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Hate to hear you're going through this man! A loud pop like that is a fueling issue for sure. By the way, oil in the airbox is fairly normal, and will recirculate back into the engine, so I wouldn't be worried as much with that. Older bikes used to have a hose that dumped it on the ground, but EPA regs and stuff. I always start small. Fuses, Plug, Ignition coil, then timing/valve checks. Knowing it has been flashed though, my money is on the ECU. I''d say there is an issue with the mapping/fueling somewhere. Does it still have the stock exhaust? Returning it to stock with stock settings would be a good test, and free. If you don't want to go that route I'd reach out to the Gabro guy and give him your symptoms as well. No reason a bike this new should be having fueling issues or down a cylinder. Probably a small chance, but the ECU could've taken a hard shake/impact and messed with something. You never know. A spare stock test ECU would be nice to have on hand to plug in and see how it runs. Let us know! Good luck dude!

You could’ve bought a set of wheel bearings yourself for about $20 and put them in in about 30 minutes.

Reliability > Performance Thank you for saving so many of us lots of money and frustration by helping us avoid this bike.

installed stabilizer wrong

I used to ride a Honda XR600R back in the 90's. It only had a kick starter with a manual deconpression release. When cold, I'd stand on a milk creat to kick start it, when we were out riding, for rest stops we'd park on top of hills for I could roll her down the hill and click her up into 2nd. gear and pop the cluch to start her in 2nd gear. My current dirt bike is a 2008 KLR that I bought new in Oct 2007 has a 6 GALLON GAS tank, with a 300 mile range. I'm 71 and keep up with my 35 year old friend riding a DR650 (with it's dumb ass small 2.5 gallon tank). I've owned my KLR650 for 17 years and it has never NOT started, has broken down on me. I just rode it yesterday.

Check the TPS Throttle Position Sensor

Only Japanese...

Seeing way too many issues with these bikes, bummer.

Sounds like you hydro locked it with oil. Oil will be from it running on its side.

This sucks. I just sold my 2020 R1250GSA. Never had a single issue in 16K miles and I rode mostly hard off road. Thank you though as this is now the third review of aprilia Tuareg reliability issues I’ve seen and it’s now off my list. I’m leaning hard towards the Norden 901 Expedition.

I think I would do a compression check and also put a cheap USB endoscope down the spark plug hole to see if your piston/rings/cylinder wall are damaged in the dead cylinder.

Is it really responsible of you to conclude that the Tuareg is unreliable given that your first problem was 100% the battery which has zero to do with Aprilia and you have not even given the dealer a chance to diagnosis your second problem so you have zero idea what caused it. If there has been some major engine failure it is probably under warranty why would you not take it to the dealer? Or did you already take it there and you just are'nt willing say what they told you?

Hi, I am sorry to hear that. I have to admit, that I almost bought a Tuareg and then found your videos and stepped down from buying it. What a pity. So in the end, Aprilia is still unreliable as hell. Did you contact Aprilia?

Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. I just bought a tenere even though the Tuareg is objectively a better bike but I just do not have your patience!! It was actually your video about the engine heat that helped make my decision. Stay safe on your journeys

I aways carry a lithium jump starter. You can get them about the size of 1.5 cigarette packs and they'll start a panzer tank. Yup - a panzer.

It's Italian.

t7 my dude, did 1 tour to villa ohiggins and 1 tour to El calafate argentina, 20.000km in 1 year the thing still feels like brand new.

Imagine buying an Italian motorcycle

Had KTM 1190 loved the bike had fuel pump problems and changing air filter was a 3 hr job for pros. Had to dump her. Got a GS Instead with basically 100k miles no problems. Lack of reliability on these bikes is well documented and they treat customer like red headed step child.

What a bummer. It'll be interesting to see what you come up with.

I've been looking at newer bigger, faster dual sport bikes for about 10 years now, almost bought a new KTM890, didn't like the additional $700 to keep the cruise contol and other features working BS, and then I almost bought a Tuareg 660 last year but I did not like the how the dealer has to reset the maintenance lite on the Aprilia. Anyway, I'm still riding my 2008 KLR650 that I've been riding for 17 years now, my KLR has never left me stranded, has never not started, never even had a flat tire. Runs like a old VW, just runs and runs forever.

If it went bang then that's more than a amature home mechanic can fix, oils getting past the rings or it's dropped a valve, possibly broken piston rings, either way I'd say it's a stripdown, not something I'd want to tackle, but maybe you don't mind trying.

Get the Bluetooth camera from harbor freight and drop it down the spark plug hole . If the bike was upside down and the engine locked up . Cylinder filled with oil and hydrolocked . If bike was towed or clutch dumped on a hill it bent or broke a rod from a cylinder filled with oil . Usually look in cylinders with camera and do a compression test and you will know without dissassembly of the engine .

