Aprilia RS660 - NOT A LAMS BIKE!

Recently, I had the pleasure of adding another machine to the list of motorcycles I’ve been lucky enough to throw a leg over. This one’s the sister bike to the Tuono 660 I rode about nine months ago—the Aprilia RS660.

Powered by a parallel-twin 659cc engine, producing 100hp (73.5kW) at 10,500rpm, this thing is absolutely not a LAMS bike. There seems to be a common misconception that the RS660 is a friendly, relaxed, learner-approved machine—but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Sure, below 5,000rpm the engine behaves in a linear, punchy, and fairly predictable way. But wind it out past that mark and you unleash the beast. The exhaust starts barking, the traction control works overtime to keep the front wheel on the ground, and the whole bike comes alive. It’s genuinely hard to believe this is a 660cc twin—it feels like much more.

Ergonomically, the RS660 is about as aggressively “sportbike” as you can get without crossing into full track-day weapon territory. The rearsets keep your feet tucked high, the seat is perched at a lofty 820mm—borderline adventure bike height—and your weight is dumped straight onto your wrists via low clip-on handlebars. It’s head down, arse up, and tipping into corners with minimal effort. Just how Aprilia intended.

Tech-wise, Aprilia hasn’t held back. The RS660 comes loaded with a full electronics suite: cruise control, a buttery-smooth up/down quickshifter and auto-blipper, a crisp full-colour TFT dash, lean-sensitive traction control, multiple rider modes, cornering ABS, and full LED lighting all around.

I mentioned earlier that I rode the Tuono 660 a few months back. And although it was a fun ride, it didn’t really set my world on fire. The RS660, however? It makes so much more sense in my head.

If you’re going to buy a track weapon, you may as well go the whole hog—get the most focused, dedicated, all-out, ballsy machine you can find. And the RS660 is exactly that. It’s got full-on track-focused ergonomics and an engine that, while happy enough around town and out on the open road, really doesn’t shine until you find yourself coming out of the final corner at Manfeild with a wide-open straight ahead of you and no speed limits in sight.

Up till now, I haven’t been a sportbike guy—but this Aprilia RS660 makes complete sense to me. During testing, I rode into Wellington on a cool winter evening. Cruising along at 100kph, I found the engine actually felt better in 5th gear at 5,000rpm with cruise control engaged than it did in 6th. There’s certainly enough torque below 5,000rpm to cruise in top gear, but not as much as some other bikes on the market. It wants to be racing—not cruising.

I shot out to ride the Rimutakas on a sunny winter afternoon, and this is where the bike made total sense. Full power. Second gear. Full lean. Going for it. Grinning like an idiot inside my helmet.

I’m comfortable admitting that the Aprilia RS660 is too much bike for me. If I were to buy one of the offerings from Aprilia, the RS660 would absolutely be right up there as a top option. But if I’m being honest with myself, I’d probably never make full use of it. It’s a road-legal race bike—and that perfectly fits the direction Aprilia is heading in, with their bold #BeARacer ethos.

So don’t judge a book by its cover. The RS660 is often overlooked in favour of bigger displacement machines, just because “660” is so often associated with LAMS-friendly bikes. But this is not a LAMS bike. And if you’ve got even the faintest desire to get on track—or you just love smashing through mountain passes on a lazy Sunday—the Aprilia RS660 should absolutely be on your list to try.