12 JANUARY 2012 l MOTORCYCLE CONSUMER NEWS

APRILIA’S ROTAX-BUILT, 1000cc, 60° V-twin, the V60, hasbeen discontinued—last used in the 2010 Mille Super-sport. Taking its place is a new family of engines designed

by Aprilia’s parent company, Piaggio, which now owns virtu-ally every major motorcycle manufacturer in Italy, save for Ducatiand MV Agusta. While Aprilia continues to manufacture its racing engines and production V-fours in house, Piaggio’s Pontedera facility will increasingly handle new designs andupdates to existing engines.

MotorAlthough it looks very much like the smaller 750cc V-twin

first used in the Aprilia Shiver and later the Dorsoduro 750, thenew 1200 is virtually all-new and few parts are interchangeable.To compact the engine’s width, the cylinder layout is actuallyreversed from the 750cc version’s; the rods swapped so the 1200’sfront cylinder is now offset to the left, opposite of the 750’s. Thisnaturally required a new crankcase which allowed the cam driveto be repositioned as well, which ultimately enabled the bigger1200 motor to be narrowed considerably.

With a very oversquare bore and stroke of 106mm x 67.8mm,the DOHC, four-valve motor uses a 90° vee angle to provideexcellent primary and secondary balance without the need forheavy and oftentimes noisy counterbalancer shafts (very noisy onthe early-model V60 engines, for instance). The wide combustionchambers also make room for extra-large valves; 43.5mm intakesand 37mm exhausts, while two sparkplugs per cylinder assistwith efficient combustion, one centrally located, the other visibleat the side of the head. Stick-type integrated ignition coils providethe spark energy, and each plug is independently timed for optimum performance and emissions control.

Engine management is provided by a Marelli IAW 7SM ride-by-wire system that uses servo-motor-controlled 57mm throttlebodies with single fuel injectors for each cylinder. Three perfor-mance “modes” can be toggled with a button on the right handle-bar, accessing ignition advance curves and fuel delivery mapsthat create significant variations in engine performance. The Sportmap is the most aggressive and is super-responsive to the throt-tle. Although the dyno finds the actual horsepower differencebetween the Sport and Touring modes modest—just a couple of

hp at most—the seat of your pants tells youthe acceleration unleashed by the Sport modeis much stronger. The Touring mode issmoother, and until we managed to get therear suspension under better control (moreon that later), it was universally favored byour test riders for its superior rideability. Thefinal mode is Rain, which clips a huge 20 hpoff the top end and is so unresponsive thatyou’d think someone has dropped one of hisgloves in the airbox and has stuffed the other into the exhaust system. As we didn’tencounter rain-slicked roads, except to brieflymarvel at its emasculating effect, we didn’tspend any unnecessary time in the R-mode.

Rated by Aprilia at 130 crankshaft hp, ourdyno testing found exactly 116 hp @ 8750rpm at the rear wheel with a peak of 74 lb.-ft.of torque @ 7500 rpm. For reference, this is50% more hp than the 750 engine and 60%more torque, so its over-the-road perfor-mance is an order of magnitude greater. Ithits the rev-limiter in sixth gear, recording151 mph (vs. 128.3 mph on the 750); its 1/4-mile time drops from 12 sec. flat to 10.96 sec.

and 0-60 mph times go from 3.83 to 3.15 secs—all this despite thefact that the big Dorso isn’t particularly easy to launch, as it’s soeager to wheelie in Sport mode.

In routine riding the engine’s powerband is extremely flexible;able to chug along at just 2500 rpm and smoothing out by 3000rpm. Seriously torquey, the range between 3000–4000 rpm pro-vides plenty of power to handle most normal situations. Andwhen you find the right conditions to use full revs (limited to9600 rpm), the engine’s potent upper mid-range accelerationimmediately grabs your full attention, although it doesn’t havequite the blistering top-end hit you might imagine.

