2009 Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 Top Speed ~ legiondieidee101

2009 Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 Top Speed

Went out for a small but fast ride with the Mrs on the back today it was around 50f so a little fresh but still enjoyable.

I love this style of motorcycle; having grown up like most of us screaming around on 2T dirt bikes I feel like I've come full circle and I'm back where I belong.

Upright wide bars, bucket loads of ground clearance, massive commitment in bends comes naturally. There's no thought of big bumps unsettling the chassis or running you wide with massive amounts of suspension travel, line corrections need no more than a thought and within minutes you find yourself pushing just as hard as you would on your good old faithful you've racked up countless hours and thousands of miles on. At times I wonder how the super sport has managed to make things so "difficult" and require a seemingly endless list of variables to be in order for them to find their sweet spot. Then again taming such beasts has it appeal as well.
For just jumping on and riding her about 600km I'm very impressed but I really do need to make the time to set sag etc. The rear is soft and the front hard. I can get the rear pumping out of corners and a speed wobble while hard on the gas. All of this I'm confident I'll be able to sort with the fully adjustable Sachs clickers front and rear and DanQ's expertise.

Brake wise the modulation of the OE Brembo's & SS lines feels great. I like my brakes and like pushing then hard and these seem up to the task. Over all there's a definite drop in sheer grunt hopping off the R1 but a RCS19 and pad upgrade will no doubt make up the difference. I'm having a very low speed gremlin in the braking system that I'll hopefully sought out once I have the time to dig deeper.

The 90 degree, 4 valve/cyl, water cooled donk is a beautiful thing... once you open her up... part throttle and stop start traffic this thing is a PIG! She'll cough, splutter, pop and everything else she can think of to let you know how much she hates going slow. It sounds tough but its not all that fun. The hydraulic self adjusting clutch gets heavy, much heavier than the cable actuated clutch on the 5VY and the underseat exhaust.... yep you guess it! cooks your ass!! But open her up and it all changes, everything smoothes out, the cough and splutter becomes a smooth, deep howl that in the higher register could almost pass as a feisty single cylinder to my ears. Max torque of 60 ft. lb. is achieved at 4500 and max power of 92HP at 8750. There's a definite kick up top and she'll throw the front wheel a foot in the air in 2nd gear as max power kicks in, higher if you're not sitting front and center.

6 speed Gearbox is clunky at low speeds and like the motor smoothes out at speed and neutral takes some getting used to.

Fuel range is pathetic, I was hoping she'd do 200km (125mi) per tank so I can comfortably play with the "big" bikes but so far that looks like it will be a challenge. In mostly stop start traffic and quick runs up and down the freeway to and from work the fuel light is comming on at 120km (75mi) and haven't explored how far I can go with the light on yet. If I can get 150km that should do the trick.... or I'll be pushing!!

She's no light weight, 185kg dry (407lbs), but thanks to the Akra's that figure is already down to 178kg (392) and more coming off soon thanks for a Shorai and a few other bits nd bobs (ya'll know I can't help myself!). If I had the cash to mod the R1 and this I'd love to throw a set of Marchesini's at her (7kg/15lb loss) but sadly I don't think that will happen. I don't have wheels for the R1 yet and she will be first. :fact You could easily get 20kg/45lbs off her and she'd be completely bat shit thanks to it but at the end of the day she's a 'tard and in my eyes not worth that kind of dosh... she might slowly change my mind though lol.

If I don't piss her off for a Super Duke R I'll probably change the bars, resi's add a RCS (and possibly an RCS for the clutch also), full floaters and maybe even M4's if some were to pop up cheap. And I'll look into suspension options like racetech or similar. So far I haven't found anyone that's running a QS'er on these things (ECU isn't even fully cracked.. no fuel modules work properly, the ECU eventually overrides the adjustments :rant could really do with one big time) but I'd love a stand alone QS'er and I'm sure I'd nut out how to fit one up.

Oh there are three stupid "modes" too. 'S' for sport, 'T' for touring & 'R' for rain.

S feels like you've plugged the throttle into an amplifier, completely and stupidly sensitive (and I have a quick action throttle on the R1 and pride myself on smooth throttle use). Barely use it unless I want to get thrown around like a rag doll.

T feels the most real... I'd like to make up a home job quick action throttle and stick with T.

R is for ****'s simple as that. I came home a few nights ago in a torrential like storm with Pirelli Super Corsa SP's and still didn't find it necessary.

Wanky throttle modes :shake

Honorable mention goes to the dash, I love the dash. Clear, lotsa cool info like fuel usage, max speed, lap timer, kick stand warning light. and backlit red... you army guys no know how easy that is to read at night and not affect your vision. No fuel gauge, just a warning light and 'F-tri'p ah la R1 style and no gear indicator but meh.

Headlight rocks. It lights shit up well.

All in all I'm very happy. Great all rounder and loads of fun. She's a true Italian though loads of 'character' (read annoying shit you're willing to put up with lol), lots of noise and vibes but confident and inspires confidence. In comparison the R1 is a brutal and efficient special forces operative... in and out, no fuss, no one even knew you were there but fuvk me you did a great job kinda shit :crash.

Guess there's more than one way to skin a cat and trying another way for me was long over due. I was considering selling the R1 constantly and wanted to try something else real bad. Lucky for me the Mrs gave me the go ahead to buy a second bike and keep the R1 (she knows how much I love that Jap whore). While this bike is bonkers fun its made me fall for the R1 all over again... they are truly special bikes and with a handful of mods become such a well balanced, capable and brutal package. I'm 70 mods deep and still have A LOT more to go bit fuvk me where the R1 is now gives stock bikes a lot to answer for. I couldn't have a stock 600 or 1000 again without being bitterly disappointed so this fits the bill perfectly.

Out today with the Mrs. and a latte :crash