Aprilia Tuareg 660 review | With special guest rider, Geoff Ballard!

Not content with the one-day model launch, we finally brought an Aprilia Tuareg 660 home to run it on familiar trails and hand it over to a true offroad riding legend.
Geoff Ballard is the Godfather of modern Australian enduro. He's raced and won worldwide on anything from Factory bikes to slightly odd home 'developed' machines. We even paid a visit to a couple of his race bikes on display in the National Motor Racing Museum.
Spending time with GB whose stories could fill volumes is always great. Check out Ballards Offroad for anything and all things offroad and adventure.
And the Aprilia? Well, dive in and check out what I thought, but it distils easily down to one word...FUN.
Massive thanks to Guy Streeter/MX Store for additional footage.
Fly Racing Terra Trek www.flyracing.com/products/24...
Fly Racing FR5 www.flyracing.com/products/29...
Fly Racing Trekker Solid www.flyracing.com/trekker-sol...
Interphone Avant www.mxstore.com.au/p/Interpho...
SP Connect sp-connect.com.au/
ADV LIFE advlife.com.au/

[@edukze]

Best adv out there right now. Because of price and performance. Aprilia watched the other bikes and made the perfect one. I need this bike 😅❤

[@jonbriddon1566]

The cinematography in the video is awesome. A real step forward. Well done as I am sure it all takes time to do.

[@andrewheadland9341]

GB has done more for the sport in Australia than anyone else, he his a legend with list of gold medals to prove it.. thanks Geoff 👍

[@markherrington4584]

Researched all the Adv bikes and bought the Tuareg, I never sat on it or heard it run until the day I picked it up at the dealer n Atlanta. Took it to N. GA mtns today to some twisties, had a smile on my face the whole time. Hitting the back country next weekend, can’t wait. Good review, interesting to hear a professional riders take on the bike. Fantastic videography.

[@chukku2175]

Great review! I absolutely adore my Tuareg. It is so goddamn impressive that this bike can handle such a wide span of different scenarios. You want to to go on a camping tour with your wife on the back? no problem! You want to have fun on a twisty road? let it rip! You want to master seriously rough single trails? bring it on! Of course there are bikes that are better in every single one of these scenarios, but I am not aware of any other bike that combines them as well as the Tuareg. By the way: Aprilia used to have proper Dual Sport bikes: The RXV 450/550 from 2007 - 2010. They were quite interesting.. the only V-twins in this class. I guess that's where they got at least some of their offroad experience for the Tuareg Design.

[@advlife]

Cheers mate! Yes, I rememeber the RXV very well. It had merit but wasn't great. They've nailed it with the Tuareg though.

[@jimmy_the_panda]

This is absolutely an epic review video. Perspective of video shoots, editing, musics etc. everything is just perfect.

[@photomotors]

Wow, what a nice video showing everything about the Tuareg 660. I am thrilled with the camera work, the editing and the background music. After having a Yamaha Tenere 700 and currently riding a KTM 390 Adventure, I want to get a second motorcycle and after watching this video I first have to arrange a test ride with my dealer in Berlin. Thank you for sharing and the work you have done.

[@ianjones7486]

If it gets GB's stamp of approval then I had better start talking to the bank manager and minister of finance. Great video

[@cars2drive298]

I m done ! Gonna buy one, looked at all the vids about the Tuareg and this one nailed it ! 👍

[@howiemclaughlin3070]

Wow! Great videography. Arguably the best review of the Tuareg on KZbin, or maybe anywhere. You have yourself a new subscriber mate.

[@malcolmnuttall3165]

Aprilia nailed it out of the box, it's the pricing that puts it in competition with the Africa Twin base model, while the Tenere is a simple bike for less.

[@asamacres]

T-reg owner here; it’s the Leatherman of motorcycles, period.

[@advlife]

That’s a great way of putting it 👍🏻

[@ryanmahall8695]

outstanding production!

[@advlife]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@heinschwartz7941]

Design and airbox access reminds me alot of the 2002 XRV750 AT I owned till recently. Great video Damo and great to see input from GB.

[@ashwinraggs4226]

“The RE looks like a piece of haunted furniture”🪑 😂😂😂 Your motorcycle humour is off the charts

[@kurtchristopher7392]

Incredible footage and editing! Humor and content make it the best review of the Tuareg!

[@amerc7113]

Great production! Fortunately watching this at night, else I'd be on my way to the nearest Aprilia dealer.

[@user-sy5yw2dj3k]

How about when sparrows fart?😊

[@TwoTubesADV]

Great video, very impressive. I had a test ride on a Tuareg just the other week and was pleasantly surprised, very comfortable standing. And a great sound 👍

[@beneagleton8090]

Great production value. Impressive

[@UnicornMoto]

Another great video. Recently discovered your channel and it’s a new favorite! Keep up the great work!

