Aprilia Shows That Less Is More With The New RS 660

• Aprilia has given the RS 660 aerodynamic winglets.
• The bike also gets a comprehensive IMU-assisted electronics package.
• The RS 660 will be followed by a naked Tuono 660 next year.

The wraps have finally come off one of the most eagerly-awaited motorcycles at EICMA 2019. Aprilia has finally unveiled its RS 660 sportsbike, and it is a sight to behold. A sharp fairing houses some sleek LED headlights and DRLs and even features aerodynamic winglets, a first in this displacement range. They are designed to create downforce as well as direct engine heat away from the rider.

This heat comes from a 660cc parallel-twin motor with a 270-degree firing order producing a claimed 101.4PS. Aprilia created this engine by essentially cutting the RSV4's 1100cc V4 motor in half and using the forward bank of cylinders. The engine also gets electric nannies in the form of an APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) package. These include traction control, wheelie control, engine brake control, cruise control and 5 power maps. These systems are assisted by a 6-axis IMU and the RS 660 even gets a quickshifter. All these aids are controlled via a fully digital colour TFT display.

In terms of ergonomics, Aprilia has attempted to make the RS 660 as comfortable as possible without compromising on performance. This can be seen in the shape of the handlebars, which rise gently and aren't as aggressively angled as genuine clip-ons. This results in a slightly more relaxed position than you would see on a full-blown supersport like the RSV4.

Having scaled down its RS range of supersports to the 660cc displacement range, Aprilia has now also unveiled a naked Tuono 660 in concept form at EICMA 2019. No prices have been revealed for the RS 660 yet, but we expect it to reach India around mid-2020 at a price of approximately Rs 13 lakh (ex-showroom). Once here, its closest competition will come from the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.