Design Motorcycle Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200

Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Design

The Dorsoduro 1200 is liquid-cooled just like its little brother the 750. Due to this there’s a wide radiator messing with the supermoto riding style a little as your boots can’t reach as far forward to the front wheel as on a proper motard.

The new steel-trellis frame might look the same as on the 750, but it’s stronger and stiffer and hence a little heavier. Aprilia has compensated a little by making the rear subframe lighter, but there’s no reason to think that improvement won’t benefit the 750 in the future. The Dorsoduro 1200 tackles the corners with great agility and that supermoto feeling where you can place the front wheel exactly where you want.

Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Engine

The Dorsoduro 1200 is a fairly heavy machine (457 pounds claimed dry weight) compared to something like the Ducati Hypermotard but with 30 extra horsepower to compensate. The chassis is ultra stable for this type of bike. Nailing the throttle out of first and second gear corners there’s nothing but smoothness with the correct traction control and riding mode selected.

The steering angle, despite the big radiator at the front, is free and quick allowing you to make U-turns quicker than a city scooter. One of the great things about off-road and supermoto bikes is the freedom of that front wheel to be placed exactly where you want it to be. The rest of the body simply has to follow in the fashion you decide be it sideways or not. The Dorsoduro takes you toward that freedom while motorcycles like the Shiver don’t.

Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Speed Meter

Aprilia has got two sides to it: the full on racing heart represented by the SXV/RXV and RSV4, and the bona fide road bikes represented by the Dorsoduro and Shiver. The difference is that the racing engines are 100% Aprilia-engineered while the 750/1200 engines are Piaggio (which of course also includes Aprilia) -engineered. This is good news if you’re worried about high mileage reliability on as few dealer service appointments as possible.

The new 1200c 130-hp engine isn’t stressed at all, and there’s good reason to expect a touring machine featuring this engine in the near future. The Dorsoduro 1200 accelerates up and above 125 mph easy as anything. On the motorways there’s naturally lots of wind resistance due to the upright riding position, but the seat is long (and a lot comfier than a real supermoto), and I could slide backwards and tuck my off-road helmet nearly low enough to take advantage of the small racing number-plate-style wind cowling. The mirrors provided a decent enough rearward view without too much vibration. There’s no weaving from side to side at high speed such as is typical on a 650cc single-cylinder bike.