Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200

                                  

Aprilia's V-Twin heritage continues with the 1200cc Dorsoduro. We expect a 1200cc Shiver to emerge in 2011.

Aprilia's V-Twin heritage continues with the 1200cc Dorsoduro. We expect a 1200cc Shiver to emerge in 2011.

As noted above, the old Tuono was our favorite offering from the Noale, Italy-based Aprilia, but the new V4R will lose the previous model’s 1000cc V-Twin character. However, twin-cylinder fans needn’t fret, as the 1197cc Dorsoduro steps in to fill that void.

The Dorsoduro's new V-Twin packs the grunt we wished the 750 had.

The 750cc Shiver and Dorsoduro are very appealing in their own right, yet performance from their three-quarter-liter V-Twins have been a little underwhelming. But after years of rumors about larger-displacement version of the same engine, Aprilia has finally delivered with the Dorsoduro 1200.
The Max Dorso has already been introduced in Europe, and our correspondent Tor Sagen brought back a glowing review you can read here.  Although no lightweight (at a stated 457 lbs dry), the Dorso 12 comes to the party with a claimed 130 crankshaft horses to give it midrange grunt the 750 can’t approach. The big Dorso’s appeal is also expanded with high-end features like traction control and optional ABS.
“The Dorsoduro 1200 is all I ever wanted from the 750 that wasn’t there,” said Sagen after his ride. “The 1200 engine has got all that full richness I always look for in V-Twins. That sorted, the bike is now 100% pure fun.”
Just as intriguing, this new 1200cc V-Twin will surely find its way into other Aprilia models. We anticipate a Shiver 1200 to be unveiled during 2011, and it’s possible the new powerplant may find its way into a pseudo adventure-tourer like Ducati’s weird but successful Multistrada.
The only downside is that we’ll have to wait until mid-2011 until the Dorsoduro 1200 arrives in North America. MSRP is set at $11,999.