana in January with, but I was pleasantly suprised.

 

The chassis and suspension are unbelievable. The forks have Ohlins valves and the rear shock is a nice Penske unit. Both are fully adjustable for preload, rebound damping, and compression damping. My only gripe was it felt like there's a hair too much high speed compression damping. It seems to be uniform at both ends, but the sharp bumps are way too harsh. I should be able to adjust that out no problem. Otherwise, the suspension is firmly planted and handled everything I threw at it without missing a beat.

 

The Exhaust...I dunno, we'll have to see. On the bike with earplugs on, it sounds awesome, but I'm not sure I'd want to ride behind it. I'm going to leave it alone for now and see what my riding companions think at Torrey.

 

The brakes were good, with excellent feel, but I prefer a bit less effort. All of my bikes have HH pads, and I think this one is going to get them as well.

 

So...what's it actually like to RIDE a Tuono. Unbelievable. With all that torque at your command pretty much anywhere in the RPM band, accelerating out of turns feels like being shot out of a cannon. That next turn-in point comes up awfully fast, and you really appreciate that awesome front end and brakes when it comes time to haul the beast down. Then, at turn-in time, you just briefly imagine what it might be like to countersteer...and the bike drops in. the suspension compresses then settles and there you are in the middle of the turn pointed at the exit point with only one thing to do...open the throttle. The bike really is "point and shoot" and I can totally understand how one could become a late-braking fool on this thing. It practically begs for it. You do have to be careful with the front end...particularly when you're winding up 2nd gear because it doesn't take much to get it off the ground.

 

Through traffic, it is a lane-splitter's dream. It doesn't get much better than a nible bike with huge torque, planted suspension, and monster brakes. I have to admit I found myself giggling like a loon a couple of times when I'd leave intersections with the front wheel skimming the ground.

 

In short, my impression of the Tuono after 250 miles can be summarized with two words: Holy Shit.

 

 

 

So...what does it need to make it a sport-tourer? Not much, really. It needs a throttle lock, some soft luggage, a mount for my V1, and that's about it. We'll see how I feel after riding the thing at Torrey, but right now I think it'll be just fine. It's definitely not the tourer that my RT was, but it gets the job done just fine. I may have to look into a different helmet, though. My RF1000 is a little tight against my earplugs and anytime I ride a bike with less wind protection than the RT, I really feel the pressure. Oh...and I'm definitely going to have to bring a little bit more gear with me than when I rode the RT. The lack of heated grips, and less weather protection means I'm going to haveto bring my heavier gloves, and the Gerbings will get switched on sooner.

 

Now...I know some of you have been waiting for pictures. I'm very sorry to say that I only have one, and it isn't very good. This is due to several reasons:

1. I was having so much fun that I only stopped once to take pictures.

2. My photography skills are crap. My pictures always look like they were taken by a 3 year-old with a disposable camera.

 

Live with it. I'll see about getting more/better pictures later.

 

[David]

You do take crappy pictures. Even so, I love that color. Kind of gun metal. My ST4s was that color.

 

Anyway, I'm finding the same things with my Tuono that you are. I'm about done with my track day Ride Tale...with pictures, though not much better.

 

[JonathanE]

Congrats Russell!

 

Try to keep you license for at least a few months.

 

[Whip]

Now that you have matching bikes....How long before you have matching outfits???????

 

 

Whip

[leikam]

I for one would like to hear Lisa describe what it was like when you got back from that ride.

[Tasker]

Live with it. I'll see about getting more/better pictures later.

 

Why, is Baker coming out soon?

[K^2]

Nice bike, Russell. They are a lot of fun, aren't they. The picture looks like the stock windscreen. At 90+ I got really buffeted badly, so I put on an MRA "touring" windscreen. It's only an inch or two taller, but has a flip that puts the wind on your helmet, rather than on your chest. Much better. Might think about that.

 

Have fun with it.

 

K^2

[Les is more]

Russell,

 

Great ride tale! It sounds like you're gonna have a great time with this bike. Gee, too bad you couldn't find any decent roads to try it out on.

[russell_bynum]

Gee, too bad you couldn't find any decent roads to try it out on.

 

Well, what's a guy to do, you know?

 

 

It was funny...I started the day thinking I'd either do Palms to Pines and up to Idlywild, OR Lilac/West Lilac and Palomar.

 

But I was having so dang much fun, I decided to do both!

 

[Firefight911]

Sounds awesome! Looking forward to more ride tales. Have the better half handle the camera. Damn amateurs!!

[ItalianVtwin]

Glad you're liking the Aprilia. I have the RSVR Factory. Those roads are some of my favorites too. Next time you go out let me know.

