This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Hi all newbie and first post

M

marty2608

Joined Jan 2011
8 Posts | 0+
Norfok UK
Hi
im currently thinking of buying and RSV4 APRC limited edition
everything is looking good so far but it is also a bike that my wife will ride from time to time and she is a little shorter than me and after her sitting on 1 her toes only just managed to touch the floor
so i was wondering if anybody knew if it was possible to lower the seat height or if there were any aftermarket lower seats available for the RSV4 as i dont really want to lower the bike suspension wise as i weigh double her weight
any help and sensible answers much appreciated as i know alot will just think or say dont let her ride it you must be mad etc etc lol
 
hi marty,

when my wife had a 2006 r6 she had the same issues but she refused to lower it so she just got used to it (she is 5'4") , but accepted that it it was to go over slightly it was going to happen (never did mind) but i appreciate that Aprc is a little bit more money than an r6 so dont really want to drop one. however one option i have heard off is people getting sponge cut out of their seat and then getting it re-covered. At the bikegirl webpage there was a lot of lasses wanting sports bike ( cant blame them) and they did all these. Some dropped it professionally and others had the seat remoulded. Unfortunately some even did both. One **** was only 5 foot and she had a track R1 and she used to stand with only one leg on the floor with her bum off the seat. Could get your missus her own seat made for when she rides and you keep the standard one.

Hope this helps.

Marc
 
hi Marc
i was hoping there would be some way of either lowering the actual seat height by just changing the seat or even just narrowing the seat width because that seems to be more the issue as the seat and seating position is rather wide, which even i must admit it did seem wider than all the bikes i have ridden which is quite a few ( the wife is nodding because yes ive had a few lol ) but i cant seem to find any companies on the net that do this for the RSV4 or maybe its because i am just being to specific in my search
any way going to see an APRC this weekend and hopefully test ride an RSV4 factory to see how we both get on looking forward to it weather permitting

Cheers Marc
Marty
 
Hi, a mate of mine is very short, he sat on an APRC we have with no seat on and was fine. We have a carbon seat base with a foam pad on that you can put in place of the seat, it worked for him, when i say short i mean 5'4".
 
Hi Rich
do you have any pics of the seat
and how much does fitting your seat alter the seat height

Marty
 
Marty, if budget is tight drop the forks a little through the yokes and get some new link plates made for the rear. We had a batch of rsv links made for a few forum owners that moved then hole position by about 5mm and it knocked an inch off the seat height for shorter folks. The rake and trail etc isn't affected if you lower both ends, you just loose a bit of ground clearance. 20 mins and you can switch back for using it yourself etc (3 bolts). I thnk we were charged £25 a set to have them made in stainless steel. Don't use ordinary ally (6061 etc), the Aprilia plates are specced to a specific ally type. (I can give you the spec if needed)

If you take your links to an engineer they should be able to copy the design and move the hole easy enough or maybe get a batch made if there is a demand. I've seen a few people on Af1 asking about seat height also.
 
hi Spoonz
cheers for that do you have any pics
not even sure if i will get an RSV4 in any variant yet it all depends on the wife mainly i love it but until she rides 1 cant really make a definite decision and the main thing she is worried about is the height of the seat but if she likes it and i can convince her well then it will be all systems go and probably the APRC because anything that can help make things that little bit safer will be good eg for her traction control but im looking forward to launch control and wheelie control
my last bike a BMW S1000RR had traction control and it worked so well hope the Aprilia system is as good if not better especially as i had just under 200HP at the rear wheel with the Beemer as i had full Akro exhaust and power commander V on it great fun
 
marty2608 said:
hi Spoonz
cheers for that do you have any pics
not even sure if i will get an RSV4 in any variant yet it all depends on the wife mainly i love it but until she rides 1 cant really make a definite decision and the main thing she is worried about is the height of the seat but if she likes it and i can convince her well then it will be all systems go and probably the APRC because anything that can help make things that little bit safer will be good eg for her traction control but im looking forward to launch control and wheelie control
my last bike a BMW S1000RR had traction control and it worked so well hope the Aprilia system is as good if not better especially as i had just under 200HP at the rear wheel with the Beemer as i had full Akro exhaust and power commander V on it great fun
Click to expand...

All Aprilia's are historically fairly tall, it's sort of a design feature.

Lowered Link wise I think the pics are long gone Marty (i will check) but they looked much the same as the oem links on an rsv but in steel. I think i have the cad files still but the rsv links are different to the v4. The cost is all in the setup to be honest and most places are not into small batches so you really need a friendly workshop to help you out.

Bike wise If you have the budget i would get the Arpc. From what i'm told I think that version has a lot more to offer (engine internals wise) than just the arpc etc at least until the next production run of regular v4's get the same engine mods.
Never ridden an s1000r but heard they are very fast but lacking a bit torque wise for the street, not sure if that's true ? Most of the modern hyperbikes are too small for me :bawling so your a lucky chap either way
 
Cheers Spoonz
good job then i know a good local workshop then, its run by a good mate of mine who used to have is own race team in british superstock and supersport so fingers crossed there he will help if not to busy and i know a good local engineering company who will help with producing them

was thinking the APRC part mainly for the missus point of view as she has never riden a 1000cc plus bike before so that will help her a little but she is a great little rider and currently rides a CBR600RR 09 plate which she rides better than i could lol
The Beemer was an amazing bike and i never had any problems with it especially after exhaust and PCV fitted nearly 200BHP at the rear wheel is never gonna be slow lol

cheers for your help
marty
 
hi Kingfixer
thats no problem but thanks for the welcome hopefully i will get and RSV4, and im sure you will probably be able to help with another question im bound to have in the future, because i can ride but am hopeless at the technical side of things although saying that i did fit the Akro system myself on the BMW S1000RR with only a few minor hiccups nothing major and i really enjoyed fitting it, was really quite rewarding although on a brand new bike quite scary as you had to take every piece of fairing off to get to everything plus other numerous things which was a bit daunting but i was so relieved when i put the key into the ignition and fired it up and sounded the dogs plus no warning lights to say something was wrong

marty
 
×

Similar threads

L
First time owner, long time lover
Replies
4
Views
321
LemonyGuy
L
Alien 1
For Sale, 06 RSV Factory
Replies
0
Views
871
Alien 1
Alien 1
R
Test ride, thinking of purchase. Advice/opinion if poss please
Replies
2
Views
2K
RSV4prilia
R
N
Hi All Newby from Brisbane Australia
Replies
12
Views
1K
2nd Chldhood
2nd Chldhood
B
hi from newbie
Replies
2
Views
642
budd
B

New Posts