2021 Aprilia RS 660 Sport Middleweight First Ride

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Friends,It was nice going back to Aprilia’s Noale factory, located in the beautiful countryside north of Venice, Italy. Last time I was there, I took apart and analyzed the mighty RSV4 1000 engine. Even during this post-lockdown period, the factory is still very much alive, particularly in the racing department, where I am not admitted. But there, the Aprilia people were hard at work on the latest evolution of their MotoGP bike, featuring a V-4 grown from the previous 72-degree vee to a full 90-degree vee, which ensures superior balance in primary and secondary order, for a higher mechanical and organic efficiency.

But as much fun as snooping around the MotoGP department would be, it’s not why I hopped on a train from Milan to Noale. No, what I came to see, and more importantly ride way ahead of production, was the Aprilia RS 660. This all-new bike and multirole engine platform is a daring attempt by the Italian company to reinvent the sport motorcycle in order to attract a new generation of enthusiasts by offering an affordable, light, compact, crisply styled, easy-to-ride, high-performance middleweight machine.

That is a huge pack of virtues loaded onto a single bike, and it represents a strong part of Aprilia’s strategy to address the progressive decline in popularity that motorcycling suffers among younger people.

The basic concept is centered around the old rule that lightness is a safe and rational way to obtain exciting performance, even from a claimed 100 hp engine. The engineering department knew the RSV4 1,000 to 1,100cc V-4 would be an excellent base to work with in the effort to extract a lightweight, compact engine that would produce high performance at an accessible cost. Experiencing this engine on the road, and in the all-new sporty chassis that carries it, was my highly anticipated reason to visit.
Aprilia has demonstrated time and again a special touch for designing sportbikes. Its motorcycles are typically compact, tidy, and elegantly aggressive. The RS 660 is all that and more. The lines are fluent, muscular, and lean. Every detail participates in its overall design with harmonious coordination, and the result is compelling, assisted also by restrained graphics that underline that clean shape underneath.

The front view is aggressive, with the combined lines of the double fairing and the elaborate design of the LED headlights that further focus the nose profile. The headlights are also part of the electronics suite. How so? Cornering lights and automatic high beams switch off to combine maximum illumination without blinding oncoming drivers.

The fuel tank is also elegant and compact while being nicely integrated with the rider seat. Passenger accommodations? I would call this bike a “single and a half,” meaning it is quite comfortable for the rider and only good for short two-up rides. The attraction of the RS 660 is that a passenger might decide to ride their own because the bike feels so light and easy to handle from the moment one gets in the saddle. The seat’s 32.5-inch height provides an easy reach to the ground, even for below-average-height riders. But most important is that the distance to the footpegs is ergonomically excellent.

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