THE writing could be on the wall for two Aprilia models for 2021, as the Shiver and Dorsoduro 900 could be axed from the range.
There is no official confirmation as yet from Aprilia on the situation, but with both of the current models only gaining Euro4 certification, it's likely they won’t live on for much longer. Should Aprilia be looking to extend the life of the two models, the chances are some test bikes would have been spotted out on the roads surrounding the Noale factory. The absence of this speaks volumes.
Aprilia RS660 video review
There is also another rather sleek and sporty elephant in the room. It comes in the form of the newly released and excellent RS660. We rode the bike last week and while it is a fantastic little machine, almost as exciting as the bike itself is the future it holds for the brand.
Aprilia has already developed a Tuono 660 along the same development timeline as the RS660, meaning that the machine is very nearly ready to go. There is also the news that a Tuareg 660 that was teasingly placed in a box full of vegetation at the EICMA show in 2019.
Both of those new models will be using the new 660 parallel twin-cylinder engine that resides in the RS660. It’s compact, lightweight, torquey and powerful, but most of all, it has legs.
Aprilia will already have developed the engine with incoming Euro emissions regulations in mind, pre-empting future events to ensure it stays compliant for another five or ten years into the future. Why waste time and money upgrading an older, less efficient, bulkier, and heavier unit when you already have a shiny new one waiting to go!?
It doesn’t mean that bonkers supermoto styled naked bikes like the Dorsoduro are a thing of the past though, Aprilia could feasibly adapt the current 660 engine and revisit the theme further down the line. Now that would be a bike we’d love to swing a leg over!
