Aprilia Is Teasing Us With The RS 660-Based Tuono 660 Concept
Surely just a concept in name only...
The hot news coming from the Aprilia camp at EICMA 2019 was clearly the official debut of the RS 660. Aprilia’s middleweight Twin is sure to be a firecracker, but much like the RSV4 also gave us the brilliant Tuono V4, Aprilia has wasted no time teasing the world with this baby Tuono powered by, you guessed it, the RS 660 Twin. Officially Aprilia is calling this a concept bike, but let’s be real – it’s coming here sooner or later.
Much like the big Tuono, the 660 Tuono shares the same engine and chassis as the RS but puts the rider in a more relaxed riding position via upright bars. If you’re of the camp that the Tuono V4 is too much motorcycle for the street, then the Tuono 660 looks poised to offer nearly all of the riding thrill in a package that’s easier to handle. At least on paper.
View the full press release below, and be sure to bug your Aprilia dealer to make this bike a reality too.
Begin press release:
APRILIA TUONO 660 CONCEPT
JUST AS THE RSV4 GAVE BIRTH TO THE EXTRAORDINARY AND UNBEATABLE TUONO V4, RS 660, THE MEDIUM POWERED BIKE THAT PROMISES TO REVOLUTIONISE THE IMAGE OF SPORTSMANSHIP, GIVES RISE TO THE IDEA OF TUONO 660
EXCELLENT POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO, PREMIUM TECHNICAL FEATURES, TOP-OF-THE-LINE ELECTRONICS AND 95 HP TWIN-CYLINDER ENGINE: A UNIQUE PROPOSITION BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF ACCESSIBLE RECREATION, DEDICATED TO THE NEW GENERATION OF MOTORCYCLISTS
The Tuono 660 Concept fully expresses the new concept of sporting versatility introduced by Aprilia with the new family of motorcycles designed around the new 660 cc twin-cylinder.
A single motorcycle for total fun, from everyday life to sport. Excellent performance for everyone, refined frame and suspension and premium content, offering a new take on sportiness. In keeping with Aprilia’s tradition, the naked version is born from the RS 660. It has the same technical content and unparalleled refinement of frame and suspension, but with an even stronger road flavour, offered by the raised riding position on the large and wide handlebar. Aprilia has always offered a Tuono developed as a street version of the sportier RS. Aprilia was the first to offer the advantages of a naked bike developed from a sports frame and suspension and engine, endowing the Tuono with unparalleled riding qualities.
Tuono 660 Concept is the latest incarnation of this happy tradition and is a unique project of its kind: a beautiful and lightweight medium engine capacity twin-cylinder engine, with extremely high technological content for superlative performance and total enjoyment, with everything focused on an excellent power-to-weight ratio. The Tuono 660 Concept is for new riders, with its 34 kW version. However, it is also for young motorcyclists moving up from smaller engine capacities, looking for a high-level naked sports bike, ready for daily thrills and fun on the road and even for occasional trips to the track. All in line with the Tuono tradition.
The design of the Tuono 660 Concept speaks the common language of all Aprilia sports bikes, distinguished by compact surfaces that reveal a dynamic, sporty character, while maintaining, as usual, a large fairing for adequate wind protection. The Tuono 660 Concept inherits the RS 660’s magnificent triple LED front light assembly, equipped with perimeter DRL lights positioned around the two main headlamps. It also adopts the innovative double fairing with aerodynamic appendix function, a real revolution in the concept of sports motorcycles that confirms Aprilia’s commitment to continuing research in the field of aerodynamic solutions. This system not only bolsters stability at high speeds but also diverts hot air flows from the engine away from the rider. The anticipated riding position, upright and relaxed, facilitates everyday use as well as providing handling and control in active riding for maximum fun on the routes loved by motorcyclists.
The primary technical goal of the Aprilia 660 project (both for RS and Tuono 660 Concept) is to create a motorcycle with an excellent power-to-weight ratio. This is why Noale’s technicians chose, on the one hand, a light aluminium frame that utilises the engine with a load-bearing function and, on the other, a new parallel twin-cylinder 660 cc in-line engine built by Aprilia. This latest-generation very compact unit with Euro 5 homologation, derived from the front bank of the 1100 cc V4 that successfully equips the Tuono V4 and RSV4 1100 Factory, whose main concepts and construction philosophy it follows. The result is a fast, lightweight frame and suspension combined with a generously powered 95 hp engine, both of which have been specifically developed for the needs of the Tuono 660 Concept. Its performance is decidedly lively as well as manageable, promising riding thrills for a wide range of enthusiasts.
The level of construction quality is truly extraordinary. Like the high-quality frame, the asymmetrical swingarm, which is pivoted directly into the engine, is also made of aluminium. The adjustable suspension and Brembo braking system with 320 mm diameter discs, radial-mount callipers and pump are also high quality.
Heir to Aprilia’s culture of developing electronic controls to maximise performance and safety, the Tuono 660 Concept adopts the APRC platform and the same exceptional RS 660 equipment with dedicated calibrations.
The six-axis inertial platform commands the electronic controls in the APRC package, such as traction control and anti-wheelie control, as well as engine brake control, all of which are fully adjustable. The fuel control is Ride-by-Wire with different Riding Modes available for road or track. The equipment is completed by a two-way electronic transmission, Cornering ABS and the latest generation of digital TFT colour instruments, which can communicate with your smartphone through the specific application (Aprilia MIA), extending the functions of the instruments.
Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.
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Had this been around 2 years ago I might have one instead of the STRS. Assuming that they too believe that lightness is rightness.
If they produce this bike and it doesn't lose too much top end from the RS, it'll be great fun and a better all day ride.
One a separate note, the intro to the article refers to this bike as 'being easier to handle' than it's V4 big brother. I would argue it's not about being any easier to ride - less torque might actually make it more challenging in some situations. Instead I would say that you can use more of what you paid for on the road with this as opposed to a V4. How often can V4 Tuono owners afford to twist the throttle to the stop for more a few seconds while on public roads? This thing should let you wring it out more often. That might mean more fun.