MotoGP riders take stock Aprilia RS 660s for a spin

Two years ago, Aprilia announced that their RS 660 concept would go into production, debuting during that year’s EICMA. Fast-forward to October of last year, the 2021 RS 660 was finally unveiled, with a special launch held at the historic Laguna Seca Speedway.

Given that it was launched on a racetrack rather than a road, many were likely asking, "How does it handle?"

In this Youtube video, Aprilia answers that question by putting MotoGP riders, Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith on the saddle. They took the new RS 660 on Misano Circuit to see how the middleweight sportbike performs on track. They were joined by Aprilia MotoGP test rider, Lorenzo Savadori, who’s also the reigning Italian Superbike champion.

The video shows that, despite being a small street bike, the RS660 is still quite capable on track. The MotoGP riders praised how light and agile it is. Bear in mind, these were showroom stock street bikes with no upgrades. As such, in the right hands and with the right amount of skill, it can be pushed just as hard as a dedicated race bike, capable of leaning nearly as sharply too.

The Aprilia RS 660 is powered by a 660 cc parallel-twin engine of which, the design was claimed by Aprilia to be derived from the front bank of the RSV's 1100 cc V4 engine. Despite being only half of a V4, it produces 101 Ps (100 Hp) of power.

Bikerbox, distributor of Aprilia motorcycles, now offers the RS 660 with an SRP of PhP860,000.

aprilia rs660 sportbike