[@lazy-pilot]

Spectacular editing! And I enjoyed the commentary.

[@brucekendall52]

Nice take thanks.

[@Braapncamp]

Wow, alot art here. Love the footage and editing. A really cool review, I've not tested the Tuareg yet even if i have the chance. This. mosty because "i have to" ride my own new bike the few days off for this. Keep it up! 🍺

[@davidrahbany]

Great review. Awesome riding. I'm also coming from an Honda AT background, so this was particularly useful. Thanks.

[@ssamorfati]

Well done ADV Life - loving the vids and content. What a top review - I ride a T7 but jeez, the Toareg must be giving the mid size adv bikes a run for there money. thanks again. 💯💯

[@holisticaustralia]

Gr3at moovie, awesome cinematography and music, great bik3 and amazing scenery, 10 outa 10 😉👍

[@alexmoreno8156]

I love my Tuareg 660. Awesome bike! Great review and cinematography.

[@advlife]

Thanks mate!

Espectacular Video!! Thanks for the amazing Work! Love the bike to 🤘🏻✨✨✨✨✨

[@nghar2169]

Great video Damo, production values getting seriously in preside! That launch was one of my favourites and it’s good to see the first impression of that day in the sand pit lasted. Hope all is well with you mate 👍👍

[@advlife]

Everyone had a blast on that launch…except Pete. Never eat the servo chicken 😂

[@majoy-osterlundfreeman5425]

Nice test and good music and our conversation/ comments are spot on. First time here on your channel but for sure not the last 👍

[@advlife]

Thanks mate! Appreciate you stopping by 😊

[@Vicko026]

Another ripper vid Damo 🤘

[@advlife]

Cheers legend - hope you're all healed up now!

[@Vicko026]

@@advlife Getting there mate. Back on the road bikes. Not quite up to 30 ft whips just yet...

[@rinko121]

Great video 👏👏👏👏

[@hoozleup]

😂I’ve just traded a “piece of haunted furniture” for the bike sitting behind you. Love it.

[@advlife]

That's a pretty huge change!

[@hoozleup]

@@advlife Yeah. Nothing wrong with the Himalayan, it's a good bike. It was my moto camping machine. I just wanted something with a bit more comfortable top end road speed for getting between A and B. The Aprilia has certainly got that.

[@terrywest5735]

G. B. What a legend! I'm old enough to remember him giving us Yanks a good smacking when he raced here. Great footage and report, I hope to be picking up my new 23 Tuareg tomorrow. I would like your opinion of the Fly helmet you're wearing please sir. Wind noise, comfort, etc. Thanks!

[@advlife]

The Trekker is a good helmet for its price. Comfortable, I wouldn’t call it quiet (adv helmets aren’t all that quiet anyway) but the peak is one of the least effected by wind that I’ve ever tried. It’s a good all round purchase.

[@thedougies8322]

Was real interested in hearing Geoff Ballards thoughts…thanks Damo. I’m on a 2015 BMW 650GS Sertao at present & it’s perfect size, weight & capacity for my level of experience for adv riding…but both the T7 and Tuareg keep whispering to me to be my first twin cylinder adv bike…ah the decision mate!!

[@advlife]

If we could all own at least three bikes these desicions would be so much easier! :)

[@INFO_MOTO]

Grouse work Damo.

[@advlife]

Cheers mate!

[@alexstan5358]

What a bike!!! Hopefully is good as my old 2008 Tuono R 1000( Rotax 1000cc V2 engine) that thing was indestructible

[@powertrip1050]

This review helped make up my mind to get a Tuareg - brilliant bike!!....and "the Royal Enfield looks like a piece of haunted furniture" comment still has me laughing all these months later...🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@user-sy5yw2dj3k]

I used to have one in the nineties. Rotax powered. The Toerag definitely has some pedigree.😅

[@jacksoninglis4939]

“…the earth’s bumhole” 😂😂😂

[@MotoPassport]

Far out man that was Awesome!!!! So many other viewers have said it before and I again will say it to... you deserve so many more views and subs for your content. The jokes, the videography, the editing, the engagement, the music its all a great production and more importantly your review is top notch. Yeh I'm an Aprilia man so I am a bit biased but either way loved this vid as all your content. Noticed your using an mobile phone to film that's cool. Rock'n roll

[@advlife]

Thanks mate - really appreciate it 👍🏻

[@WomBattle]

Great review and and a fantastic video production. Australia’s bumhole 😂😂😂

[@DJAguitars]

Excellent vid! Did you install tubes or run tubeless?

