2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 Review [Video]

[Duken4evr]

Originally Posted by The_AirHawk

Yeah, WTF's up with that, anyway? It's gettin' like a bad trip through the late '80s, or the early days of Moto-F.I. all over again!

Thank the EPA I suppose. We are spoiled though. An '86 GSXR1100 put out a whopping 86hp in stock form. Post mods they were good for the mid 130s or so IIRC. Percentage wise, those GSXRs were the biggest gainers after undoing lean jetting and stuffed up exhausts.

Inquiring demented minds to want to know what kind of unruly beast this big displacement aggressive responding sporting twin might become after some "off road use only" tuning.

[jandj_davis]

I too was wondering why you compared this bike to the Multistrada? Why not the Hypermotard?

[Kkrueger1]

It would be interesting to see a comparison between the new Dorso, the Hyper Evo and the other jumbo SM Motorcycle seems to overlook. That's right the inventors of the category, KTM. Get a 990smr, the 1200 Dorso and a EVO out in the wild and let's see how they stack up against each other.

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by Morbo the Destroyer

Is that the Motorcycle.com World Headquarters building in the background of the video? That must be Mr. Duke's penthouse up top there.

It's a good review, but the point on "losing your license" with the bike was kind of beat to death. Isn't that true with almost ANY sportbike, or even some of the ADV bikes (Multistrada), these days?

Speaking of the Multistrada, why compare that to the Aprilia instead of the Streetfighter? Closer displacement numbers?

Speaking of displacement numbers, another new bike with unexpectedly low output. Does every bike have to get $1,500 in exhaust and Power Commander upgrades to run well?

It's a lot of hype. One could easily lose their license on an SV650 if they had a mind too.

[The_AirHawk]

Originally Posted by seruzawa

It's a lot of hype. One could easily lose their license on an SV650 if they had a mind too.

Hell, I came within a gnat's-ass of losing mine BEFORE I got one - on a CL100....

[Kevin_Duke]

Originally Posted by Morbo the Destroyer

Speaking of the Multistrada, why compare that to the Aprilia instead of the Streetfighter? Closer displacement numbers?

The Dorso is a maxi-motard, while the Streetfighter is, um, streetfighter, with much lower bars and higher pegs. The SF and the Multi have similar engines (and identical displacements), but the SF's is more highly tuned, which would make the Dorso seem ever more sluggish in comparison.

[Kevin_Duke]

Originally Posted by jandj_davis

I too was wondering why you compared this bike to the Multistrada? Why not the Hypermotard?

Ah, the intricate dicing of categories causes more confusion. The Hyper is indeed the best match in concept with the Dorso, but it's equipped with an air-cooled two-valve engine that can't hope to compete with the larger, four-valve Aprilia motor.

[Kevin_Duke]

Originally Posted by Kkrueger1

It would be interesting to see a comparison between the new Dorso, the Hyper Evo and the other jumbo SM Motorcycle seems to overlook. That's right the inventors of the category, KTM. Get a 990smr, the 1200 Dorso and a EVO out in the wild and let's see how they stack up against each other.

Unlike faithful MO readers, KTM has yet to be convinced of the value of the internet, so it's not often we get to sample any of them. But we'd love to test an SMR. We'll see if this web thing turns out to be more than a fad...

[sarnali2]

Power and weight-wise it's pretty similar to my GS, in fact I think the GS is around 117 hp. And it doesn't need a chip download or pipe to make it ridable..

[Morbo the Destroyer]

Originally Posted by sarnali2

Power and weight-wise it's pretty similar to my GS, in fact I think the GS is around 117 hp. And it doesn't need a chip download or pipe to make it ridable..

You're getting 117 hp out of an air-cooled boxer twin? Holy schlamoly, I had no idea. That must be one of the new trick head bikes, right? The trickle-down stuff from the race bike of a few years back?

Does your bike feel like it's going to throw itself on it's side when you open the throttle? I seriously considered an 1100RS, but that effect really turned me off.