By the end of this year, Aprilia will finally bring its new two-cylinder platform to reality, putting the Aprilia RS660 (pictured above) on dealership floors.
This full-faired sport bike will be joined in early 2021 by the Aprilia Tuono 660, and from there we can expect at least one more model from this parallel-twin platform.
But what about something on the smaller end of the scale? There is an obvious hole in Aprilia’s lineup when it comes to the 300cc/400cc segment. That might be set to change, however.
According to Indian publication ZigWheels, Aprilia is looking into the small-displacement space.
Talking to Diego Graffi, Piaggio India’s Managing Director and CEO, ZigWheels reports that Aprilia is looking to compete with bikes like the KTM 390 Duke / RC390.
Working on full-fairing and naked models, Graffi tips that the Italian company is working on a 300cc to 400cc platform, which would be designed and engineered in Italy, but manufactured in India.
Presumably, this would be a single-cylinder platform that is built to cater to the Indian and Southeast Asian markets, though if Aprilia wants to take on the likes of Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha in this space, the Italians would do well to follow their lead with a twin-cylinder design.
With the project still in the early stages, surely this very debate is underway in Noale. As such, we don’t expect to see the fruits of this labor for several more years.
For now, we will have to contain our excitement to the upcoming RS660 and Tuono 660 models.
Source: ZigWheels
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