CarBrandLogos archive · Aprilia · 2020

ApriliaRS660

Half a superbike engine, and a deliberate attempt to restart the middleweight class.

Photo: Calreyn88 · CC0

The story

A defining chapter in Aprilia history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Aprilia RS660, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

By the late 2010s the sports bike market had polarised: enormously powerful litre bikes at one end, learner machines at the other, very little in between. The RS660, launched in 2020, was Aprilia's argument that the middle had been abandoned too readily.

Aprilia RS660 Trofeo · AVMOTO · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The engine is a 659 cc liquid-cooled four-stroke parallel twin derived from the front bank of the RSV4's V4, with a 270-degree crank that gives it the uneven beat riders associate with a V-twin. It makes enough power to be quick on a road without demanding the restraint a superbike does, and the whole motorcycle weighs substantially less than the litre-class machines it sits beneath.

In production

The bodywork is unusual too, with a double-skinned fairing that channels air through the panels to cut buffeting and add downforce. The electronics are comprehensive for the price, with an inertial platform, riding modes, traction control and a quickshifter.

Legacy

It spawned the naked Tuono 660 and the Tuareg 660 adventure bike, and it prompted rivals to look at the segment again. For a company Aprilia's size, that counts as influence.

At a glance