| Specifications 2011 Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200 |
| MSRP: $11,999 |
| Engine |
| Type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, 90-degree V-twin |
| Displacement: 1197cc |
| Bore x stroke: 106.0 x 67.8mm |
| Compression ratio: 12.3:1 |
| Induction: Magneti Marelli EFI, 57mm throttle bodies, single injector/cyl. |
| Transmission: 6-speed |
| Chassis |
| Front suspension: 43mm Sachs inverted fork, 6.3 in. travel; adjustments for spring preload, rebound and compression damping |
| Rear suspension: Single Sachs shock, 6.1 in. travel; adjustments for spring preload, rebound and compression damping |
| Front brake: Dual 320mm discs, radial-mount, four-piston Brembo calipers |
| Rear brake: Single 240mm disc, single-piston caliper |
| Front wheel: 3.50 x 17 in., cast aluminum alloy |
| Rear wheel: 5.50 x 17 in., cast aluminum alloy |
| Front tire: 120/70ZR-17 Dunlop Qualifier II |
| Rear tire: 180/55ZR-17 Dunlop Qualifier II |
| Rake/trail: 27.3 deg./4.7 in. (118mm) |
| Wheelbase: 60.2 in. (1528mm) |
| Seat height: 34.3 in. (870mm) |
| Fuel capacity: 4.0 gal. (15L) |
| Weight: 487 lb. (221kg) wet; 463 lb. (210kg) dry |
| Instruments: Analog tachometer, multi-function LCD screen with digital speedometer, odometer, tripmeter, coolant temperature, gear indicator, clock, low fuel tripmeter, fuel consumption average, mph average, engine mode |
| Performance |
| Quarter-mile: 11.11 sec. @ 122.33 mph |
| Roll-ons: 60-80mph/3.08 sec.; 80-100mph/3.75 sec. |
| Top speed: NA |
| Fuel consumption: 28 to 34 mpg, 33 mpg avg. |
Eric Nugent
Note to self: Don’t ride any other supermoto bike after riding the Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200. When Kento told me I would be riding the Dorsoduro, I thought “Great, a twitchy, high-strung supermoto bike on steroids. That sounds fun — not.” Walking up to the bike, it’s clear it’s big. Once you’re riding, that’s not quite as noticeable; what is noticeable is that this is not your typical supermoto. On the highway, the bike was amazingly stable; I wasn’t fighting to keep the thing in my own lane. The gearing is great as I didn’t feel like I was sitting on a screaming grenade ready to blow at any minute; actually, it was smooth and fairly comfortable. One thing the bike definitely doesn’t lack is power! This bike was a blast to ride, canyon roads, highway — it does it all. The ergos are great too. The only real downside I could come up with was its price tag of almost 12K.
Bradley Adams
It’s amazing the array of bikes I have had the opportunity to ride in the past few months. The list includes everything from 170-horsepower superbikes to sub-100-horsepower naked bikes. And finally, I had my first opportunity to throw a leg over a supermoto bike, the Aprilia Dorsoduro 1200. The Aprilia was just about as much fun as I expected it to be, too. In the canyons, the V-twin engine has plenty of power and enough torque that you can get lazy with the shift lever. The seating position was at first hard to get used to, and the bike seems to carry its weight pretty high, but it still handled well, with the bars providing enough leverage to get the thing steered quickly. Match that with the potent Brembo brakes and you have yourself quite a fun motorcycle.
Kent Kunitsugu
There’s no doubt the Dorsoduro 1200 has the power that supermoto bikes have needed from the start to make them anywhere near a viable choice in the U.S. Ducati’s Hypermotard had the right idea, but the air-cooled two-valve engine didn’t quite have the upper-end steam to win me over. The Aprilia has good power on tap everywhere, enough to nearly do a 10-second quarter-mile. What I didn’t like was the Dorsoduro 1200’s size and heft. A 60-inch wheelbase helps with stability, but the steering already has tons of trail for that. And even though you don’t feel it much, 487 pounds is way too heavy for any real sportbike, much less a supermoto machine. Imagine how the Aprilia would fly if it lost at least 40 pounds?