That thumbnail photo...🔥🔥

I had my tuareg running on one cylinder too and dealer said it was a bad sparkplug (20000kms on the bike).I sold my tuareg. Tired of those issues and wait for months to get parts. It was fun to ride though

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Hopefully you can work it out. Video is a bit rambling to be honest.

Sorry to hear about the Tuareg. I used to live in Seattle and miss riding in the Cascades. Will definitely hit you up next time I’m in the area!

Funny that exotics are always an adventure.. you buy MV, MotoGuzzi, Aprilia, Ducati,ect and ride it in N.Central or S America..parts and dealership support don't exist..

If you do have a damaged piston, constantly starting the bike is going to damage the cylinder walls and possibly engine cases because that metal debris is getting forced around. So I'd stop asap and just start taking it apart. If you rotate the motor to BDC, you might be able to look in through the spark plug hole and see the piston. This exact scenario happened to me with a different bike. Good luck!

As an Aprilia owner myself (Caponord not Tuareg) its been a great bike so much so I'm keen on the Tuareg however following your updates its not very encouraging. Hopefully this is an easy fix .

Hi Jacob, sounds like you have a hole in the top of the piston or piston rings have failed, that would create back pressure forcing oil past your valves and into air box! Fair size job, possibly new engine, good luck 👍🏼

such a bummer. I reaaallly want one. I wonder if the latest models have similar issues.

I just skipped this road and took the other one.

Sorry to hear about the mechanical issues. Such a bummer. Since i had high hopes for the Tuareg - it has all the technology you could want for a Mid-Adventure bike. Thanks for posting, i hope you can get this figured out

So nothing to do with the reliability of the Tuareg. Instead a "Flat Battery Left Me Stranded"

Jacob! Such a bummer. I am following this closely but getting more disillusioned. Reliability is so important out in the wilds, Was it smoking on startups? and accelerating? Case breather clogged or kinked could cause back pressure and oil. KTM 890 had issues running on one cylinder. Dont remember what that was.

During your falls did the bike ever end up tank down? My 690 would vomit oil into the airbox if it ended up upside down. That could result in all the other issues due to the electronics and sensors on the bike.

The root casue of your problem might be that you wanted to force it to start when the battery was dead? I guess that made it all much worse. Very odd, I have never read about this issue before and I scan all the user groups on facebook, reddit and so on.

Get an EarthX battery and keep it on an OptiMate tender whenever you aren't riding it. EarthX is made in USA and the company even makes FAA approved airplane batteries

Honda XRE 300 is a “go to” moto in South America; if I’m not mistaken, it’s similar, but different than a CRF300

Hi Jacob, JR Depew here, great to see you updating. Lurking in the Tuareg shadows for awhile. My DR650 going strong still since meeting you on the IDBDR and camping at Yellow Pine. So reliable!

Great comparo. I was in that exact spot on my 501 two weeks ago. My heart wants the Aprilia but my brain says get the Yamaha. My big bike is a 1250GS but I am old and weak now and will be downsizing this winter. Decisions decisions....🤔

I say sell the bike and get yourself another Tuareg. All bikes give problems and is usually the small thing that can leave you stranded. My Tuarrg has been great with no issues. I crashed badly on my Tuareg and fractured my elbow on the first day of starting the PA wilds BDR and was able to ride 300 plus miles after thay with out any issues. Is a greag bike and you just may have gotten a bad one.

I’ve had my Tuareg for over 2 years. Just recently my fuel sensor failed (known issue). Despite being 4 months past my warranty Aprilia replaced the sensor. I hear of almost no issues on the social Tuareg groups. I’ve checked out the KTM groups and they are full of issue after issue.

Hats off to you for your patience and being civilised with your Tuareg ownership. It seems all the issues have been minor things not catastrophic however they would all still piss me off so well done on how you have handled it all and documented it all for us to see. Now that all said I'm curious to watch your next vid as to the second problem you were talking about sheesh.

I’ve given up hope at this point that you’ll ever identify my KTM correctly, but it’s a 450 not a 525! 🤣

I had a battery do that, would show full charge but fell on it's arse pushing the starter button. I'm glad the starter motor I didn't need was pretty cheap :( New battery problem solved.

You are so unlucky. Most probably, if you had a Tenere 700 it would break down even more. Or maybe your particular bike is a lemon. In that case you should part exchange it with another Tuareg 660 which has proved perfect for other people, no problems at all. The battery is a simple thing, that is crucial, and as such requires you to be on the ball regards battery health. Cheers!

What a bummer! Another good reason to not ride solo. Cheers