Is It The End Of The Road For The Aprilia Dorsoduro And Shiver?

2020 has been the year of the 660 for Aprilia. In addition to the seemingly never-ending build up that finally culminated with the RS 660’s launch on October 12, 2020, the Italian firm also has a mid-size Tuono and potentially even a Tuareg in the works.     

While all the attention is on Aprilia’s growing mid-range lineup, the former 900 entry-level models are being neglected. The Dorsoduro and Shiver 900 could even face extinction. The bikes, respectively overhauled in 2017 and 2019, have yet to receive their Euro 5 emissions update. According to the European media, it doesn’t seem like Aprilia has any plans to proceed with the required changes before the end of 2020.   

A few Italian outlets go as far as to suggest that the new 660 parallel-twin will replace the non-compliant 900 V-twin. That's a bit of a head-scratcher considering the 660 and 900 don’t play in the same field and that the engines' layouts aren’t the same.

Back When They Were New:

Aprilia Dorsoduro Gets a Makeover for 2017

Feel the Shiver: Aprilia’s 900 V-Twin Engine Updated for 2019

The one spec it makes sense to compare between the two powertrains is the power rating since the new parallel-twin produces 100 horsepower which is five ponies more than Dorsoduro and seven more than the Shiver. As for torque, the parallel produces significantly less pull than the V-twin (49 lb-ft versus 66 lb-ft of torque). Plus, the RS 660 sportbike, semi-faired Tuono, and rumored adventure Tuareg aren’t exact replacements for the Dorsoduro supermoto and naked Shiver.   

Whether Aprilia perceives its growing mid-size lineup as a replacement or not, the matter of fact is that as of January 1, 2021, the firm won’t be able to sell the Dorsoduro and Shiver 900 as all new motorcycles will be required to meet the Euro 5 standards.   

There is still time for Aprilia to take action and tweak its V-twin to make it compliant but based on what our European colleagues have to say, it doesn’t sound like that’s in the cards for the House of Noale. At least not for now.   

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