But the way the twin pulls is something else. You can chug it down and let the roll-on or throttle do all the work. And the way that a single-cylinder four-stroke makes a longer spread of power than a two-stroke, well, the twin-cylinder four-stroke makes even longer power. It takes a while to get used to letting the bike chug down so low on a high-strung motocross bike, but it works. Since it makes a blurry redline all the way up to 12,500 rpm with power all the way, you have to learn the sound so as not to be tapping the rev-limiter, if you want that much power in the first place. The FI mapping is really close with only minor glitches and was happy in a variety of temperatures and track conditions.
The four-speed gearbox is plenty for any MX condition, and the spacing is just right. Shifting kept getting better with time on the bike, but having the clutch pull adjusted correctly went a long way in eliminating tough or missed shifts. The power is so long you hardly feel the need for a fifth.
The handling was the most surprising thing about the MXV. The steering is light, and the front end gets great traction in the turns. It is like the engineers stole some secrets from KTM and Suzuki here. It is easy to get forward on the long and flat seat despite the wide radiators, and we're sure the weight and placement of the engine in the combination steel trellis and aluminum cast lower have some effect on this. This on a bike that has a long-wheelbase feel to it, which is a pretty good feeling most of the time, and goes a ways in making the bike relatively stable. The only issue we had with the machine was when it kicks sideways and all of a sudden is not a light MX bike anymore. It gets heavy, and it happens quickly! Aprilia hid the weight well, but every so often it comes back to say hello.
Suspension components are pretty good as well. The Marzocchi fork is the 50mm big boy and has all the trick coatings. It is rigid, and we're sure it helps the sticking of the front end. Bottoming resistance is good, and the clickers go a long way in tuning the bike for each track. In fact, we had it working as good as any MXer at a beat, rough Glen Helen just before the National-no easy feat. Out back the Sachs shock does a matching job but is not as good in the chop, especially considering this is a long-feeling bike. You can dial it to be plush, but you give up some of the push on the front end that makes the turning so good and you actually lose some of the ever important ground clearance that this bike needs. But it jumps just fine, can handle big hits and, for everything but the kickers, it is right on.
The Aprilia has great brakes and an especially strong rear stopper. The front is strong and has great feel. The bike also has no lower frame rails and a nice skid plate on the bottom. And the bike uses it. Somehow, especially at the footpegs, the MXV is a little wide and a little low, thus it's very easy to drag in the ruts. When using the whole stroke of the suspension it will drag the cases on the landing. It isn't bad and you don't notice it much until you look at the skid plate and see the scars. Mud tries to pack into the footpegs, though the MXV comes with trick deflectors to keep it out. We've been riding our Screamer bike for a while now, but the original Big Bang bike blew a head gasket near the end of its first day out. So we aren't totally familiar with Aprilia durability just yet, but we're learning. The machine has a very typical higher level of detail on it, Italian to an "I." And working on the bike is pretty simple for the basics, but it can get complicated if serious motor work is involved.
The 450 MXV will attract that specialist or aficionado of strange machinery. It isn't a Honda CRF or even a KTM SX, it's an Aprilia. And in being different, it is very good.