Ahead of the bike’s fall show-circuit debut, Aprilia is once again teasing the Tuareg, its updated adventure bike.
The Tuareg was a cornerstone of Aprilia’s lineup decades ago, but the company didn’t continuously update the machine and eventually had to cut it. Now, it’s returning, with an engine from Aprilia’s 660 series.
The high-output parallel twin should make 80 hp and 51 lb-ft of torque; the bike has a claimed 187 kg dry weight, and comes with 18-litre fuel tank. This should make for excellent power-to-weight ratio and therefore good handling, especially considering up-to-date chassis engineering that’s far better than the 1980s originals. That fuel tank should also offer very usable range, although desert explorers will no doubt want to add extra capacity.
With 21-inch front wheel and 18-inch rear (with tubeless spoke setup), Aprilia is building this bike to be dirt-worthy, as you can see in the video above. A seat height of 860 mm shows this bike is not a faux scrambler.
It does, however, come with all the conveniences of modern motorcycling: LED lights TFT screen, cruise control, switchable ABS, selectable fuelling maps and ride modes, traction control, and more. While it has similar specs to the Yamaha Tenere 700 on paper, it comes with many more features.
Knowing the basics specs and seeing many photos and now video of the bike, there isn’t much left for Aprilia to reveal on the show circuit, except availability and pricing. Considering the sometimes slow movement from Aprilia’s factory to the Canadian market, we’d still hope to see this bike show up here before the end of the 2022 riding season. Pricing will likely be somewhere between $13,000 and $15,000.
