Aprilia RS660 spotted on the road testing

THE RS660 from Aprilia has been one of the most talked-about new bikes from the Noale brand for some time.

While bikes like the RSV4 and Tuono 1100 have stolen the headline stats, what many wanted from the company was the tech and handling dynamics of the larger bikes housed in a smaller, lighter, and easier to manage package.

The first signs of this new bike were unveiled at the EICMA show in 2018, with the concept of the new RS660 already in the advanced stages of development. Fast forward to 2019 and we saw what Aprilia claimed to be a near production-ready version of the bike, complete with all the trappings and add-ons needed to make a road-legal bike in Europe.

The Aprilia RS660 concept

Now we think we’ve spotted the RS660 in what could be its very final stages of road trials prior to hitting the showroom floor.

The clues that this bike is in nearly finished form are the lack of any kind of data-logging or tracking equipment fitted to the bikes. When companies test the bikes earlier in their development cycle you will often see boxes strapped to the pillion seat with wires and sensors coming out them. The lack of any such equipment points to these trials being for reliability or final testing.

There is one change from the apparent production model we saw at EICMA last year, the model on test seems to be wearing a pillion pad on the rear seat unit and passenger footpegs, both of which were devoid from the EICMA display bike. It’s not clear whether this is a widespread change to the model or if you can spec the bike in monoposto or biposto forms.

The RS660 was supposed to be rolling out in front of the public at the Aprilia Festival at Mugello a couple of weeks back. COVID-19 managed to spoil that one for us, so we’ll have to wait a little longer for this bike’s first full reveal.