Aprilia RS 660 and Tuono 660 to launch in India soon

Good news for all who have been eyeing the Aprilia RS 660 and Tuono 660. As revealed by Piaggio CEO and MD, Diego Graffi, the 660 twins should make their way to Indian shores by mid-2021. The bikes will be sold in India via the CBU route.

There has been boatloads of hype about the RS and Tuono 660 ever since they were revealed back at the 2019 EICMA show and we have been waiting to swing our leg over and give them a thorough shakedown. That day seems closer now. The Tuono 660 hasn’t made it into production yet but we expect it to be released very soon. The prototype is very close to production and we shouldn’t expect many changes for the exception of rear view mirrors to begin with.

Design

Both the Rs 660 and the Tuono 660 resemble their bigger full-bore siblings in more ways than one. The RS’ double fairing resembles that of the RSV4 superbike and is designed such to ensure high-speed stability. The Tuono 660 also retains the stripped-back RS look with its upright posture, lack of fairing and naked-ish design. The 660s though look sharper and more modern courtesy the LED DRLs

Powertrain

Propelling both bikes is a new 659cc parallel-twin with the 270° crankpin design. The engine is essentially the front cylinder block of the 1100 V4. Power and torque figures for this engine stand at 98.5bhp at 10,500rpm and 67Nm at 8500rpm respectively. These figures and state of tune may vary for the Tuono 660, details for which would be available closer to launch. The new engine is mated to a six-speed gearbox.

Chassis

The bikes feature an aluminium dual beam frame with a seat supporting subframe. The RS 660 boasts of a wet weight of 183kg giving it a healthy power-to-weight ratio. The engine is a load-bearing member in the frame assembly. The bikes will come equipped with 41mm Kayaba USD’ which are preload rebound and compression adjustable and are good for 120mm of travel. The rear monoshock is rebound and spring preload adjustable with 130mm of travel. Dropping anchor on the 660’s are dual Brembo four-piston radial calipers mounted on 320mm discs. While, the rear gets a single two-piston Brembo caliper biting a 220mm disc.

Electronics

The RS 660 and the Tuono 660 come packed to the brim with rider aids and electronics. The APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) electronics suite revolves around a six-axis IMU and a ride-by-wire system that bestow the bikes with traction control, wheelie control, and cornering ABS, along with a bi-directional quickshifter, cruise control, and switchable power modes.

Pricing and availability

The bikes as mentioned earlier, are expected to hit shores around June/July 2021 and we expect the RS 660 and Tuono 660 to be priced at the sub Rs 10 lakh range. The RS 660 will be placed in a rather scanty market as the only direct competition it has is the Kawasaki ZX-6R (yet to be brought in BS6 guise), considering the Triumph Daytona is off production. It’ll be interesting to see how they stack up. But, one thing is for sure, we are stoked to have the RS 660 and Tuono 660 coming to our side of the pond.