Aprilia Shiver - Ridden

Shiver test ride completed last week. Took the bike out from Teasdale Motorcycles in Thirsk after seeing one at the Cleveland Police Ridewell Event.

After what I'd heard from bike journo's regarding the Shiver, I was expecting something which wouldn't corner, would be heavy to throw over with an uninspiring engine. I didnt get any of it.



Sitting on the bike, you immediately notice how tall it is, even the new seat height on the brand spanking new Shiver is tall and certainly not for short legs. Coming from the Versys, seat height no longer fazes me and I was happy to jump on board and fire it up. The engine note is sweet, a deep rasp from the twin cans which sounds quite different from the SV, and from standard exhausts is fairly fruity.

The Shiver has 3 maps - Rain, Touring and Sport. Whilst switching between them isnt exactly intuitive (You have to fire the engine up, then hit the starter button again to change options), its simple, and can only be done when stationary and in neutral.

Funnily enough, it had just rained but the salesman commented on how poor rain mode was so I opted to start it in Touring.

I pulled away from the dealers and pootled through town, noting how long first gear was and how smooth the throttle was and the clutch light. Once out of the 30/40 zones, I was able to get out of 2nd gear and finally take it out onto the open road. The engine pulled well, the little screen did its job of lifting the wind off my chest, but still annoyingly right to the base of my helmet causing it to lift. The brakes were stellar. Amazing Brembo's which really show up the Versys' poor Tokicos. The gearbox whilst not Suzuki smooth, changed up and down without any false neutrals and was direct and positive.



The bike at slow speed did have some weight to the steering, but this wasnt apparent when out in the twisties. Within minutes, I was able to throw the bike into the corners with confidence and with a lot of feedback from the front. I did notice that I quite often found myself hitting the bottom of the redline in each gear as it just seems that when the engine gets going, you need to change up. A little red light flashes on the dash to indicate it.

I then put it into Sport mode, and the urgency to the throttle response was very noticeable. Ideal if you're out for a hoon, not as good around town. Not snatchy, but responsive and urgent. Engine braking was increased which allowed me to run the bike into corners with less braking. Highly enjoyable ride.

Rain mode - rubbish. No engine braking, takes too long for the throttle to kick in and if anything, should be called Learner mode or Snow mode as I wouldnt consider using it in the rain.

Taking the bike up to the speed limit found it to be a very stable and very confidence inspiring bike, and to me I found it to be a more comfortable and confident ride than the Street Triple. Whilst the Triumph wins in the engine department with its amazing power delivery, for me the Shiver beats it for providing feedback, particularly the front end.

On the Street Triple test ride, the bike felt too small, had a lot of windblast which meant 60 felt fast enough, and felt almost skittish coming into bends. Where the Street seemed to bounce all over the pot hole strewn backroads, the Shiver felt more composed, almost filling in the gaps where it stepped.

On the way back in, I noticed the bike was getting really hot between the legs and the heat was coming from the underseat pipes. I've heard that the aftermarket option dissipate the heat better and it also removes the catalyst but on a day where the temps were about 20c, I could really feel it.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Shiver. It looks good, looks to be built well and is an exciting ride. If anything, only the seemingly short rev range looked to let it down as you just seem to be changing up as the fun begins.

If I was looking to buy a naked next, then I'd definitely consider this one, and I may yet look at this again next year when I decide whether to stick or twist on the Versys.

(Apologies for lack of my photos but forgot to take any whilst out on it)

Going back to test the Street Triple again tomorrow, this time the R version to see whether I got a dud the last time I tried it.

The Aprillia shiver/dorsoduro engine is amazing. i prefer the dorsoduro to the shiver i think, same engine different styling. not test ridden a street triple so wouldnt know about that.

I looked at the Shiver a few months ago, and then put it out of my mind because there are absolutely no hard luggage options available. If Givi haven't bothered with an Italian bike then there's no hope of ever getting a set of panniers or a topbox fitted.

It did look fairly well made though.

Is there no aftermarket racks available to attach Givi bags to?

