Aprilia SL 750 Shiver

t is certainly no easy matter to take the lead in a class as fiercely competitive as the medium powered naked class. A class where the battle is not just about technology and performance, but also design, component rationality and riding ease and pleasure, elements which are not always compatible and are particularly demanding for designers and engineers.

Aprilia has picked up this challenge and interpreted it by applying its own successful philosophy to a completely new design, destined to set new standards for years to come. A bike both strongly aggressive and at the same time clean-cut and elegant, in perfect Aprilia style. A bike at the top of its class for its sporty personality, designed on the basis of the know-how of a company which has to date won 250 world championship victories.

The pride of all Aprilia bikes, refined mechanics and a top class chassis, are once again the key to the success of the Shiver 750.

The Aprilia Shiver 750 is the naked everyone was waiting for. A design able to satisfy the disparate needs of those buying this type of bike. From everyday use to a trip along mountain passes or use on the racetrack, the Aprilia Shiver 750 is completely at home in any situation, guaranteeing pure riding pleasure at all times.

Light, agile and powerful, it has a new generation engine and the most advanced technical features in its class. The brand new 90° V2 produced entirely in-house by Aprilia is extremely compact. Above all, thanks to the advanced electronic management, it can deliver a level of power comparable to four cylinder engines in the same class, but with much more favourable torque at low revs for an efficient and pleasing ride even on everyday routes. True to the Aprilia tradition, the chassis simply has no rivals in its class. The innovative mixed trellis/aluminium frame provides standard setting rigidity. All this makes the bike extremely compact, perfect even for the beginner.

With a dry weight of just 189 kg, the lightness of the Aprilia Shiver 750 also satisfies the most canny motorcyclist. Its manoeuvrability and engine performance enable the bike to accompany its owner from his first few metres on two wheels up to his complete motorcycling maturity.

Key Features

The main characteristics of the Aprilia Shiver 750 are:

• 90° V2 engine with four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshaft and liquid cooling
• Ride-by-Wire technology for electronic control of the throttle bodies
• Electronic fuel injection with latest generation injectors
• Mixed gear and chain valve timing
• Three way catalytic converter on the exhaust, with Lambda oxygen sensor
• Modular trellis/aluminium frame for high torsional rigidity
• Aluminium swingarm with reinforcement truss and lateral shock absorber
• 43 mm upside down fork
• Racing brakes with radial caliper at front

Features and Benefits

THE DESIGN: SHAPE AT THE SERVICE OF POWER

As with every Aprilia product, the Shiver 750 has a highly innovative design where form and function come together to create an almost perfect object. The Aprilia Shiver 750 is pure technology and this is evident in its sharp, sporty lines.

The frame and engine, both brand new, are the foundations of the design and are also, rightly, the main elements characterising the look of the Shiver 750. Each element has been designed to be not just beautiful but also functional. The design is refined, but at the same time clean-cut, without too many frills for the maximum possible functionality. The Aprilia Shiver 750 exhaust is also a very distinctive design element. On the Aprilia Shiver 750, the technical component becomes a design element at the same time, creating a bike both aggressive and at the same time elegant.

The tank-seat-tail assembly further emphasises the compactness of the bike. The rider becomes one with the machine, perfectly integrated in the short, agile, and sporty bike. This helps establish an immediate feeling between the rider and the bike, making everyone feel as if they have always been riding it. The strongly tapering tail also incorporates the twin exhaust with triangular silencers, a feature which makes the design even more aggressive, while keeping weight distribution highly symmetrical.

The Aprilia Shiver 750 is compact, functional and attractive. The adoption of a side shock absorber not only adds a further distinctive feature to the look of the bike, but also enables a rational and compact exhaust system to be fitted.  

THE V90 ENGINE: TECHNOLOGY IN THE PURE STATE

The V90 engine inherits all Aprilia's experience in high performance mechanics. Endless hours of bench and road tests have produced a genuine masterpiece of mechanical engineering, capable not just of high performance, but also complete reliability. Thanks to its particular technical characteristics, the Aprilia V90 combines high specific power with maximum usability and easy riding.

A generous twin cylinder heart, destined to set new performance and technology standards for medium powered bikes. The engine has been designed by the Aprilia Research and Development department which set out to create a powerful and reliable engine requiring very limited maintenance.

The quest for performance at the top of its class led to the adoption of a number of advanced and innovative technical features:

• 90° V engine layout;
• Ride-by-Wire technology;
• Highly over-square bore and stroke ratio;
• Four valves per cylinder;
• Double overhead camshaft with mixed chain and gear drive;
• Electronic fuel injection with two throttle bodies;
• Plug caps with integrated stick-coils;
• Three way catalytic converter and Lambda probe oxygen sensor;
• Hydraulically operated clutch;

For this type of bike, the 90° V arrangement of the cylinders was found to be the best solution in terms of performance and size. With consistently generous torque available across a wide range of revs and negligible vibrations, the Aprilia V2 750 is full and powerful at the top of its class.

The timing deserves special mention. Motion is transmitted to the four valves per cylinder and double camshaft by a mixed gear/chain system. This technical application, already adopted by Aprilia in the V60 mounted on the RSV 1000 R, enables the size of the engine to be kept down, while guaranteeing more precise and reliable valve timing. The chain is shorter, for less overall stress and a longer working life; this makes the engine shorter.

