Aprilia RS 660: First Ride Impression

Recently Sheng Fatt organised a Aprilia demo day for their new RS 600 and Tuono 1100. Since this was one of the most awaited bike to test ride we had to make an appointment in advance to get our names in the waiting list. I did not put my name in for a test ride as I have a fear of riding sport bike due to their ridiculously fast acceleration power.

The demo day was scheduled over the weekend starting on Friday and ending on Sunday. As expected there was a huge waiting list and the weekends are booked. I accompanied a riding buddy of mine as he was interested in getting a Tuono 1100 as his next bike. We managed to get an appointment on Friday at about 1100hrs. Upon arriving at the shop, there was a huge crowd and both bikes are there ready and waiting.

There is a purchased RS 660 bike on display

Tuono 1100 (front) and RS 660 demo unit (back)

Having arrived earlier than the others gave me the opportunity to some photos of the bikes without anyone there to spoil the photos. First up is the new 2021 RS 660.

  

 

I love the color scheme on the RS 660 and the seating position is not as aggressive as I was expecting but the bike does look a bit small when I am on it.

Do i make the bike smaller than it should?

The RS 660 has a 4 button menu switch like the KTM. It allows one to select the riding modes. It also comes with slipper clutch for a lighter clutch to put in gears and also comes with quickshifter.

Menu switch on the left side of the bike

After filling my curiosity on the RS 660, I moved over to the Tuono 1100 to see how it feels like in the cockpit. The sitting position and the weight is similar to the Street Triple. It comes with the quickshifter like the RS 660. There are limited information I know about this bike as it was never in my interest.

In the Sheng Fatt merchandise showroom Aprilia mechanics are setting up a cornering simulator which allows riders to perfect their cornering skills without a risk of crashing on the road and damaging their bike. Sadly the mechanics were unable to get the simulator working during the demo day.

Aprilia mechanics troubleshooting the cornering simulator

While waiting for the time slot for the test ride, one of the rider is late and after numerous unanswered calls and I asked the organiser that if he did not come in time am I able to take his place. She said yes and the next thing I knew I was filling up a consent form and gearing up waiting for my turn on the RS 660 but he arrived before our turn on the bikes but the organiser was kind enough to let me go ahead and slot him into the next slot.

It was a weird sitting position for me cause so far I have only tested adventure bikes and cruisers. Those are straight sitting position where as the RS is slightly bent forward. The bike pulls out smoothly from a standstill position and the clutch is light. I experienced some vibrations above the 6k rpm and can be felt through the footpegs up to the handlebars. Speaking of vibrations, the mirrors also tend to blur at high revs rendering it useless at highway speed.

There is a abruptness in the engine when at low speed which feels like the bike is going to die on me. This could be due to the ride-by-wire system they have installed at the bike. When stopped it takes awhile to find Neutral. The gears would always jump between 1 and 2 and the trick I figures out is one needs to put in N before the bike completely stops. The test ride is only 20 minutes and majority of the route encompasses of traffic riding. It does do well at slow traffic and lane splitting as it is a small bike.

Remember to ride safe, be vigilant and keep the rubber side down