[@mart7404]

Nice review. I love mine. Although I do think Aprilia should have included some sort of rack system on it. It's an adventure bike, make it like one Aprilia. It's similar to trucks back in the 80's imported into the US without a rear bumper. The dealership would love to say "well you get to choose your own bumper, everyone wants a different one". Yeah right? Blaze on Down Under there.

[@rbrown1339]

Thanks, great video! Curious about what tires you were running on the Tuareg? Thanks again.

[@dlee191]

Awesome stuff as always mate. Got me thinking I should give the Tuareg another chance as I found the heat coming on to my legs to be way too much when I first test rode it.

[@ozadv]

Dekat is your friend 😂

[@advlife]

I didn’t notice the heat as much as I did on the Desert X, but I did ride through a lot of water ha ha

[@dlee191]

@@advlife My closest Aprilia dealer was located in the middle of the city. So had to stop a lot which really didnt help.

[@ozadv]

You can change the traction control, in every mode, on the fly, using the cruise control button.. yes, it's that easy 😊 Otherwise, great review, fantastic editing and footage - thanks

[@chukku2175]

wanted to shout that out as well ;) Traction control and ABS can easily be adjusted on the go without going into the menu. (ABS in Offroad mode: standard is front on and rear off. you can switch front off as well by holding down the ride-mode button for a few seconds while standing.)

[@advlife]

Cheers mate - had no idea. I'll be utilising that method next time around for sure!

[@advlife]

Do you turn the front ABS off in the dirt? I've pretty much come around to trusting ABS at the front but not liking it on the back.

[@chukku2175]

​​@@advlife I leave Front ABS on 95% to 99% of the time. Only in very specific scenarios (slow downhill sections in the mud or on loose ground) I turn it off. Btw: to adjust the TC with the cruise control switch, the CC itself must be inactive (not in the blinking standby mode)

[@ozadv]

@@advlife I'm the same - modern off-road ABS is pretty good but always off at the rear.. same with traction control, I'll generally leave it at the lowest setting 1 which allows decent slides and only switch off in deep sand etc.. YMMV

[@meanwileinthedesert..2320]

Hahahaaahahaaahaaa. Oohh god haha. ''..Piece of haunted furniture..'' hahaahaaa that's bloody hilarious!

[@andrewtreloar7389]

Such a great bike, so versatile and capable. The power is right, the weight is right, the balance and handling is superb....but they just don't sell!! Pity we get f^%cked over here in Austra;ia with the retail price. In the UK and the US they are virtually the same price as the Transalp while here in Oz they are $8k dearer!! Blame the importer for that one!

[@rhonwyngilbert4102]

Awesome review. Seriously considering one. This is the type of riding we do in South Africa. Is there any long term review or ownership feedback, I just need the last bit of assurance in the reliability section. When you ride a bike hard, it easily shows design flaws.

[@jimmcmahon9317]

Great viewing, what’s more fun off-road your Africa twin or the Aprilla. I’ve narrowed my search down to these two bikes.

[@FulTrotl]

As an owner of both, definitely Tuareg. Much more balanced and easier to ride + better suspension. I like the engine and it's sound of CRF1100, but that's about it.

[@advlife]

The Aprilia is more pure fun. The AT is more comfortable and better fitted out as an adventure tourer. I wish I could have both!

[@evilmorty1197]

Have both. AT for longer rides. Taureg for getting rowdy and playing.

[@MrGichinfunakoshi]

Aprilia had an "adventure bike" back in 1995 called Pegaso 650

[@markhills3922]

ah yes..nicknamed the elefant if i remember rightly.

[@MrGichinfunakoshi]

@@markhills3922 Nope! the Elefant was the Cagiva 900ie with a Ducati engine

[@markhills3922]

@@MrGichinfunakoshi ah yes...of course. Thanks.

[@paultannahill5043]

I have watched so many KZbin videos comparing the Aprilia Taureg 660 to the Yamaha Tenere 700, and nobody has mentioned how both bikes were designed in Italy, which at least partially explains their similarities, but the Yamaha is mostly produced in Japan largely by robots, and the Touareg is produced in Italy, largely by hand.

[@valefur72]

The Aprilia facility is very advanced. You absolutely can't build a bike in Italy, keeping the price human, without robot and automation. The Yamaha is made in France. Only the engine is made in Japan.

[@carronda46]

✌✌

[@thedeathguy2]

I think the best representation of Aprilla Tuareg 660 off road capability is done by "OnTheBackWheel". He has a review video as well going off road on some of the most technical and craziest stuff I've seen.

[@markhills3922]

you have a new subscriber...excellent footage, music, camera angles and no non sense reviews. Top Stuff; now the old racer in me wants this weapon but the tired worn out bits are screaming Suzuki 800DE; you didn't mention the Ergos on the Tuareg; hows the knee bend situation? Cheers

[@advlife]

ha ha I have a few tired and worn out bits too! The ergos on the Tuareg are good. The seat is not as comfortable as the 800DE but its made to ride more aggressively.