You have posted in this thread on the Shiver, so I guess you've seen it, but a link will make it easier for anyone else who reads this thread to find...

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.p...ghlight=shiver

My feedback on the bike was accomplished but uninspiring!

I had someone pull out on me from a blind farm entrance on my right, whilst I was doing 'cough' mph over taking another car, and had to emergency stop on the wrong side of the road. The front brake was awful and that is comparing it to an SV, but the back brake is much sharper than the SV, so I ended up not squeezing the front hard enough, and not slowing down fast enough, whilst the rear was locked up. I would have been able to slow enough to get tucked safely back in behind the car I was overtaking, but luckily the driver saw me at the last minute and stopped half way across the road, giving me an escape route between the two cars, so I was only on the brakes for a second before releasing them and taking that gap. But needless to say I wasn't happy with the brakes.

The throttle modes are a complete waste of time IMO, just get used to what the throttle does as standard and ride accordingly. The rain mode gets switched off the first time you open the throttle using it, "no I'll decide what the throttle does thanks very much!", and both touring and sport mode are OK, but you are best getting used to one setting or the other and leaving it there, but Sport is not too good for slow control. If you switch from sport to touring, having got used to sport, then the first time you tip into a corner and open the throttle the same amount as you would have done on sport mode to drive through the corner, there is nothing there and you have to give it more beans whilst the bike is still falling into it's lean. If they could have it in touring mode all the time, but make it switch into sport mode above a certain speed, it would work better.

In terms of power, though Aprillia claim 96bhp, it doesn't make much more than the SV, see the link in Andreis post below. It's not any quicker than my SV which is geared down with a bigger rear sprocket.

Originally Posted by andreis

well, that's the problem [bhp].. they just aren't there :

http://www.motorcycle.com/gallery/ga...t_ALL.jpg.html

It says there that only 76 reach the back wheel. If the sv lets the back wheel reach 65-68, then the difference is not that large at all

Originally Posted by Lozzo

I looked at the Shiver a few months ago, and then put it out of my mind because there are absolutely no hard luggage options available. If Givi haven't bothered with an Italian bike then there's no hope of ever getting a set of panniers or a topbox fitted.

I assume this is also true of the Shiver GT as it has the same tail section, but given that the GT is supposed to be a touring model, with bikini fairing, lockable storage bins, 12v socket, etc, etc, it seems a bit of an oversight not to give a hard luggage option. If Givi don't do one it will be because there are not enough Shiver's on the road to make it economically worthwhile developing and manufacturing a rack.

This post seems all very negative, but these are just the reasons why I wouldn't buy the bike. Other than that it is a nice bike, good looking, very smooth and accomplished, comfortable, etc, etc. If I was getting a courtesy bike from an insurance company or something, and I was give a Shiver for a few weeks, I'd be very happy that I got it rather than something like a Bandit.

IMO it's a nice alternative to the SV as a first big bike, but it's not an upgrade for somebody who wants to move on.

If it works for you then buy one, overall it's a nice bike.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

I looked at the Shiver a few months ago, and then put it out of my mind because there are absolutely no hard luggage options available. If Givi haven't bothered with an Italian bike then there's no hope of ever getting a set of panniers or a topbox fitted.

It did look fairly well made though.

They have what they call "semi-hard" side cases as an official accessory

[Viney]

My mate has a shiver. He's chucked on a Tuono front end and fully agrophobic zorst system and had the wheels gold painted..on the black bike it looks well cool. He still wont give me the keys, so cant comment, but he did say that the tuono front end was a huge improvement.

i took a shiver as a loan bike when my tuono went in, i hated it, it just felt really weak and plasticky, didnt feel like a big bike at all, the suspension and handling just seemed all over the place compared to the tuono, and the engine wasnt a patch on it.

the look good though

Originally Posted by Viney

My mate has a shiver. He's chucked on a Tuono front end and fully agrophobic zorst system and had the wheels gold painted..on the black bike it looks well cool. He still wont give me the keys, so cant comment, but he did say that the tuono front end was a huge improvement.

His names not Burty is it?