2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660

[TEWKS]

My initial impression, that be one Ugly Bike!  But…history does have me guilty of warming towards ugly bikes, so who knows.  It would seem, a good competitor to the Yamaha Tenere 700. The biggest plus over the Yamaha is it has tubeless rims/tires, that’s a big deal IMO.  Revzilla’s Review Of The Tuareg Here.

[Red]

My review has two words.  Dealer network.

Closest dealer to my location is 464 miles in a different thyme zone.

[wbw6cos]

Nice.  Another bike for me to consider, but the dealers near me are in TN.  Meh. 

 

The Kawasaki KLR 650 now has fuel injection.  The price for it is significantly lower than the Taureg plus manufacturer support is closer to me  So I got that going for me, which is nice.

[TEWKS]

Again I’m repeating myself here but Bill let me borrow one of his KLR 650s and I was very impressed with it.  Not a bad choice if it’s only going to be a part time ride.

[wbw6cos]

I have been looking at them online.  Waiting to for time to go see one in person.   Maybe after the new year comes in

 

[TEWKS]

A pretty positive review on the KLR here. 

 

 

[Calugo]

That is one ugly bike but so are all the other bikes in it's class, besides being ugly Aprilia really has a thin dealership network in the US which makes a huge difference if you don't do your own wrenching or need warranty work completed. Over on the Aprilia forums a lot of the new 660 engines are failing but I don't know if Aprilia has the issue sorted out but they are replacing blown engines under warranty.

[TEWKS]

True about them being a bit fugly. But, fugly bikes can get you into some pretty unfugly places. 

[Calugo]

On 1/12/2022 at 5:09 PM, TEWKS said:

True about them being a bit fugly. But, fugly bikes can get you into some pretty unfugly places. 

Absolutely true if you enjoy riding in out of the way places but I do find the GS/GSA to be a decent looking bike :-)

[TEWKS]

I guess I really classify them as “ruggedly handsome”. 

[roadscholar]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:52 AM, TEWKS said:

Again I’m repeating myself here but Bill let me borrow one of his KLR 650s and I was very impressed with it.  Not a bad choice if it’s only going to be a part time ride.

 

A KLR is hard to beat as an all around dual purpose bike, it's not great at anything but is pretty darn good at nearly everything besides extreme offroad riding. You can travel on it (up to about 75-80 sustained), has good range (250-275 mi), is surprisingly good in the twisties, and is more capable offroad than it should be for it's size. Plus they are dead reliable (at least all the ones I've had) which to me is really important when you're 50-80 miles from civilization in the boonies out west and the sun is setting because you rode further and longer than originally intended : )

 

The Euro stuff in that category is more sophisticated, faster, handles better, is more engaging, and better in certain areas, but still doesn't beat a KLR for general purpose.   

 

 

[TEWKS]

The Tenere 700 seems to sit right in the middle of these two bikes. Priced approx 3K above the KLR and 2K cheaper than the Tuareg. An extra piston over the KLR and less electronic rider aids compared with the Tuareg. Oh, some important research here.  Beak   Corbin   Bill, any of the CAD guys running a T-7? Like?

 

[roadscholar]

 

Yes one of our guys (Buck) has one, he had a Zero with knobbies he rode offtoad a good bit then traded it on the T-7. They moved to Asheville last Fall but rode it here quite a bit before they left. He had nothing but good things to say about it, said it's good in the sand and plenty comfortable for travel, can't ask for much more than that.

 

Edit, found a couple photos of it at CADS meetings.

 

 

 

 

Buck is a welding instructor so he made that rack for the box, and yes that’s a yoga mat : )

[TEWKS]

Thanks Bill!  Have my name and number at a local dealership to take a peek when they get one in.  His crash protection bars are nice and rugged looking, did he make them? 
 

edit…Think I matched up a picture, they look like Adventure Spec Bars 

[TEWKS]

The unicorn bike we’ll probably never get to see.  It’s near impossible to get a look-see at the regular Tenere 700 never mind this awesomeness in a lighter weight midsized adventure bike. I want one but yeah, you know me. 

Raid

[TEWKS]

Blame me for going off topic… 

 

A couple in the flesh (ok steel & plastic) pictures of the newest World Raid Tenere 700, posted on adv.  Only complaint (not that it matters) because you can’t buy one is the tubed tires. 

 

 

[big-t]

Hey Bill,you should try out one of these. I can flat foot it with my 30 inch inseam and the torque will give you a grin from ear to ear,

I finally got to give it a light workout this past weekend on Stone Coal rd,which is a fairly rocky rd over a mountain With multiple rocky creek crossings.The county just dumped golf ball sized stone on the up slopes which had me fighting the traction control until I figured what was going on.A quick switch to the off road mode took care of that.

Overall this thing is awesome it feels very planted on the twisty back roads and handles the off road great. The only complaints I had was the suspension seems fairly stiff,but it’s new..I’ll wait until breaks in before adjusting it,but I will say the harder you push it the better it feels.it may be fine once it gets some miles on it

The only other complaint was the skid plate acts like the bow of a boat in deeper water soaking me up to my knees with the bow wake,minor issue, planned on getting a heavier one anyway 

if you can snag a ride on one go for it

[TEWKS]

Shop ‘til ya drop…it.  Some nice stuff from SW-MOTECH. 

 

 

[roadscholar]

Sounds like a great bike Todd glad you’re liking it, maybe someday. Always liked Aprilia's and had a few although nothing recent.