Aprilia Shiver
We check out Aprilia’s latest attempt to take the naked middleweight honours...
Entering the naked middleweight class at the moment is like stepping into a Wild West gunfight. And if you have come armed with a knife, you are going to leave looking like a Swiss cheese. You have the current £8000-area top dogs in the shape of the Triumph Street Triple R, Yamaha MT-09 and Kawasaki Z900 as well as the more premium Ducati 821 and the lower capacity Suzuki GSX-S750 all vying for a slice of this fiercely competitive market. And now moseying into the middle of this with its own set of six-shooters drawn is Aprilia’s offering; the new Shiver 900. Although calling it new is a bit of a stretch of the imagination… The same, but different The Shiver 900 is essentially a reworked Shiver 750. As the name suggests, the capacity has seen a hike through a longer stroke within the 90º V-twin’s barrels and to go with this update a few internal mods have been applied. Nothing that drastic, but sensible changes that have also seen the clutch’s lever effort reduced by 15%, the fuelling improved and the motor’s midrange and peak torque boosted by 9Nm.
Interestingly, the power remains the same at just shy of 94bhp, a figure that means an Aprilia dealer can simply slap in a new fuel map and the Shiver 900 becomes an A2-legal machine, which is a nice touch for newer riders as it means they don’t have to change their bike once they gain a full licence.
On the chassis front the Shiver 900 benefits from an uprated set of Kayaba forks and a new look that includes a slightly odd pair of end cans. According to Aprilia, the weird end cans diffuse the exhaust’s gasses sideways and stop them being caught up in the turbulence created behind the rider. Why does this matter? Apparently owners of the old 750 moaned that when they returned from a ride their jacket stunk of fumes as the vacuum behind the bike pulled the gas forward and onto the rider. Fair play, that’s a new one on FB…
Added to this revised look and bigger capacity engine are lighter three-spoke wheels and a 4.3in TFT dash that is the same unit as used on the firm’s V4 models, which it has to be said is a pretty premium looking bit of kit. Also, if you are so inclined, you can now add Aprilia’s A-MP kit to connect it to your smartphone so you can (presumably) text pictures of your penis while you ride. Or whatever the modern yoof does nowadays…
Smoothly does it
Considering these limited changes, and it has to be said my not overly favourable memories of the Shiver 750, I wasn’t expecting a great deal from the Shiver 900. But I was very pleasantly surprised – not blown away mind you, but certainly not disappointed as the Shiver is actually a really pleasant machine to ride.
When you fire up the V-twin you kind of expect the raucous awaking you get on the firm’s other bikes, mainly due to the Aprilia logo emblazoned on the tank. Machines from Noale tend to be a little spirited in their attitude and that’s what I thought I’d be getting from the Shiver. But in reality quite the opposite happened. The Shiver didn’t bark into life, it rumbled more like a Japanese V-twin and didn’t sound as if it was about to try and kill me at the first opportunity. It was all surprisingly refined, which on a bike with an eye on newer riders is a very welcome development. And the electronics help back up this feeling.
The new dash is lovely and clear and gives you easy access to all the electronic assists. Changing power mode from Sport to Touring or Rain is a simple push of the starter button and the traction control is also quickly altered between off, level 1 and level 2 via an easy to locate button on the left hand switchgear. There are no bamboozling menus and submenus and it is all very pleasingly clear, straightforward and adjustable while on the go. In some ways it made me wonder if this really was an Aprilia I was riding, and the new engine confounded my senses even more.
Again, I expected an 896cc V-twin from Aprilia to come packed with attitude, but the Shiver 900’s engine doesn’t. Far from being a lumpy twin, it is incredibly smooth and has very little vibrations. In many ways it reminded me of the SV650 motor in its characteristics, just with a muchneeded stack of extra midrange torque. When you accelerate it doesn’t shake or
pulse, it just glides forward with an impressively fluid throttle response and strong surge of midrange. In fact, so smooth is its power delivery I don’t really see any need for the lower power Rain fuel map, especially when it is all backed up by Aprilia’s excellent traction control system. But after a while I couldn’t help but feel it needed a bit more fight in it…
All chill, no frill
When you look at the likes of the Yamaha and Triumph triples, and to a lesser extent the Z900’s inline four, they are motors that are refined and relaxed but also bloody hysterical when you want to play the fool. For me the Shiver’s 900 V-twin isn’t in this ballpark, which is a shame. It’s an engine that only operates on one level – relaxed – rather than being able to change its attitude at will like the competition without compromising its overall usability. There may be a quick fix to this, the Dorsoduro has a one tooth smaller front sprocket and did feel a bit sprightlier, but for me the 900 was a bit too flat and lethargic to inspire excitement. Which was a shame as the chassis is very good. With a few turns of spring preload on the shock to put the Shiver more on its nose (I did spot the more agile Dorsoduro’s preload was fully wound in) the Aprilia’s handling was really adept. It’s not Street Triple good, but it is very assured in the bends and thanks to being backed up with some pretty fierce stoppers certainly delivered far more of the ‘Aprilia’ experience I expected in its handling than its motor. Naked bikes need to perform in the bends, especially ones in this fiercely fought category, and the Shiver doesn’t let the side down. But will it sell?
Recommending the Shiver 900 is a hard thing to do, mainly as the competition is so good. For my money it is the best V-twin as it is cheaper than the Ducati 821 and has far more about it than the long in the tooth Suzuki SV650. But can it match the MT-09, Street Triple or Z900? Not in my book, but there again, if you are a fan of V-twins and want something a bit different, at £8002 the Shiver 900 is on the money.