If there is any flaw in its behavior, it’s that the bike’s fly-by-wire throttle has a somewhat artificial feel. First developed inFormula One racing to improve driveability with very highlytuned engines, the computer’s interface creates a “virtual” power-band that’s smoother than the engine’s actual delivery would be.This is fine at higher engine speeds, but at lower rpm, the computer’s adjustments create a sense of disconnect on the bigDorso. However, the on/off abruptness that’s an unfortunate char-acteristic of so many fuel injection systems is effectively masked.

It might be worth noting that Aprilia’s “Cube” MotoGP racerwas the first bike on the grid with fly-by-wire throttles. The system’s unpredictability gave its riders fits, and it was laterremoved. But more and more road bikes have begun to use thedesign, so it continues to be improved.

Transmission & ClutchThe 1200cc motor’s transmission has beefier gears on shafts the

same size with the same spacing as the 750’s. Because it’s actu-ally possible to put the 750 transmission in the 1200 cases, Apriliachanged the primary shaft’s thread pitch to make sure that didn’t occur at the factory.

Not surprisingly, the 1200’s shift quality is virtually identicalto the 750’s as well; very slick between gears. But testers notedthat finding neutral at a stop is also difficult on the 1200.

The 1200 Dorso’s clutch is hydraulically actuated and nowcontains 10 sets of driven and drive plates to accommodate theextra power, as well as a clever “anti-shudder” feature at the backof the plate stack. Lever effort is moderate, and the clutch is easyto control with a relatively wide engagement range.

Aprilia 1200 Dorsoduro

by Dave Searle

Model Evaluation

MAGNUM POWER IN A POINT-AND-SHOOT

MOTORCYCLE

SuspensionThe travel is the same 6.3" front and 6.1" rear as the 750 Dorso.

The forks separate the damping circuits, with rebound in the leftleg and compression in the right. And the rear shock is a remotereservoir Sachs unit, directly mounted on the outside of the chas-sis, where it isn’t cooked by the rear exhaust pipe and gives easytuning access. Inverted from the normal arrangement, its reboundadjuster is on top and compression is at the bottom.

We were thankful that the Dorso’s suspension is fullyadjustable, as we found the rear suspension settings (said to be thestandard factory recommendations) were far from ideal. As deliv-ered, the big Dorsoduro felt front-end heavy, wanting to fall intolow-speed turns and lacking the necessary rear-end grip to safelyexploit the Sport mode’s explosive power delivery. Placed onscales, its actual static weight distribution is 46.9% front/53.1%rear, so the sensation was clearly a matter of spring balance.

Verifying tire pressures, we corrected a 4-lb. deficit at the front,which helped considerably, but reducing rear preload was ournext tweak. With incremental adjusting and further testing, weeventually settled on taking nearly two full turns of spring preloadfrom the rear shock and adding many clicks of rebound damping.Experiments with greater compression damping, which will firmthe feel of softer preload, wereultimately rejected and causedus to back it off a little instead.Our final settings:166.5mmspring length, compression 1.8turns out, rebound 10 clicks out, were then compared to the owner’s manual, whichrevealed we’d moved closer to the recommended preload,rather than away from it. Themoral: Be sure you are startingwith the stock numbers.

Because too much rear springpreload will transfer dynamicweight forward over bumps,and whichever end is over-loaded will tend to slide first,these changes gave the bike amuch nicer balance and pro-vided a ton more traction fromthe rear end. With more reartraction, the Sport mode finallymade sense, and the bike became that much more exciting to ride.

At the front, the stock fork settings were in the ballpark and wehad no serious issues, so we left the adjusters alone. But it is inter-esting to note that during the various steps of reducing rear pre-load, we could also feel the trail growing in the front endgeometry, and it ended up a bit longer than ideal for steering pre-cision. The next step would have been to try lifting the fork tubesin the triple clamps in perhaps 5mm steps to find the sweet spot.Still, our limited changes transformed the big Dorso’s handling.