The latest generation injection system uses fine atomising injectors. This solution, combined with advanced fluid dynamics ensures optimum combustion for an engine which is not just more powerful, but cleaner too.

The sophisticated electronic management makes the Aprilia Shiver 750 a new benchmark for nakeds. In the Aprilia Shiver 750, integral Ride-by-Wire technology becomes standard equipment for the first time in the history of motorcycling. The electronic accelerator management optimises opening of the throttle bodies according to numerous parameters, including engine speed, gear selected, the degree of throttle opening of closing and the speed of throttle movement, temperature and atmospheric pressure. The engine is therefore always able to offer optimum performance in acceleration and pick-up and the lowest possible consumption for a still more fluid and profitable ride. This innovative solution guarantees even fuller and more regular output at low and medium speeds, optimising running of the engine, even with the choke.

Thanks to the technology used, the Aprilia V90 manages to deliver exceptionally high power for the engine configuration. Maximum power of 95 HP at 9000 revs and maximum torque of 81 Nm at 7000 revs are excellent for a twin of this capacity. The high torque available even at low speeds makes the Aprilia Shiver 750 incomparable to ride on mixed routes.

A latest generation engine management unit controls all engine parameters. All data passes through a CAN (Controlled Area Network) line to the instrument panel, which also

acts as a diagnostic terminal. The CAN line uses just two cables to transmit all data. This simplifies the electrical system enormously as well as reducing the total weight of the bike.

The exhaust is made entirely from stainless steel. The manifolds come together under the seat in a single silencer with twin tail pipes.

The large volume (10 liters ) contributes to perfect engine breathing for excellent efficiency. 

THE FRAME: RATIONALITY AND EFFICIENCY

Experts have always acknowledged that Aprilia bikes have the best chassis in their class. The Aprilia Shiver 750 is concrete confirmation that once again Aprilia has managed to create a chassis which is both extremely easy and intuitive and incredibly high performance. The frame exploits all the knowledge Aprilia has gained in racing and also draws on new studies on mixed structures with the futuristic RXV and SXV, already winners of a number of titles on the racetrack. The top part of the tubular steel trellis is connected to large side plates by means of special high strength bolts. This creates an extremely rigid lightweight frame, the best solution to harness all the horsepower of the Aprilia V90.

Creation of an Aprilia bike always involves synergy between chassis and engine engineers. The fundamental design choices for the V90 engine led to construction of a highly rational and efficient frame. The reduced longitudinal dimensions of the engine made it possible to obtain a short, agile bike, helped by the particular side positioning of the shock absorber, not a simple cosmetic mannerism, but a precise technical decision which created valuable space for the exhaust manifolds whose shape and size have been calibrated perfectly to ensure maximum engine efficiency. This enabled the optimum exhaust manifold configuration to be obtained, without too heavily affecting the length of the bike and without exposing the shock absorber, a fundamental element for the ride, to heat stress.

The aluminium swingarm with reinforcement truss has been sized specifically to support the asymmetrical stresses caused by lateral positioning of the shock absorber. The rigidity of the swingarm sets new standards for the class.

SUSPENSION

Optimum definition of the suspension is an obsession for Aprilia designers. Even such a "simple" bike as a naked must have the best possible available. The Aprilia Shiver750 therefore stands out from the pack in this delicate area as well.

The 43 mm upside down fork with forged feet to support the radial calipers provides benchmark smoothness. The 120 mm wheel travel makes the bike equally at home on about town trips and mountain routes. The bottom steering yoke is made from forged aluminium, the top steering yoke from forged aluminium.

The side shock absorber rests directly on the swingarm, according to the cantilever principle, and provides adjustments for spring preload and hydraulic rebound. Rear wheel travel is 130 mm. 

THE BRAKES

The best technology currently available is incorporated in the Aprilia Shiver 750, the first medium powered naked with a radial caliper system, a feature emphasising even further (as if it were needed) the sporty personality of the design. The 320 mm front discs are the same as used in the racing flagships, the RSV 1000 R and Tuono 1000 R.

At the back, a 245 mm disc with single piston caliper provides adequate backup for the front circuit.

The front and rear braking circuits both use aeronautical metal braid hoses to eliminate the pressure variations associated with conventional rubber brake lines, guaranteeing maximum braking precision for a top level system. 

COMPONENTS

- The Matrix instrument panel: the combined digital and analog instrument panel receives all the data over a CAN line and acts as an integral part of the self-diagnostics system as it also has a memory. The design is extremely modern, compact and lightweight. All functions can be switched by means of the handlebar control. The LED backlighting can be adjusted to three levels: white in the analogue zone and red in the digital zone.

- The bi-conical aluminium handlebars are a direct reference to the handlebars of the Tuono, Aprilia's naked flagship. Maximum lightness and maximum control. A top quality component no other bike in its class can boast.

- The double parabola front light has complex surfaces and a double parking light.

- The advanced hydraulically operated clutch ensures constantly precise action and amazingly smooth engagement, and offers all the convenience of self-adjustment for maintenance free use.