Aprilia’s RS660 launched in Italy
Big adventures need big motorcycles, right? Wrong!
Unveiled as a concept at EICMA last year, Aprilia has now confirmed that its new RS660 is going into production for 2020. Built around an entirely new technical base, the 660 parallel twin powered machine is capable of kicking out 100bhp – and weighs in at a comparatively spritely 169kg.
The bike is kept in check, thanks to a complete package of APRC active electronic controls derived from the RSV4 (including a Ride-by-Wire throttle).
It’s constructed from a lightweight aluminium frame and swingarm, which uses the engine as a loadbearing element. For suspension, there’s an adjustable shock at the rear and an adjustable upside-down Kayaba fork with 41mm stanchions at the front. Braking is looked after by a a pair of 320mm steel discs, a pair of radial callipers and a radial cylinder from Brembo up front.
The RS660 is also equipped with an advanced six-axis inertial platform, which works to monitor the bike’s relationship to the road
– recording and processing inputs before sending the data to a control unit that intervenes where needed. Best of all, the system has also been developed to support performance on both track and road.
No price had been announced as MCM went to press, but expect the bike in dealerships early in 2020.
Every year motorcycles get bigger. A 600 becomes a 650, an 1190 turns into a 1290, and so on. Capacity, power, weight and price march on as we all applaud progress.
There are, of course, several practical reasons behind this. Making the same power with ever more draconian emissions controls requires bigger bangs and heavier exhausts. And all those electronic gizmos we love add to the overall weight and price. But I suspect that there is also a healthy dollop of ‘bigger is better – trust me, it just is’ thinking behind the trend, too. After all, we are just simple creatures, and if you asked me if I wanted a ‘Pro 449 Gizmo’ or a ‘Pro 450 Gizmo’ I would instinctively go for the bigger number, then figure out what it means later. It’s got to be somehow better, surely...
But not everyone is as daft as me. And motorcycle manufacturers have taken note. They are offering some smaller and simpler models, which aren’t instantly ridiculed for being kids’ bikes.
‘‘ The Roy al Enfield Himala yan adventure bike is more like a trail bike from days gone by, with real-world adventure touring potential...
One good example of this less is more approach is the Royal Enfield Himalayan adventure bike. With its 400cc single-cylinder engine, 25bhp and £4000 price tag, it’s a world apart from the bus-sized adventure bikes we’re used to. It’s more like a trail bike from days gone by, with real-world adventure touring potential.
We recently ran a big test of the Himalayan in the magazine I edit, Motorcycle Sport & Leisure, and the feedback from our readers has been entirely positive. People who are fed up with big bikes have found the joy of riding again when they have swapped to a small bike.
Naturally, if you want to get from
A to B fast with the kitchen sink strapped to the back of your bike, small bikes aren’t going to cut the mustard. But if you have the time, pick the right roads, and get into an adventure mindset, they can be great fun and open your eyes to whole new way of exploring.
Sometimes less is more.