Belated research

Mike,

Some RSV's need regular clutch bleeding, however this can be resolved if you fit an £80 "MPL" Slave cylinder , the other benefit is that it reduces the amount of pressure you need apply to the lever by about 30%.

The wiring on some bikes is made of old cheese, spaghetti & meatballs, you may need to cut out the charging circuits connectors and replace with permanent wiring.

The side stand can be a little suspect putting the balance point in the wrong place so that the bike tips over rather easily, you can fit a modified early Gixxer side stand or get one from evilbuy via a gut called "Bubseywoo"

The back brakes on some are only there to look pretty and therefore are as much use as a eunuch in a whorhouse, there are various solutions to this problem just do a search on here.

The swingarm recall should have been done by now if applicable

The sprag clutches can play up and do cost a bucket , so make sure the battery is always in top condition and if you suspect it get it replaced, basically if it dont start within 2-3 seconds dont keep trying.

And last but not least ......................The above is just fairly basic standard stuff, the most important thing is to enjoy your "APE" and ride the wheels of the dang thing

Stop worrying man, as with any forum, you only read mostly of problems that need resolving and thats from only a few bikes, the majority will probably never give you any issues if you look after it. Keep the battery charged up and you should be fine :thumbup

Mines never had a problem with the side stand, battery always on an optimate and my back brake works fine :biggrin

If people read of all the problems on any bike, not just the RSV, they'd never buy any of them :nana

My back brake has always worked a treat. I have an alarm on mine and no electricity in the garage - therefore no optimate. I fitted a 14 AH battery when I got it and I've never had a starting problem. It even started in winter after 5 weeks of standing:thumbup

Earlier comment is spot on. you usually only see peoples' problems on here. I was cacking myself after I bought mine and then found the various forums and all the listed faults. Eventually Griff told me to 'get a grip' and enjoy.

Enjoy:biggrin

don't think the Bubsywoo stand will work with an 04. They have a different angle bracket and shorter stand than the earlier bikes.

The MPL won't solve the air issues with the clutch either i'm afraid. The Oem Brembo radial clutch M/C lets in air for some reason. The MPL helps but it still happens.
Brembo updated the M/C (twice) but despite having the updates mine still let in air. Amauri who works for the Aprilia ama team in the US says their race bikes don't use the radial M/C for the same reason. If they can't fix it there is a problem with the design somewhere.

not a big deal. It's just a tiny bit of air at the bleed nipple on the M/C. Just crack the nipple and a couple of bubbles will pop out and jobs done. Generally mine lasted 1000 miles over here before needing doing but in Spain with higher temps it was every 300 miles.

Do the clutch oil jet to .40 mod as well. makes gearbox better.

The mpl slave change is a very easy, home mod. 30 minutes and it's done.

im on my second mille and love them, all the problems go out the window when you ride it. the grin factor is off its head.

Im a budget biker, meaning my wife and kids have all my money and I can still run the ape only worry about the issues IF or when the problems happen bud.

enjoy