26th May 2010, 08:28
Hi! Yes, longer trips don't seem like an issue (a lot :-) ). I drove somewhere between 250-300km in one day and it's not sore on your butt as you would think from a supermoto, after all, the Dorso is somewhat a touring supermoto.
From the faults on the bike, an exhaust gasket fell off because of the vibrations (shortly after having "regular maintenance at an official dealer", so much for paying enormous sums of money for almost no work done) and first they charged me and changed the wrong one (the bike is still under warranty), and the second one they agreed for me to pay a symbolic sum... Eh...
The bike still does not like to be started up after turning the ignition on, then moving the bike (eg. lifting the stand, moving a few meters, putting it on the stand), it just won't start or the code gets messed up and I have to insert a new code :-S This has been an issue from day one, and I reckon it cannot be fixed.
And two things that I noticed about the way the bike drives, both issues are noticeable at very low speeds. One is that the front brake feels like having a variable force of its own LOL :-) Eg. I hold the lever at the same length expecting the same braking force, but the bike seems like braking one second harder, one softer, harder, softer...
And the second issue that appeared more obvious the last few days is while driving in a straight line at slow speeds (eg. under 20km/h), the front end feels like it wobbles around, like it wants to drop and turn the handlebar on it's own. I checked the tyre pressure and it was a bit under inflated, but bringing it back didn't resolve the issue 100%... This I didn't notice before.
At normal cruising speeds the bike is still great, but since I use it mostly for city commuting, it is a bit annoying :/
Ah yes, I almost forgot, I think the engine electronics is veeeery slow to react to differences in atmospheric conditions, especially severe temperature differences! We had for some time now cold to mild weather, and then in one day we had a hot day, immediately the bike couldn't hold idle revs and started to shut down until properly run in into new weather conditions.
Something that I find very funny about the bike is the exhaust note :-) On cold days the sound is excellent, just the way you want it, true crisp V2; on rainy or moist days you get the very deep burble of a V2 which is also great, but on hot and dry days it sounds almost rubbish LOL :-) Like a broken tin-can.
Fuel consumption keeps getting lower and lower as kilometers turn up on the dash, now I'm somewhere around 6l/100km in city driving, and 12000km on the clock.
Tyres are gonna be an issue as I see it... Original Dunlops lasted 7000km, but were so worn out at the time of change it was almost dangerous to drive around with it. Now with Bridgestones, after only 5000km the rear tyre is ready to be changed in the very near future... Also I changed one pair of brake pads on the rear brake, ~40 EUR change...
The clutch and front-brake cups leak fluid from day one no matter how hard I tighten the caps... Now both cups are almost empty (under the MIN mark), luckily I have DOT brake fluid ready to refill... The coolant level also likes to drop below minimum every so often.
Still, the bike is great and I don't see it having serious issues anytime in the near future.
3rd Apr 2011, 11:13
Please help...
I have a 2009 Aprilia Dorsoduro 750. The problem is when I'm starting it, the starter won't crank... just a click click sound coming under the fuel tank... I've already replaced the battery... and it still won't start. Please help, thanx. My email address is cbs.photo@gmail.com
12th Mar 2010, 02:03
Good review... congrats..!!
You love your bike, and you know what you want...
Greetings from Greece!! I am planning on buying a 2007 Dorso soon enough (is a 300-350km trim bearable with some pauses?)
THANK YOU for the review!