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I was talking to a chap in Gambia a few years ago who'd ridden a similar Aprilia down through the Sahara with no problem for what it's worth. Do plenty of research.
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/
hanford
Anyone had a current Aprilia with the 660 engine (front half of a v4)
Have looked at a bmw f850gs, ktm 790, tenere and a tiger 900 xc. All were nice, but pricey as hell (apart from tenere) and will only do UK warranty as far as I have found out. Poss riding to se asia and back, and cannot get a non new bike into Vietnam for any period of time, hence new only.
New tuareg 660 saw one a year ago but can't find a demo anywhere.
I rate the Mad tv folks in Australia for reviews and there's of the Tuareg is glowing.
In the uk they are down to £8500 new /pre reg and already have most things on them. Need to add guards, bars and luggage and a bash plate not made of shite. Clincher is, Aprilia do a European wide warranty, still not a worldwide warranty, but gives a whole lot more places to get a broken bike back to from arse end of nowhere than just little old UK.
Reliability they seem to have an oil/coolant leak out of the watet pump weap hole and a flat spot in thr fueling. Apart from that they seem to have the least teething issues of all the above.
For £8.5k specs, cruise, traction settings and a basic nav system (£220 extra to unlock it). Vs £12-14.5k for bmw/ktm/tiger options is quite a lot of difference. Also tubeless tyres, easier to fix road side, and still possible to stick a tube in it is a big up over the tenere*
*I weigh 80kg + 40kg of shite to take with potentially (extra tyre /pads/fuel/tubes in some parts of trip) = need new rear spring and fork springs right out of the gate.