BIKETEST APRILIA SHIVER 750 GT:Aprilia has successfully bridged the gap between its excellent top-end models and its scooters, writes Geoff Hill
IF YOU are sitting comfortably, children, today we will begin with a fairytale.
Once upon a time, not all that long ago, in a place called Italy, there was a young, enthusiastic motorcycle company called Aprilia.
Like everything young and enthusiastic, little Aprilia wanted to prove that it was more than a small producer of small bikes like the best-selling RS125, off-road machines and scooters, and in 1998 it proved it with its first superbike, the 1,000cc V-twin RSV Mille V-twin, which was so successful that it left the showrooms four times faster than Ducati 996s and 998s.
Well, you know what the Greeks just down the road from Italy say about hubris, children, and the perfect storm of an expensive move into MotoGP, an even more expensive purchase of Moto Guzzi and a collapse in Italian scooter sales left Aprilia bankrupt.
Then, in 2005, along came a fairy godmother in the shape of Piaggio, which left Aprilia back in business and tootling along nicely with the excellent Mille and even better Tuono at the top end, and its 125s and scooters at the other.
Which left only one question: what to do about the gap in the middle, filled only by the trusty but unexciting single-cylinder Pegaso 650?
Now, this is a bike whose endurance I can vouch for, since my mate Clifford Paterson rode one alongside my Triumph Tiger all the way from Chile to Alaska, so its big brother, the Shiver, would need to be something special, particularly since the mid-range naked all-rounder is a tough market, with classy performers in there like the Honda Hornet, Suzuki GSF600 and Bandit 650, the Kawasaki ER6 and the Yamaha FZ1.
First impressions are good, with that mean and angular look that the Italians get so right and the Germans got really wrong with cars like the BMW Z4 and not quite right with bikes like the same company’s R12000ST.
Start it up, and the air fills with a friendly burble: the combination of a V-twin and some Mazda MX-5-style tweaking by the Aprilia boffins.
Ride off, and it becomes immediately apparent that the electronic fly-by-wire throttle that Aprilia head of development Gianluca di Oto reckons will be standard on all bikes before long works very well, with a good range of torque for a midsize engine, and lots of power between 5,000 and 8,000rpm – just where you want it for overtaking and powering out of corners.
It’ll also spin out quite happily to the 10,000 redline, and if there is a fault, it’s that, with the three-stage mode switch set to “sport”, the throttle is a mite snatchy at low speeds, which combined with a surprisingly wide turning circle made my progress through Antrim Coast B-road hairpins resemble that of an epileptic kangaroo.
Switch the mode to “touring” or the even more gentle “rain”, though, and that problem disappears.
At normal road speeds, the light weight, low centre of gravity thanks to fuel under the tank and nicely balanced steering and suspension mean that the Shiver just loves to be flung hard into corners and flung even harder out the other end.
At motorway speeds, you may get a little windblown, but the seating position is entirely comfortable for a couple of hours in the saddle.
All in all, then, a fun, practical all-rounder which is a worthy and more muscular big bro to the Pegaso.
I do like happy endings, don’t you?
Factfile Aprilia Shiver 750 GT
Engine:750cc four-stroke V-twin, eight valves, 95bhp @ 9,000rpm, 59.8lb ft of torque @ 7,000rpm
Transmission:six-speed, chain final drive
Top speed:120mph
Brakes:front: double 320mm stainless steel floating discs, four-piston radial calipers; rear: 245mm stainless steel disc, single-piston caliper
Wheels:aluminium alloy, front – 3.50 x 17", rear – 6 x 17"
Wheelbase:1,440mm
Dry weight:189kg
Fuel capacity:16 litres
Price:€9,250, Moto Guzzi Dublin, Oak Road Business Park, Dublin 12, 01-460 3168, motopoint.ie
Test bike £5,999 from Coleraine Motorcycles, Northern Ireland, 028-70352655