After wowing EICMA with the stunning new RS 660 Aprilia followed up with the obvious natural progression: the new Tuono 660. In an interesting twist though, the Italian marque has labelled the new middleweight Tuono as a “concept” bike.
Mid-Size Mayhem:
We’re not entirely sure why Aprilia has chosen to label this one as a concept, given that it lacks only mirrors and indicators to become 100 percent street legal. Maybe the PR department thought it would divert too much attention from RS 600, maybe they thought this approach would generate extra buzz. Whoops, we fell into their trap.
Differences between the production RS 660 and the Tuono 660 are minor with one notable exception: The 660 parallel twin has been retuned down to 95 horsepower for the naked bike. The Tuono will also be offered with a 45 hp version, making it learner-legal in Europe.
Calling the Tuono 660 a naked bike is mildly misleading. The already-skimpy fairing of the RS has been paired back subtly for this iteration, but still sports the aerodynamic double-fairing. A better glimpse of the engine is available for those of us who like that sort of thing but it’s hardly a naked bike.
Gallery: Aprilia Tuono 660 Concept EICMA 2019
Higher bars are par for the course in this segment, and unlike the RS 660, the Tuono has a passenger seat and pegs.
Everything else is the same. No numbers are released but expect a similar weight to its 373-pound sibling. The Tuono concept sports the same instrument cluster with Aprilia MIA smartphone connectivity as well as the six-axis inertial measurement and the suite of rider aims that come with. Those include wheelie control, cornering ABS and traction control.
It is no surprise that Aprilia would do what it did with the RSV4 and Tuono 1100 with the RS 660. Almost every manufacturer produces a high-bar version of its sportbikes designed more for comfort and usability. Most of those naked bikes look a lot more different to their sportbike brethren though. It will take an eagle-eye to spot the differences between the RS and Tuono 660 when the two bikes hit dealerships later this year.
Aprilia can call it a concept all they like, you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll see the Tuono on the roads soon.
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Source: Aprilia