Review: Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 is a bike with multiple personalities

October 29 2009 by in cars |No Comments

Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 – Click above for high-res image gallery

We were more than a little excited to throw a leg over the new Aprilia Dorsoduro right after unloading it from the back of our trailer. After all, the last time we rode a supermoto bike from the Italian motorcycle manufacturer (SXV 550) we had a blast backing the bike into corners and lofting the front wheel at will. Plus, the Dorsoduro certainly has plenty of streetfighter attitude when painted up in our tester’s all-black color scheme.

As such, we wasted little time firing up the V-twin engine, getting ourselves familiar with the controls and layout and setting out for a quick ride through the ‘hood. Unfortunately, our excitement quickly turned into disbelief. The Dorsoduro literally tried to leap out from under us at every opportunity, and the throttle – seemingly little more than an on/off switch – was impossibly twitchy and difficult to modulate, almost as if we mistakenly filled the tank with Red Bull instead of 91-octane. In other words, first impressions weren’t particularly positive. Fortunately, we had a couple of weeks to get it all sorted out, and our opinion of the machine slowly changed. How so? Click past the break to find out.

Gallery: Review: Aprilia Dorsoduro 750