VOL. 55 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 13, 2018 P93
T
he Aprilia Dorsoduro was
one of the first big-bore
street supermotos avail-
able to the public when it was
first released in 2007. At the
time, the Dorso 750 was some-
what of a revelation, as Aprilia
didn't have many bikes that got
the loins going other than the
aging RSV1000 and the utterly
bonkers RXV450 and 550 V-
twin supermotos.
I quite liked that 750 and put
lots of miles on it in Australia
between 2008 and 2010. It
was easy to ride, not too harsh
on the eye and one that made
people second guess what
I was riding when I cruised
past—so it scored points there.
But Aprilia had one major
issue with the Dorso, and that
came in the form of the Ducati
Hypermotard. Released at the
same time as the Dorso 750,
the Hypermotard was far big-
ger in capacity (1100 vs 750),
weighed less and was a damn
sight more fun than the porky
little Aprilia.
And Aprilia did nothing about
it until 2011 when they released
the Dorso 1200, a bike that
when graced with a full tank
of gas weighed about 500
pounds. Not exactly what you'd
call street supermoto material.
Fast forward to 2018 and for
this year we get a new Dorso
in the 900. This is basically a
bored out 750—it has the same
stroke as before—that shares its
designation with the Shiver, it-
self a new model for 2018. The
