The middleweight Adventure bike segment is arguably the hottest place to be in the automotive world right now, with new bikes getting launched regularly.
Parallel twins have come a long way over the past few years, getting more powerful and efficient than just about any other engine configuration, at least in terms of horsepower per liter. After the Tenere 700 broke cover a few years back a swathe of other bikes have hit the market in response to it, although dealers are still struggling to keep up with demand for the Yamaha the competition has been more hit-and-miss, with some notable misses, but the Tuareg promises to be a rather big hit.
Aprilia Tuareg 660: Incredible Power
Aprilia spent a lot of time and money developing this 660 platform, and it shows. In the RS sportbike it is good for over 100 horsepower, but for the Tuareg the tune is a little different.
The Tuareg makes around 80 horsepower, but it makes that in a very predictable, linear way, and the torque comes in a lot earlier, which is more ideal for dirt riding. It is also worth taking stock of just how much power this is compared to Adventure bikes of old, just a few short years ago you would be looking at the full sized Adventure/touring bikes for this kind of power.
In short, this is still one of the best parallel twin engines on the market at the moment, it has lost none of the character it already showed us in the RS and Tuono bikes.
Aprilia Tuareg 660: Capable Chassis And Suspension
You would think with a glance at the spec sheet that the engine is the party piece and with the budget limitations of the class, the rest of the bike would tail off a bit.
That assumption would be horribly wrong though, the work they have done in setting up the suspension and chassis of the bike is pretty impressive. It works incredibly well both on and off-road, the bike is planted in the corners and turns in well. Off-road, it comes into its own with more than 9 inches of travel, and a fully adjustable setup that can be dialed in beautifully for almost any sized rider.
Any compromise machines like this have their flaws, but it is terribly hard to find anything to complain about on the new Aprilia.
Aprilia Tuareg 660: Solid Value
Some might argue that the $12,000 price tag might look a little steep at first glance when compared to the Tenere, but you get so much more for your money.
It doesn’t get the advanced lean sensitive traction control of the more expensive KTM/Husqvarna, but it does get the highly intuitive and incredibly tunable APRC electronics suite, the one and only real shortfall for the more simplified Yamaha, which only gets switchable ABS.
One thing that remains to be seen is the reliability of these 660 engines, even if that part is a little shaky it will still beat out the unreliable KTM Adventure 790/890 for value and if you want modern electronics, it will blow the Yamaha away too.