Chassis & ErgonomicsThe big-block Dorso appears to use the very same chassis as the

750, but that isn’t really the case. Subtle variations include morerake and trail (28.3°/4.65" vs. 25.8°/4.25" on the 750), a longerwheelbase (60.15" vs. 59.25"), less ground clearance (6.4" vs.7.75"), a larger gastank (3.96 gal. vs. 3.17) and a slightly taller seat(34.25" vs. 34.0"). The frame construction is the same; a trellisupper portion bolted to cast members that hang the engine,swingarm and foot controls. It’s all great eye-candy, too, beauti-fully finished in the best Italian industrial-art traditions.

A possible issue for long-legged riders (inseams 33" ormore) is that the fuel tank’s flared sides can encroach on kneeroom. But our only major ergonomic complaint is that theDorso’s seat is still a painful place after less than an hour inthe saddle. A gel seat is listed as an accessory. For $11,999, itshould be standard.

Brakes & TiresWe were impressed with the feel and power of the Dorso’s

brakes. Fitted with premium sportbike rubber (Pirelli Diabloson our 750 and Dunlop Qualifiers on the 1200) and the samebraking equipment as the 750; twin 320mm front Brembo discswith radial-mount, four-piston calipers and a 240mm disc inback slowed by a single piston caliper, we got great brakingnumbers from the 1200. In fact, the 22.5-lb. heavier 1200 beatthe 750 by more than four feet from 60 mph (111.1' to 115.4').Our top stop was not a fluke, either, as most of our tested stops were better than 1.0G of deceleration (equal to 120' from60 mph).

Incidentally, traction control and ABS are available in Europe,but not in the US, Aprilia citing cost concerns and that not enoughriders would want it. We may yet see it in the future. Based

simply on wheel speeds ratherthan gyros, the Dorso’s tractioncontrol is not a highly sophisti-cated system in any case.

Instruments & ControlsLike all Aprilia’s, the 1200

Dorso’s instrumentation is verycomprehensive. Besides its bigeasy-to-read analog tach anddigital speedo, you get a gasgauge, clock, lap timer, shiftlight and a array of trip com-puter functions.

The hand levers are four-position reach-adjustable andthe foot controls are adjustablefor fit and well-arranged, too.

Attention To DetailTop-notch styling and attrac-

tive mechanical componentsmake the 1200 Dorsoduro a

feast for the eyes. The only thing to detract from its stellar appear-ance was the front exhaust header, which was getting rusty withonly 4200 miles on the odometer.

Value A lot of fine motorcycles can be had for the 1200 Dorso’s

$11,999 asking price, and most have much bigger dealer net-works that don’t have issues like hard-to-get routine maintenanceparts. On the other hand, Aprilias have demonstrated excellentreliability and possess their own special brand of Italian style;one that gives Ducati its only real competition in the Mediter-ranean moto-lifestyle sweepstakes, so perhaps it’s worth a fewownership hassles.

Bottom LineWhile our brief affair can’t tell us what it would be like to live

with the 1200 Dorsoduro long-term, we can tell you that its rowdyV-twin performance, excellent brakes and capable chassis willconspire to shorten your favorite roads and keep a big grin onyour face.

Visit us at WWW.MCNEWS.COM l JANUARY 2012 13

14 JANUARY 2012 l MOTORCYCLE CONSUMER NEWS

I really liked the earlier 750cc Dorsoduro (which won our May,2010 comparison with the Ducati 796 Hypermotard), althoughits 50-lb. greater weight vs. its Bolonese rival was an obvious dis-advantage. But in 1200cc trim, even an extra 22.5 lbs. doesn’tseem like such a drawback. The big engine’s power is stronglybiased toward the lower end of the powerband and it easily rock-ets away from stops, so that using much more than half its fullrpm range can seem excessive unless you’re out in the middle ofnowhere. It’s also very smooth-running for its size, but you donotice its vibration more than aboard the 750.

