Pragmatic Yet Dramatic
IF YOU REMEMBER THE 1980S — LONG HAIR, bad music, terrible fashion, and mobile phones the size of house bricks — then you might remember the original Aprilia Tuareg (as a 50, a 125, a 350 or a 600). Do not worry if you do not, this is not a test. But it is worth noting that the name Tuareg will rekindle nostalgic feelings for those who loved Aprilia’s cool-looking range of off-roaders as well as the factory Turaeg that raced in the infamous Paris Dakar Rally.
It is a name with history, all right, and Aprilia wanted to push the boundaries with the latest bike to join the Tuareg dynasty — to “set a new limit how far an adventure bike can go off-road”.
While it would have been a simple task for Aprilia to produce an everyday adventure bike, they wanted to produce a machine that can be ridden properly off road — a 21-inch front wheel and long-travel suspension were never in doubt — but equally to be usable on longer journeys on the road and be light and accessible to shorter riders.
The new Tuareg for 2022 uses the parallel-twin housed in the highly acclaimed RS660 sports bike as a base. Throw this fuel-efficient and lightweight engine (it weighs
