The 2010 ; Aprilia Shiver

While Ducati is pushing Monsters like hot cakes, Aprilia hasn’t had the same success with its Shiver model since its 2007 launch. Importers I’ve spoken to put it down to a lack of flair and while BMW and Honda are getting away with murder in the shape of the silver grey paint bucket, Aprilia hasn’t. I must admit that I’ve agreed with the importers and what a change in that respect the 2010 Shiver is. Italian racing red tubular frame and more thought into an eye-catching set of decals has sort of already done it for me.

But that’s not all; Aprilia has made changes to the Shiver ergonomics, too, with a narrower and more comfortable seat and re-positioned footpegs. The handlebar position has been altered as well. As I discovered on a beautiful stretch of road in the south of France, comfort is impressive. I spent half the day on the Shiver and the rest on the Dorsoduro Factory and there’s a major difference in comfort to the Shiver’s benefit. In addition to improved comfort, the Shiver is also now more sports orientated as the pegs and handlebar have been adjusted to give the bike more front-end feel with more weight over that front.
The mixed steel trellis and aluminium plate frame is the most desirable feature on the Shiver. That’s what gives the Shiver a sporty feel over all other features. The Shiver rides great through the corners and despite having, for Aprilia, basic suspension the feel is great. The Shiver is a bike that loves corners due to that quality chassis from Noale. Despite being heavier than the top competitors, the Shiver feels solid and easy to throw through the corner combinations. The brakes have been upgraded with wavy discs for the 2010 model and the ABS system works well.

The Shiver features the most powerful version of the 750cc V-Twin engine and it produces a claimed 95 hp at 9,000 RPM. I still have to use the six-speed gearbox like a laboring ant, but on these southern French roads it's only fun. The Shiver has more emphasis on the top-end power than the Dorsoduro so at the top-end revs things happen quickly and I found myself wanting more over-rev capacity for the fastest corners.

In Sport mode the throttle is aggressive and not the smoothest throttle in the world. In Touring mode, however, there’s not a hiccup reaching the top-end through a much smoother midrange. I didn’t try Rain mode as it’s only for, yes you guessed it, a rainy day. It’s easy to select modes, but as you use the starter button the engine must be running for you to change them. While riding you can change the riding mode, but only with a closed throttle which is unnecessary as there are no massive changes.
A small fly fairing is now standard equipment on the Shiver 750, which deflects a little more wind than before. As the 750cc V-Twin is friendly enough with a decent midrange I’d have no problems recommending it to new riders. Benefits for a new rider include a comfortable seat, big engine sound and ABS. For more experienced riders it’s difficult to see how you’d keep yourself excited for much more than a year, but it’s a great intro into Italian bikes and V-Twins.

Conclusion

The 2010 Shiver is now a lot more “Italian” and doesn’t share the same dull silver grey paintjob from Piaggio’s scooter range. The ergonomics are better on both the comfort and the sport side. The 750cc V-Twin does its job, but I’d personally soon want to see that 1200cc engine for more oomph in higher gears on low revs because that’s not a strong side.
Midrange is decent enough but fairly high in the revs for a V-Twin. The brakes are great even with ABS and the Shiver handles better than the engine can do. All in all a great beginner’s bike, but still not enough for somebody looking to move up in the world.

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Russian Motor cycle made Kalashnikov

The makers of what has been described as the “world’s greatest weapon”, the Russian Kalashnikov machine gun, were also pretty handy at constructing motorbikes, selling around 11 million of them since their formation in 1927. For many years, this Soviet motorbike factory ran second only to Japan in production numbers. One of its most popular bikes was the 1929 Izh-1, and this is a 2012 take on the motorcycle by designer Igor Chak. The concept design comes with more safety features than 10 Volvos combined and is aimed at making riding on the highways and byways safer than walking.

Some of the safety features include dual front airbags and a type of crumple zone for front-on crashes. There’s a radar system, on-board cameras for safe braking distances, traction control and ABS.


Like some systems in hi-tech cars, the bike would be able to detect vehicles braking suddenly in front and automatically apply the brakes safely. It would also include proximity side sensors to detect blind spots, and the handlebars vibrate to warn riders of potential collisions.

Chak has designed the bike to automatically adjust traction for icy conditions, wet roads and the front intakes double as aerodynamic stabilizers for high-speed riding.
Crumple zone

The motorcycle’s airbag system works similar to a car’s crumple zone, absorbing much of the impact and keeping the rider safer. The front airbag has a unique design – it’s pointy arms catch the riders’ shoulders as he/she is thrown forward. Installing airbags on a motorbike isn't as far-fetched as you might think. Honda has been looking into installing airbags on its motorcycles for some time, and systems are in development that are worn by the riders themselves.

The skeleton fork design crumples on impact to take the maximum hit, not the rider.

An on-board computer keeps the rider connected through an LCD 3D touch screen that displays warnings, maintenance requirements and diagnostics, as well as which level the bike is being operated in – sport, comfort or manual.

The Izh 2012 concept would also connect with your smart phone to allow you to answer calls hands-free (but only when stationary, of course).

To ride this bike though, if it ever goes into production, you’d want to live nowhere near speed humps as the bashplate looks so low you’d practically have to dismount and carry your bike over one.

Other features include night vision camera display, a 140hp V-twin engine (50 percent plastic), a Lithium sulfide-powered 60W electric engine with two-speed gearbox (for emission-free riding), or an automatic or six-speed gearbox for the petrol-powered motor, magnetic brakes, hydraulic back-up system.

Pie-in the-sky stuff, but safety is always worth thinking about.

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