VOLUME 58 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 7, 2021 P63
plenty of turns, there is epic
scenery to distract all around,
and the always fun dirt connec-
tions make adventure bikes the
perfect choice, once again.
First off, the Aprilia Tuareg
660 is one of the best-handling
on-road adventure motorcycles
I've ever ridden. While the
claimed seat height is nearly
34 inches, the bike squats
down more than that with a
solid foot plant and a slightly
bent knee as I settled into the
plush seat foam. I immediately
was worried the bike was too
settled in the rear—a sort of
raked out, chopper setup built
to give easy stand-over. But I
was wrong. The bike simply
stuck to the tarmac. It can be
ridden much more aggressively
than I can ride on the road, and
it will likely stick then, too. The
front end provides total confi-
dence—the opposite of what I
was predicting in the parking
lot. It's clear Aprilia built this to
perform on the road, and I'd
put it up against anything with
a 21/18-inch front/rear wheel
setup between the stripes.
plenty of turns, there is epic
scenery to distract all around,
and the always fun dirt connec
tions make adventure bikes the
perfect choice, once again.
First off, the Aprilia Tuareg
660 is one of the best-handling
on-road adventure motorcycles
I've ever ridden. While the
claimed seat height is nearly
34 inches, the bike squats
down more than that with a
solid foot plant and a slightly
bent knee as I settled into the
plush seat foam. I immediately
was worried the bike was too
settled in the rear—a sort of
raked out, chopper setup built
to give easy stand-over. But I
was wrong. The bike simply
stuck to the tarmac. It can be
ridden much more aggressively
than I can ride on the road, and
it will likely stick then, too. The
maximum safety intervention,
Explore mode lets the bike thrill
more, Off-Road mode delivers
usable power with minimum
traction control and rear ABS
disabled. It's worth noting you
can manually deactivate both
traction control and ABS.
Tuareg 660 comes with a
412-pound claimed dry weight,
putting it right under 450
pounds full of fuel.
What else does an ADV
machine need? Well, it needs
to work on the roads and in the
dirt, in the real world, and not
just on paper.
I rode for a full day on the
Tuareg 660 on the island of
Sardinia in the Mediterranean
Sea. And, as island riding
generally offers, the roads offer
front end provides total confi
dence—the opposite of what I
was predicting in the parking
lot. It's clear Aprilia built this to
perform on the road, and I'd
put it up against anything with
a 21/18-inch front/rear wheel
setup between the stripes.
than I can ride on the road, and
it will likely stick then, too. The
Despite the stock
Pirelli Scorpion ST-R
street-biased tires, the
Tuareg worked well
off-road during our test
thanks to great weight
balance, power delivery,
suspension performance
and smart electronics
that let you turn all rider
aids down, or off.
Adjust on-the-fly
with big, easy-to-hit
buttons. Cruise-
control (top switch)
is standard.