[StretchMark]

Awesome!

 

So if your legs barely fit in the cutouts, I better bring my Dremel tool to El Paseo for when I ride Baker's.

[David]

[roydog007]

Cool, Nice bike !!! Thanks for the update.

Are you taking that to track days at the end of the month

[russell_bynum]

Are you taking that to track days at the end of the month

 

NO! Part of the intended mission of this bike is to be my track bike on days when Lisa and I are on the track at the same time. But that isn't its main mission. My CBR600RR's sole purpose in life is to be a track bike and it is better suited to it than the Tuono.

 

But, right now I don't know the bike well enough to be risking it at the racetrack. There's a lot of power on tap there and I don't think I'm ready for that yet.

[Voodoo]

Awesome!

 

So if your legs barely fit in the cutouts, I better bring my Dremel tool to El Paseo for when I ride Baker's.

 

Unfortunately, that's always been my problem with all Aprilias. My knees are just too dang long for the cutouts - including the Futura. Go figure. I still love the bikes and wish you the best of luck Russell. Have a blast.

[steveknapp]

Your picture sucks. Nice bike tho. I wonder how long the line will be for demos of Baker's.

 

The lack of heated grips,

 

If you need em, $30 gets you these. Opt for this version, not the one with the crappy looking toggle switch. As well this new version has two sets of heating elements. Rather than the older version that got "low" by having a resistor in series wasting the extra heat. On low these draw less current. They work very well. Install was pretty straightforward except for getting the stock Buell grips off, they were glued on. Probably to keep em from working loose.

 

http://www.casporttouring.com/store/merc...ode=dual_star_e

[sgendler]

Russell, you do have HH pads on the bike BUT they were used with another set of rotors. I threw those rotors back on after selling my galfer wavy ones. The pads might break in to the Brembo rotors (which were basically brand new - only 150 miles on them, before I swapped them out, since I had the wavy ones from the stolen Mille), but new pads might well improve things. I wasn't a big fan of the EBC HH+ pads in those calipers, but I liked the galfer pads that are on there now, at least with the galfer rotors.

 

As for heated grips, I could install them on that bike in an hour or so, the Kimpex kind that go under the stock grips. I've got wiring on the Mille/Tuono platform dialed, so we could do it super quick (and it really is handy on a naked bike, even while commuting). Shall I let you know when I am ready to wire up the S3 and you can come up and we'll do 'em both? I'm going to use a heattroller for vairable temperature control and alternator drain this time.

 

--sam

[russell_bynum]

Shall I let you know when I am ready to wire up the S3 and you can come up and we'll do 'em both?

 

Yes!

[Gleno]

Shall I let you know when I am ready to wire up the S3 and you can come up and we'll do 'em both?

 

Yes!

 

I'm hearing murmurs of Nekkid Tech Daze. I KNEW if I stuck around here long enough it'd get good.

[sgendler]

 

I'm hearing murmurs of Nekkid Tech Daze. I KNEW if I stuck around here long enough it'd get good.

 

Man, there's an image I didn't need in my head. Russell naked and bent over a Tuono.

 

--sam

[russell_bynum]

 

I'm hearing murmurs of Nekkid Tech Daze. I KNEW if I stuck around here long enough it'd get good.

 

Man, there's an image I didn't need in my head. Russell naked and bent over a Tuono.

 

--sam

 

Or you naked and bent over the S3.

 

Don't even get me started about Gleno.

[Gleno]

 

I'm hearing murmurs of Nekkid Tech Daze. I KNEW if I stuck around here long enough it'd get good.

 

Man, there's an image I didn't need in my head. Russell naked and bent over a Tuono.

 

--sam

 

Or you naked and bent over the S3.

 

Don't even get me started about Gleno.

 

I'll bend you both over......awww nevermind.

[Firefight911]

 

I'm hearing murmurs of Nekkid Tech Daze. I KNEW if I stuck around here long enough it'd get good.

 

Man, there's an image I didn't need in my head. Russell naked and bent over a Tuono.

 

--sam

 

Or you naked and bent over the S3.

 

Don't even get me started about Gleno.

 

I'll bend you both over......awww nevermind.

 

Should I be worried that I have not (yet) met any of you, yet I am still ROFL?

 

"I dance and sing, I skip and jump, I go to the lavatory!!", in 2 part Monty Python harmony!

[russell_bynum]

Should I be worried that I have not (yet) met any of you, yet I am still ROFL?

 

"I dance and sing, I skip and jump, I go to the lavatory!!", in 2 part Monty Python harmony!

 

That's Jamie's Theme Song!

[RBertalotto]

Ain't it great!