Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200
APRILIA DORSODURO 1200
ROUNDUP
QUICKRIDE
Italian maxi-moto gets more punch
AMERE 15 MONTHS AFTER its European debut, the Dorsoduro 1200 has received its first updates. Nothing radical, mind you, but definitely worth a blast up the fantastic road on Sicily’s 10,000-foot volcano, Mount Etna, for validation.
I lucked out. My ride occurred on a perfect day just between two eruptions that coated the road with a thick layer of ash that would have made the road slick and treacherous.
Aprilia’s maxi-supermoto has officially shed 7 pounds from its curb weight (493 lb.), primarily due to the fitment of new lightweight cast-aluminum wheels with Y-shaped-spokes. It also got a 4-horsepower bump in output from its 90-degree, dohc, eight-valve V-Twin— now a claimed 130— primarily through updates to ignition and injection mapping in the Marelli ECU. Fresh graphics are very attractive, but the addition of a new line of soft luggage and touring accessories are what give the Aprilia a much broader appeal.
The twisty road to the top of the volcano was the perfect breakfast for the 1200cc Twin, which delivers a livelier feel than the previous edition. A very effective three-level tractioncontrol system, combined with a trio of response settings (full, touring and rain), allows the rider to optimize output for the road conditions. Given the ideal surface on this day, I had all systems set to “Go!”
A new 43mm inverted Sachs fork has 6.3 in. of travel, while the cantilevered shock of the same brand has 6.1. Seat height is therefore quite tall at 34.2 in., but its excellent shape allowed my 5-foot-10-inch frame to reach the ground comfortably with both feet. The lighter wheels have improved agility by noticeably reducing their gyroscopic effect. The fully adjustable long-travel suspension sucked up big bumps in the road nicely, although 1 did notice a bit of pumping over sequences of small bumps, something that can be easily tuned out with the rebound clickers. The frame geometry remains unchanged, and I still rate the 27.3 degrees of rake excessively relaxed in this maxi-moto class.
Radial-mount, four-piston Brembo front brakes are mated to a Continental ABS system. They proved to be very strong with reassuring feel at the lever.
Overall, improvements to the $11,999 Dorsoduro 1200 are worth the investment, and the addition of the aforementioned luggage provides a lot of potential as an adventure-tourer capable of going head-tohead with KTM’s 990 SM T and possibly even bikes like Ducati’s Multistrada.
Bruno dePrato
The twisty road to the top of the volcano was the perfect breakfast for the 1200cc Twin, which delivers a livelier feel than the previous edition.
