| | | | Road test: 2008 Aprilia SMV750 Dorsoduro launch – Aprilia goes hard and hyper! |  Written: 23/04/2008 : 10:20. Read 4495 times (238/day). | Aprilia really have acquired some top supermoto experience since the SXV was launched in 2004. Aprilia have added some of that racing know-how to the Dorsoduro and it’s a much more aggressive motorcycle than the Shiver! Dorso means hard in Italian…
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Words: Tor Sagen/Photography: Milagro
“This is a true Aprilia”, Francesco Polimeni – Aprilia Motorbike category Manager told me at the Rome presentation. What Polimeni means by saying this is that it carries more of a racing heritage than the last big Aprilia news, the Shiver.
Just by looking at the new Dorsoduro you can see clearly what it is. It’s Aprilia’s take at the newest niche in the motorcycle market. It’s Aprilia’s answer to Ducati’s Hypermotard and KTM’s 990 SM. By using the 750cc V-twin Aprilia also positions itself as the smallest of the big ones.
But Aprilia’s 750 90 degree V-twin is liquid cooled and not air-cooled like the Hypermotard. Despite tuning the engine for more low-end torque, Aprilia Dorsoduro still ends up with a respectable 92 horsepower @ 8750rpm. The main target with the Piaggio developed 750cc V-twin in the Dorso was torque. And torque there is plenty of from very low revs and max torque (82Nm) is available already from 4.500rpm. Aprilia’s ride-by-wire is in place also on the Dorsoduro. From the starter button you can change from Rain – Touring – Sport settings. The R setting takes away all the fun (torque) for safe throttle usage when it rains. The T setting softens the low-end torque response but leaves full power on top. The S setting allows the hooligan to express himself fully! Needless to say, I spent most of the day in S mode. In the morning though, I involuntary set off in T mode. I was thinking that this wasn’t too aggressive a throttle response and kept it on full throttle for best drive. To change the 3-way ECU settings you have to let go of the throttle so that the engine is on idle and then push the starter button whilst the engine is running. I didn’t feel that the button change had any instant impact and it takes relatively long for the change to happen. The throttle has to be in a closed position for safety reasons which are fine. But when the throttle is closed I want the change to be instant when I push the button. I don’t want to wait and on the Dorsoduro it feels the same as when switching ABS on and off on several other motorcycles. You can change whilst on the move,...
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