[@markhills3922]

@@advlife getting old aint so much fun when we threw ourselves around in the younger years....i figured the Tuareg wouldn't be as comfortable; is it just the seat or the whole seat/pegs/bars relationship? in other words, is the knee situation tight like sitting on an Enduro mount or a bit more relaxed like the 800DE?

[@mikeross7725]

Good stuff. Did you lower your tire pressure off road?

[@advlife]

No, I didn't touch the pressures at any point.

[@jeffs2485]

Camera upgrade to solve those stabilisation problems off road?

[@barryashenhurst2071]

Hope you filmed that with the back-up camera.

[@Corey-pd3mi]

Fancy putting small screws around the open fuel filler, accidental drop waiting to happen 🤦‍♂️

[@dodzillad185]

Better than the T7. Case closed...

[@benjaminberglihn6903]

Which tires did you have on it in this video? Cheers

[@queenslander954]

Looks like a Honda trail bike from the 70’s

[@petermuller74]

Haunted Funiture,... LOLed.

[@toltod]

Why do people forget that Aprilia did make 450 and 550 vtwin dirtbikes? Would be cool to see those make a comeback...but with better reliability.

[@advlife]

Because they were unreliable rubbish. They looked awesome, sounded horny but were an unfinished project released too early. Still probably the best sounding dirtbike ever built when it ran though.

[@aufnahmen6278]

Hello, how many liters does your tank fit? My Tuareg 660 model 2022 doesn't fit more than 15.6 liters. I ran the tank completely empty and then filled it up.

[@L5man]

How is the reliability over 20 or 30,000 miles?

[@wheela969]

So if that was your first Ape, how long till you took a tuono 1100 out for a spin??

[@whisperingwheels]

A less fiddly way to turn off ABS and ATC? ATC - press and hold the cruise control button back. Hey presto, ATC is off. ABS - press and hold the Mode button - ABS is off (only in Offroad and Individual modes).

[@AjarnSpencer]

I think it doesn't come with the luggage rack so that you have to buy one and they can make more money. That's usually the concept😅

[@johnschroeder2046]

Amazing country mate, lucky basket, good company, do call what your doing work:? Just watched a vid, from over in Europe, about the Tuareg, a comparison of sorts, with a Yammie T7 with suspension mods. If want to talk about opposites, well this is it, with the Tuareg having advantages in terms of on board tech, etc. Claims of the Aprilla's suspension being dog, too soft, unstable , and jittery, with the engine sounding strangled and gruff, even with the fly by wire throttle, it lacked the yammie's snap, as claimed. I thought maybe the Euro spec is different, it was running adventure comprise tyres,. Your test and genuine bush bashing ability of Tuareg , sees a completely different animal, the bike mate , not you. Good show mate, insanely jealous of the places you have to ride.

[@philrazzi7782]

Heads up. I went to test drive one at a large dealership in Scottsdale Arizona. We'll the battery was dead. They charged it overnight. Went to start it and it was dead. Turns out it is a $650 USD Lithium battery that they let completely drain so it's no good. Turns out Allll of their Aprilias are DEAD. I'm sure they will be passing that cost to the consumer. Not sure why the manufacturer didn't warn the dealership. Wonder if this has happened to other dealers.

[@customjrod]

I'm 280lbs American, would I need to have this bike respung

[@mala7794]

if any australian enduro rider should do a proper review of this bike it should be Arieman

[@AdventureMotoEnduro]

problem is its not Japanese, so reliability wise it will never match the T7 or for after market parts , less power then T7 , nothing but shocks going for it , more electronic crap that fails ,not worth the money they are asking for it , were you going find a dealer in outback when it shits itself

[@richardhretczak536]

Since when it has less power thanT7?

[@Al-ie9ob]

So but hurt the Aprilia is a better bike than your shiity T7

[@AdventureMotoEnduro]

@@richardhretczak536 back to back seat of the pants test ride one .its feels less powerful bottom and mid range ,T7 has a stronger low end and mid range punch ,regardless of hp specs

[@volvogt21]

That's why I have a DR650 tractor and a Tuareg. Best of both worlds and neither is top heavy which I hate and that's why my tiger 900 never gets ridden anymore.

[@Whos-That-Guy]

Why GOD does the best adv bike look the worst.... Life is cruel

[@bumstead1383]

You can’t take your bags? Omg, where will you keep your makeup?

[@nessuno7071]

overpriced unreliable crap bike

[@jerryellis835]

I gotta move to Australia. The US is boring...