No, I have no clue why the folks at Aprilia, that superb Italian motorcycle manufacturer that is now owned by the huge Piaggio Group, named this truly splendid Streetfighter 750 V-Twin the Shiver. I might be able to glean this information by reading all the lovely press info I have on the bike, but to be honest I was too busy riding it and experiencing its Shiver-ness to get around to the company’s technical briefing. I will soon, but in the meantime, this is yet another excellent bike from a truly interesting manufacturer. Aprilia builds technologically contemporary, artistically beautiful and just generally great motorcycles (and scooters), and I’ve yet to ride one I didn’t enjoy. The Shiver is no different, and one of the fun things about reviewing it for the pubs I do such things for is a have a competing motorcycle, my Triumph Street Triple R, to ride back to back with the Italian to compare and contrast. Two naked middleweight sportbikes that are both designed to be comfortable to ride in the real world, yet have very sporting manners, were here in in my stable. Life is good, sometimes.
So, how’s the Shiver? Excellent. It feels heavier than the Triumph, but it steers beautifully and even thought the male slider front forks aren’t adjustable they are firm and compliant in balanced measure. The plucky 90-degree V-Twin (or Tweeyan, iffen those damn bastards in the south cut your beard and made you eat it) is very smooth, has lots of excellent low-end torque and a very flat, progressive power delivery but runs out of steam (like most V-Twins that aren’t race bikes) in the higher reaches of the rev range. But the power characteristics suit the bike well, and the transmission has ratios that are pretty ideal. The Street Triple R feels busier, as the Inline Three engine is spinning faster as is its nature, but on the whole it feels more powerful by a smidgeon. What does this mean? Nothing. The Shiver has all the muscle you’ll need, and it is (as is typical for Aprilias) a beautifully balanced package. My only real gripe, which is very substantial even though it is a tiny thing, is this: an ABS light that lights up as if checking the system when you start the bike, yet this model has no ABS. There is an ABS Shiver, but this wasn’t one of them and a West Coast press bike at Rider Magazine displayed a similar, well, display.
This is problematic and they need to fix it. I don’t need to tell you if you’ve ever ridden/driven ABS and non-ABS machines that the braking technique with each is worlds apart. If you jump on a bike and see that ABS light, what are you going to think? How are you going to react when that van filled with pregnant nuns pulls out in front of you?
So, this bothered me. I intend to get his rectified. Otherwise I loved the Shiver. It’s a beautiful machine, that you want to ride until the tank’s empty and then get some more $3 petrol and keep going. It’s potent, comfortable and it’s Veee-Tweeyan in its most refined, torque-rich expression.