The Aprilia Tuareg 660 unveil should make Yamaha sit up and take notice
Aprilia has revealed the Tuareg 660, a serious middleweight off-roader that should send chills down the spine of Yamaha’s Tenere 700.
It has been designed to be a no-nonsense machine that comes with a limited number of body panels and wire-spoked wheels.
Upfront, there is the familiar triple headlight arrangement, a flyscreen and low-set front mudguard. Moving on, there are radiator shrouds, a high-set fuel tank and the bash plate should provide pretty strong protection to the engine.
Aprilia has left the subframe of the Tuareg 660 exposed, and on top of it sits the single-piece seat. If there is one element that does not look good on the bike, it has to be the exhaust canister, but, Aprilia does not make the rules, eh!
The third model using the Noale-based firm’s middleweight platform will be powered by a detuned version of the 660cc parallel twin used in the RS 660 and Tuono 660.
In the Tuareg 660, the engine puts out a maximum of 80 HP and 70 Nm of peak torque, while the ADV weighs 187 kg (dry).
Sporting 43 mm front fork with a rear shock absorber, the Tuareg 660 should be able to handle pretty rough stuff. It even has 240 mm of wheel travel and 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels.
At the Tuareg 660 unveil, Aprilia said the bike will be rich in tech as well. Apart from the 5-inch TFT screen, the Italian bikemaker has equipped the motorcycle with Aprilia Performance Ride Control (APRC), 4 riding modes, cruise control, traction control and switchable ABS.
Set to go on sale overseas later this year, the motorcycle may come to India considering its siblings are getting prepared for their introduction to the market.
