A couple of weeks ago, Aprilia took the wraps off the new RS 457: a new middleweight sportbike conceived to take on the likes of the Kawasaki Ninja 400 and KTM RC 390. And since this new machine is going to be built at Aprilia's plant at Baramati in Maharashtra, the Italian brand showcased the bike ahead of the Indian MotoGP round this weekend.
In attendance were Aprilia's MotoGP racers Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, who both played a role in the development and testing of the machine. Also present was Diego Graffi, CEO & MD at Piaggio India, but Aprilia was not very forthcoming with details and plans for the RS 457.
No price has been announced yet, but Graffi did mention that pre-bookings for the bike will open soon. When questioned about availability, he said that Aprilia aims to make the bike available in Tier 1 and 2 cities across the nation over the next 12 months.
As for the price aspect, on one hand, this will be a locally manufactured motorcycle with several locally sourced parts – the tyres are TVS Eurogrip, for example. But at the same time, this is a twin-cylinder motorcycle with fairly premium componentry, and Aprilia tends to usually position itself towards the premium side of things. So you can expect the RS 457 to slot in between the KTM RC 390 (Rs 3.18 lakh) and the Kawasaki Ninja 400 (Rs 5.19 lakh), sitting closer to the latter than the former.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
