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With four World Supermoto titles since 2004, it made perfect sense for Aprilia to come up with the Dorsoduro supermoto. The engines of the 2007 world championship winning machines were still pinging as they cooled down from the heat of near-mortal combat when the stunning new 750cc V-twin prototype was unveiled at the ECIMA Milan Motorcycle Show in November 6 last year.  Just five months later the SMV 750 was launched to an eager press contingent in Europe.

The Dorsoduro – named after an arty suburb of Venice – was developed in close collaboration with the people best qualified to build an aggressively styled streetfighting wonderbike. Okay, the Aprilia Racing guys didn’t stop developing next year’s racebike to sit around sketching the new road bike, but they did pass on much of the experience gained while winning 37 world titles - five in 2007 alone – to the engineers and artists in charge of the Dorsoduro project.  

Ah – artists.  Where other manufacturers give accountants the same status as engineers when it comes to designing motorcycles, Aprilia prefers to empower artists, and those who worked on the new bike knew exactly what to do.  Plastic body panels have been reduced to the absolute minimum, and what there is, is simply gorgeous. Rather than waste words, we’ll leave it to the pictures to show you exactly what we mean.  

This motorcycle was designed to deliver maximum riding thrills, and shuns anything that does not contribute to reaching this target.  The middle of the bike has been kept remarkably slender, allowing the rider to move around and exploit the superb agility of the beast.  The long, flat seat and wide handlebars serve the same purpose.    

The fuel-injected liquid-cooled DOHC 90-degree 92 horsepower V-twin engine was developed in-house for the Aprilia Shiver that was launched in 2007, and features four-valve heads with a combination gear-and-chain cam drive.  The Dorsoduro also boasts second-generation Tri-Map ride-by-wire technology to hold the 92 ponies in check – or not – and a three-way catalytic converter with a Lambda probe to keep things tidy.  The fact that there’s also a 33 horsepower version available for sale in the nanny states that demand that sort of thing is of absolutely no interest to hard-core South African riders, so we’ll make no further mention of it here.  We will tell you, though, about the three way engine management mapping system that allows you to choose between Sport, Touring and Rain modes. The hugely oversquare bore and stroke dimensions of 92 X 56,4 mm let the engine rev freely when the need arises, but maximum torque of 82 Nm at 4500 rpm means the rider can pootle around town at a virtual idle when the mood takes him.  A stainless steel exhaust system sees the collector pipes meet in a single silencer under the seat before splitting into twin tailpipes.

The new Aprilia’s electrical system is endearingly simple, with a CAN (Controlled Area Network) line carrying all signals to an instrument cluster that contains a self-diagnostic terminal.  Because the CAN system needs just two wires to handle the entire dataset the electrics are extremely tidy, and the weight saved is a significant contributor to the bike’s low mass.   

All of this gorgeous Italian craftsmanship has to have a place to live, so the whole lot was shoehorned into and wrapped around a beautiful modular steel trellis and aluminium alloy frame derived from the world of supermotard world championship racing.  This extremely rigid and lightweight structure lends itself to being ridden at the limit, with extreme power slides being just the business for experienced riders.

Fully adjustable 43mm upside-down forks with shell-cast bottom outers and radial brake calliper mountings are clamped in forged yokes (the top one anodised) and offer 160mm of wheel travel. The laterally offset Monoshock at the rear pivots directly on the sturdy aluminium swingarm in a cantilever configuration, and is also adjustable for spring preload and rebound damping.  Rear wheel travel is, as at the front, a healthy 160mm.   

Going quickly is great, as long as the motorcycle’s equipped with equally competent stoppers. The Aprilia SMV 750 Dorsoduro features state-of-the-art four-pot radial callipers clamping twin 320mm wave discs, while a single-piston calliper grips the 240mm rear wave disc.  Front and rear brakes are fitted with aeronautical type metal braided brake hoses.

The Aprilia SMV 750 Dorsoduro encapsulates all the best things about motorcycling in a single tidy package.  It’s a real riders machine that’s dead easy to ride quickly, and yet can be used around town as a comfortable, economical commuter.  It’ll cause a stir at track days, thanks to its power and agile handling, and its styling will attract crowds of admirers whenever it’s parked outside the local coffee bar.