Aprilia Tuareg, and a moped swing!

[Pedro]

Today I went and test rode an Aprilia Tuareg 660. After yesterday's afternoon and evening of monsoon like rains, the forecast today was for clear skies except for a small chance of rain in the middle of the day, got out earlyish and made my way to the dealership, they do Suzuki, Yamaha, Piaggio, MV Agusta, Aprilia, Kawasaki, and probably some other brand too. 

About 45 minutes to get there via a boring road, the hills to the right are where I'll head with the Aprilia as the dealer is right a few kms ahead from this picture

 

After about 10km on the main road I try to avoid a really dark rain cloud that is ahead and get on some trails to go up the hills. First try loads to a sort of quarry and it's a dead end, I stop to have a look around the bike and check google maps:

 

Second try leads me up a narrow and quite steep path, I stop to check the maps again and see if I'm heading the right way, which I am. The bike was low on fuel, and on these slow trails felt really light. I'd even say it felt a little heavier only than my XR400, it's 189kg dry so quite light, and the seat makes it feel lower than it is, also since the suspension sags more than on the GS it really feels a lot lower.

 

 

The tires aren't very good though, on these slippery rocky bits above they provide very little grip, really not confidence inspiring. I switched off traction control and got stuck, so got out and took the pictures above. Decided to not lower tire pressure or risk riding through carrying higher speeds with a bike that was kindly loaned with a "sure, no worries taking it on a dirt road" comment. Still, what would have been a nightmare in the GS, turning back in that narrow trail, was easy and didn't even get my breathing up. 

Eventually gave up and got on the road up the hill, by then the rain had cloud had passed through, so stopped at a lookout:

 

From the front it's not the prettiest of bikes, but I like it, I like the GS though so there ...

 

Rode through some nice mountain roads in the same way I usually enjoy touring on my bike and it feels like a very similar bike to ride, only a lot smaller. The seat is nice at first but not GS nice after a while, the engine is really smooth and torquey enough for whatever you want, except maybe two up with luggage, but that's not really this bike's point, I like that the dash is low and forward instead of in front of you and in your face, feels like my bike. The screen is great, doesn't get in your way offroad, doesn't bother your line of sight, and still makes it comfortable to ride doing motorway speeds. I got it up to way illegal speeds on the main road and I'm sure it'll be nice if you want to sit on a motorway for a few hours, plenty fast enough for that too since the little 660 feels like a baby race engine if you push it, it'll rev to 10.000rpm and get to 180 or 190 way faster than i thought, while also casually plugging along in 5th or 6th at 80kmh.

There's this thing in Portugal now, of making swings in scenic locations, I had to stop for this one though!

 

Riding back to the dealer a couple of hours after picking the bike up it rained a little, not enough for a soak but enough to see that the screen does a nice job at cruising speeds, and that the rear wheel doesn't splash water to the back of your legs like my GS does, which really annoys me as the first thing to get wet are the back of your thighs.

My bike sits higher than a standard GS Adventure usually does:

Handing the keys back, and I take a couple of pictures before going out for lunch.

Such a pretty bike:

 

Such a pretty and elegant bike, too:

 

Both other colors for the Aprilia, I prefer the red and the yellow to the historic one:

 

Now, looking back at it, what I think of the bike:

I like the engine, it's docile for off-roading while really revvy and aggressive at high rpms, very smooth and apparently quite economical, this bike showed an average of 5.2 lt/100km over it's 1600km life, which is quite nice for a new engine that doesn't really get babied around. I didn't reset any trip meters but think it'll be an easy 4,0 lt/100km when touring gently. Brakes are probably ok, I didn't notice then to be honest so must be ok. I like that it's got cruise control.

The wheels are nice, like the GS's, with spokes on the outside of the tire so it uses tubeless. 

The suspension is ok, it's got a nice 240mm of travel and it's adjustable, I didn't tough it though. It's nice enough for the road but dives a lot when braking sort of hardish, I am used to the BMW though. It's good when offroad and over bigger hitting bumps, it's confidence inspiring. It can turn on a dime, tighter than the GS (which is hard to do).

I didn't like the levers, the clutch is cable operated and the levers feel like something taken off a 90's bike, I didn't see if all other Aprilias at the dealer have that but I suspect they don't use them for the sportier models. The GS is still the more balanced bike though.

These tires are shit, ABS kicked in when braking on a wet road at very low speeds when it really shouldn't have for a normal road tire, while the rear didn't cut it in the dirt, I think they might be the worse of both worlds and would really prefer something more aggressive for offroad if I bought one. It'll make a nice trail bike, or a really nice solo touring bike, it'll make an easy meal of dirt roads and all surface qualities.

The bike is so light because it's built light from scratch, it's well thought out, you can see that in the nice aluminium suspension arm, the sidestand, etc, but doesn't feel fragile. It's plasticky but in a good way, really nice quality plastics, the tank feels solid and is made by Acerbis, the panels to the rear feel like they'll take a proper beating, it feels tough and rugged. 

Wants? I'd like it to have a fuel range indicator, tried to find it in the menus but couldn't, maybe it's there! This specific bike doesn't have heated grips, which just feels uncivilized! I'd really like it to be taller and probably would make it taller if buying one, just to make it feel right.

The rear was well designed to cope with mud, the rear wheel doesn't get the shock dirty which is nice, unlike my GS that gets all filthy if I just look at a motocross video on youtube!

I liked the Aprilia, but still felt glad to be back on my bike, something like the Aprilia might be on the cards after the next Morocco trip, lets see how that goes. Headed back home via my favourite cafe for lunch and then home via some tiny roads:

 

 

 

[Pedro]

Forgot about this:

 

 

[XTreme]

Great report Pedro......I like the look of that, though the T700 would be my first choice!

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Great report Pedro......I like the look of that, though the T700 would be my first choice!

Something about how the T700 looks just annoys me and I can't get past it. That dealer, also having Yamaha, had one in the shop and I looked at it, sat on it, and it's also less comfortable than the Aprilia.

[boboneleg]

Nice one Pedro, glad you got a test on it.  Got to say that yellow colour is shite though.

[Sofia]

MV Turismo Veloce...❤❤❤

 

You look cool on the little Aprillia!!

[Pedro]

7 hours ago, boboneleg said:

Nice one Pedro, glad you got a test on it.  Got to say that yellow colour is shite though.

Might be the colour’s name: babyshit yellow!