Like the 750, it uses a fly-by-wire throttle with three modes,although with its much greater power, the electronic throttle’sslightly artificial feel is more noticeable. And until we’d tweakedthe suspension significantly from its as-delivered settings, thesystem’s Sport mode offered more power than the tractionavailable. A perfect example of the benefits of fully adjustablesuspension, once tweaked, it was awesome. Now, if they’d justmake that gel seat standard! —Dave Searle

The 1200 Dorsoduro is virtual sensory overload. One whack ofits fly-by-wire throttle in Sport mode is all it takes to let you knowthat it came to play. Available torque from its all-new 90° V-twinis instantaneous and substantial. The Dorso accelerates withsufficient fury to hide its 490.5 lbs., easily lofting the front endwith just the slightest throttle opening. The Dorsoduro is a realcorner carver, too—just a mere nod in the direction you want togo—and while I had no issues with its stability, I would love to havehad more time to ride its dialed-in suspension. Its brakes offeranchor-like stopping performance, with excellent initial bite anda superb feel for easy management.

On the debit side, I’m not a fan of the 1200 Dorsoduro’s rock-hard seat, and its front headlight nacelle lacks the wind pro-tection of its dear, departed sister, the Tuono. So while I didenjoy my time aboard the Dorso, I’d prefer a 1200-powered Shiverwith a fully adjustable fork and a larger, Tuono-style bikini fair-ing for everyday riding.

—Scott Rousseau

TESTERS’ LOG

Model EvaluationLeft: Styled exactly like its 750cc littlebrother, the 1200 Dorsoduro carries thesame crisp body shapes and artfullydetailed mechanical pieces. The tinyhead fairing doesn’t provide enoughwind protection for steady speedsabove an indicated 75 mph. The new1200 motor’s scaled up dimensions andpower now make it hard to keep thefront end on the ground during hardlaunches. Did you ever wish to learnhow to wheelie? This is your bike!

Top: The Dorso’s instrumentation isultra-complete. Aside from an easy-to-read analog tach and big digitalspeedo, you get trip computer func-tions, lap timer, shift light, clock,gas gauge, top speed tell-tale, etc.The forks are fully adjustable for pre-load, with rebound damping on theleft and compression on the right.

Right: The Dorso’s seat is unchangedfrom the 750 version, and is stillpainful in less than 100 miles. Also,the gas tank’s flared sides can inter-fere with the knees of long-leggedpilots. Give it a test-fit before you buy.

Left: Sachs makes the remotereservoir shock. Mounted on theside, access is a piece of cake,and the preload wrench is in thetool kit. Mounted upside down fromthe usual arrangement, rebound isat the top, compression bottom.

Right: The front brakes are premium four-piston, radial-mount

Brembos. Their power is strong andthe feel is subtle. Our best stop was

just 111.1' from 60 mph—an excellent performance.

Visit us at WWW.MCNEWS.COM l JANUARY 2012 15

ENGINE

Type: ..........Liquid-cooled 90° V-twin Valvetrain: .... DOHC, 4 valves per cyl.,shim-under-bucket valve adjustmentDisplacement: ........................1197ccBore/stroke: ..............106.0 x 67.8mmComp. ratio: ........................12.0±.5:1Fueling:...... Marelli EFI w/ride-by-wire ........................57mm throttle bodies

Exhaust: ......................2-into-1-into-2

DRIVE TRAIN

Transmission: ......................6-speedFinal drive: ...................... #525 chainRPM @ 65 mph*/rev limiter: ..4050/9600*actual, not indicated

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: ..............................60.15"Rake/trail:..........................27.3°/4.65"Ground clearance: ........................6.4"Seat height: ..............................34.25"GVWR: ..................................916 lbs.Wet weight: ........................490.5 lbs.Carrying capacity: ..............425.5 lbs.

