Aprilia RS660 international pre-bookings to open in October

Aprilia’s brand new middleweight sportsbike was due to make its public debut by now, but the project has been delayed because of the pandemic. The Italian company has now finally revealed a promotional video and announced that pre-bookings will open soon.

• Pre-bookings to open in October in international markets

• Uses a 660cc parallel-twin that makes 100hp

• Unlikely to come to India any time soon

The promotional video shows the RS 660 with a pillion seat installed for the first time as all the images shared by Aprilia so far had the bike in a single-seat guise. We also get a look at what the riding position will be like and the clip-on bars aren’t positioned as low as a superbike. The way the rider is sitting on the bike suggests a sporty but not heavily committed riding position. It would be reasonable to expect ergonomics similar to the four-cylinder Honda CBR650R, a popular bike that will certainly be in the Aprilia RS660’s sights. 

From the rider’s point of view, there’s a medium-sized TFT display visible, a new switchgear cluster and what appears to be adjustment screws in the suspension caps. Other elements that are visible as the bike sweeps through corners are high-spec radial brake  calipers, a polished aluminium beam frame and a fat swingarm that gives the bike a sporty stance.

What we already know about this bike is that it features a 660cc parallel-twin engine that was derived from the V4 engine in the Aprilia RSV4. Power is slated to be ‘up to 100hp’, which makes it a little more powerful than the Honda CBR650R, but slightly lower than naked bikes like the BMW F900R, KTM 790 Duke which are also powered by parallel-twin engines, albeit, much larger ones.

The Aprilia RS660 will also promise the highest levels of kit in the segment, with a 6-axis IMU, five riding modes, cornering ABS, traction control, wheelie control, a bi-directional quickshifter and cruise control.  Given the level of technology and premium equipment on this bike, it will be interesting to see how it is priced in international markets.

Piaggio recently confirmed that it did have plans to set up a CKD operation in India, but those plans have been put on the backburner due to the current situation. If Piaggio is serious about bringing the Aprilia RS660 and its upcoming naked sibling the Tuono 660 to India, local assembly will be the logical approach to achieve a reasonable price tag. And that’s why we don’t think the new Aprilia 660 twins will be coming to India any time soon.