We were the first to break the story of Aprilia working on a new, made-in-India, small-capacity sport bike to take on the likes of the KTM RC 390 and Kawasaki Ninja 400. The upcoming RS 440 has since been spotted testing a number of times, both in India and overseas, and now, the Italian manufacturer has teased its new bike for the very first time.
It has also given us a date for the official unveiling of the RS 440: September 7. After this, the bike is also expected to be shown in the metal at the Indian round of the MotoGP world championship that will take place on September 22-24, at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida.
The teaser image shows a typical sport bike silhoutte, with a sharp front fairing, low clip-on handlebars, and a split-seat set-up with a sharp rise to the pillion perch. This is more or less in-line with images of the test mules that have been spotted. You can expect its styling to draw inspiration from its larger siblings, the RS 660 and the RSV4 superbike.
At its heart will sit a 440cc parallel-twin motor that we are told is a scaled-down and reworked version of the parallel-twin in the RS 660 – power output is expected to be around the 40hp-mark. Other known elements include an upside-down fork/monoshock suspension set-up bolted on to a twin-spar aluminium frame, and a single brake disc at each end with a radially-mounted caliper up front.
Ved Janve
Dinshaw Magol
