Aprilia Shiver - My veiws

Just thought I'd share my ramblings with anyone thats interested in the shiver...

Decided as is was such a glorious day, to pull my finger out and have a go on the shiver, I've been reading all the reviews, trying to find one report that actually leaves it ahead of the competition, alas, the Street triple always wins.

Ive always like the looks in an ugly-beautiful way, much like you curvey owners must think of your bikes lol .

So I swing my leg over, 1st thought... its tall, I'm 5'11" and its tip toes for me. riding position is very similar to the street triple albeit higher, the feeling of nothing in front of you is the same as i felt on the street as well.

Sound, for stock pipes, its not 'alf bad, not as nice IMO as my full arrow system on me SV. but its got a nice grunt, it burbles and pops at you too, which is a nice feature for a standard bike.

all the switch gear is of a high quality, as is the general feel, it feels solid, one we can all relate to, no clunk over pot holes for a start!

The ride is very firm, complete opposite to the Street which is quite soft. The front brakes are very efficient, almost savage. Rear brake is almost useless.

So all in all, at them moment its feeling like a tall sporty feeling street triple.

However, in Sport mode it lets itself down, the throttle response is awful. rolling off and on gives a great almighty kick / jerk so definatley no adjustment when committed to a turn. Also, when feathering on from a 0-throttle it feels like it bogging down / overfueling. you can feel the bike slow as you are putting the throttle on.
Touring mode- Much much better, feels like my SV, smooth nice, no problems.. why cant sport mode be like this. (I thing Touring mode resricts torque till a certain point)
Rain mode- yeah, works, id never use it. feels like a 250cc bike.

conclution is.. if it weren't for the fueling, it'd be a very good bike. but as everyone keeps writing, the street is streets ahead!

.. and i really wanted to like it too

Ian have you done a write up of the Street? Maybe a PCIII would smooth the fuelling out on the Shiver?

Not done a review of the street no. I do know I like it tho!

Not sure how you'd go about mapping the shiver, as it is fly-by wire and both throttle bodies are independently controlled, I'd imagine thats quite a headache, and possibly why even Aprilia haven't even got it right!

Ian, give us a review of the Triple up against the Shiver. This is from someone who hasnt been paid advertising rights to big it up.

The review above makes lots of comparisons to it (as they are head to head in the marketings)

The Street Triple is really good, I test rode it this time last year so is a little hazy in my memory, BUT I will be testing the Street Triple R next week. (my mate has the original ST so we are doing it back to back)

I do remember thinking, there is nothing bad i can say about this bike... except why wasn't it out 9 months earlier (when i bought the SV) and the length of the waiting list.

All i know of my mates critisims is that the rear shock is a bit bouncy (but then he is 20st ish), he thinks the build quality is questionable, tho I recon it is better than Suzukis.
He thinks the throttle isnt smooth, I dont think its anywhere as bad as the Shiver just not like a carb'd bike possibly on par with the FI SV.
The triple does use a good bit of oil too, but i think that is a feature of triumphs' triples... to compound the problem there is no oil glass- its a dipstick and it has to be measured stood up!

If the ST had the Shivers suspention / brakes I recon it'd be a stonker... wait, isn't that the S-Triple R I've just discribed....?

Rob, best thing to do is pick a day and get out on them, one mans chalk is another mans cheese.

I can see why the ST wins all the reviews tho.......

Other bikes I've tried recently are
Tiger 1050- Wayy to tall, and expencive!
Sprint ST 1050 - works well, not sure if its 'the one' tho
Fazer 1000 - powerful, emmesly fast, I found it bland tho. Very Thirsty
SV650s - All things to all men.

The more I try big Litre bikes the more I feel there is no need.. 600's are far more fun.

Ian - do you know if the Shiver have the updated tri-map installed from the dealer? The fueling is bad unless they have done the update which aparantly sorts the issues. I remember a lot of new owners complaining about it but it since had been sorted I thought...

I'd hope so... It was a demonstrator at an Aprilia dealership 08 reg, 2000 miles on the clock.

The touring mode was fine, but I think it restricts the power till a certain point. Sport mode was imo unuseable! even on a track i wouldnt want the bogging or kicking.

edit- For example, in sport mode town driving below 35mph was a 1st gear affair, and that was jerky - as you'd expect, but changing up to 2nd made it bog down on the feathering on/off of throttle. no win in ether situation. touing mode hid this, you knew it was there, but it was a relief not to be in sport!

The fly-by-wire is a production 1st, and hats off to them, I just hope it gets better!

Originally Posted by robchester

Maybe a PCIII would smooth the fuelling out on the Shiver?

Do you not think a new bike shouldn't need £150 spending to sort out something like that?

Originally Posted by simesb

Do you not think a new bike shouldn't need £150 spending to sort out something like that?

Absolultely but it seems that its some kind of design fault which hasnt been addressed yet. I like the look of the Shiver but the well documented fuelling issues put me off the idea. Would need some kind of screen on as well as wouldnt relish the wind blast.

Reading your other post Rob, we are in similar boats.

I need a bike thats up for an all weather commute, fun on the weekends and able to do some touring. (plan to do S France next year)

I've tried a few sorts of all rounders, not convinced on any yet.

Something I didn't mention earlier, Street triple and the Shiver have NO storage space, at all. Infact the tool kit on the ST is 1x 5mm allen key!