SUSPENSION

Front: ......43mm male-slider fork, adj.preload, compression and rebound

damping, 6.3" travelRear:....Direct-action monoshock, adj.

preload, compression and rebounddamping, 6.1" travel

BRAKES

Front: .... Dual Brembo 320mm discs,......four-piston, radial-mount calipersRear: ................240mm Brembo disc,

single-piston caliper

TIRES & WHEELS

Front: ..120/70ZR17 Dunolp SportmaxQualifier 58w on 3.50" x 17" wheel

Rear: ..180/55ZR17 Dunolp SportmaxQualifier 73w on 6.00" x 17" wheel

ELECTRICS

Battery: ..............................12V, 10AhIgnition: ........Marelli integrated digital Alternator Output: 450W @ 6000 rpmHeadlight: ..............................60/50W

FUEL

Tank capacity: ......................3.96 gal.Fuel grade: ................Super unleadedHigh/low/avg. mpg: ......34.8/30.4/32.0

MISCELLANEOUS

Instruments: ....digital speedo, analogtachometer, odometer, tripmeter, laptimer, clock, engine mode, shift light,

trip computer functionsIndicators:..........hi-beam, t/s, neutral,

low fuel, battery charge, checkengine, oil pressure, sidestand, ser-

vice, oil pressure, engine tempMSRP: ............................$11,999.00Routine service interval: ....12,400 mi. Valve adj. interval:..............12,400 mi,Warranty:..24 months/unlimited miles-Colors:Glam White, Competition Black

PERFORMANCE

Measured top speed ......151.0 mph0–1/4 mile ..................10.96 sec.

@ 121.24 mph0–60 mph ....................3.15 sec.0–100 mph ..................7.22 sec.60–0 mph ........................111.1'Power to Weight Ratio ........1: 4.23Speed @ 65 mph indicated......62.0

STANDARD MAINTENANCEItem Time Parts LaborOil & Filter ................0.4 ..........$15.08+ $56 $32.00Air Filter ....................0.5 ..........$25.43 ..........$40.00Valve Adjust..............1.5 ..........$37.16 ........$120.00Battery Access ..........0.3 ............MF ..............$24.00Final Drive ................0.2 ................................$16.00R/R Rear Whl. ..........0.3 ................................$24.00Change Plugs ..........0.75 ..........$20.70 ..........$60.00Synch EFI..................0.0 ..................................$0.00Totals 3.95 $154.37 $316.00

Low end :::::

Mid-range :::::

Top end ::::;

Aprilia’s 1200cc V-twin isa hoot. In Sport mode, it’sa wheelie monster. InTouring, it is so mellowand relaxed that Rainmode hardly seems nec-essary. It’s tractable andsmooth with a widepowerband…just don’texpect to get high mpg.

TEST NOTESPICKS

: Appealing style and an abundance of great detailing: Wonderful motor with personalities to suit the occasion: Excellent braking, handling and suspension performance

PANS:: Seat is good for less than 100 miles between stops:: Neutral is very difficult to find when stopped:: Wind protection could be better for freeway speeds

ERGONOMICS TEMPLATE

SAE CORRECTED REAR-WHEEL TORQUE, LB. FT.

SAE CORRECTED REAR-WHEEL HORSEPOW

ER

RPM, THOUSANDS

116.00 hp114.70 hp

73.99 lb.-ft.94.67 hp72.64 lb.-ft.

67.56 lb.-ft.

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DYNAMOMETER DATA

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MC RATING SYSTEMEXCELLENTVERY GOODGOODFAIRPOOR :::::

––– Open Class Supermoto ––

Engine :::::

Transmission ::::;

Suspension :::::

Brakes :::::

Handling :::::

Ergonomics ::::.

Riding Impression :::::

Instruments/Controls :::::

Attention to Detail ::::;

Value :::;.

OVERALL RATING ::::;

AB

DE

63.5"

42

.4"

19

.5"

34

.25

"

37

.0"

13.6

"51.5"

C

50.5"

32.25"

59.6"

F G HI J

Horizontal (nose to)A: Passenger seat(middle). B: Riderseat (middle). C:Handgrip (center).D: Passenger foot-peg (center). E: Riderfootpeg (center).

Vertical (ground to)F: Handlebar (cen-ter). G: Rider foot-peg (top). H: Riderseat (lowest point).I : Passenger peg(top). J: Passengerseat (middle).

Aprilia 1200 DorsoduroSPECIFICATIONS AND PERFORMANCE DATA

Tested by CycleDoctor.com,Costa Mesa, CA