New Bikes: Aprilia’s RS 457

The Italian firm’s looking to snap up sales in the learner legal market, revealing a proper A2-compliant sportsbike in the form of its new RS 457. Here’s what you need to know.

Riders of a sporty disposition have got plenty to get excited about next year. There’s some exciting stuff going on at the lower end of the sportsbike market. Alongside Kawasaki’s hotly-anticipated ZX-4RR, we’ve just got the full lowdown on a super-cool pocket rocket from Aprilia.

Unlike the Kawasaki, the Aprilia isn’t an all-out supersport race bike. Instead, it’s a cracking option for A2 licence holders who are limited to machines that kick out a maximum of 47bhp.

And that’s exactly what it does, with its liquid-cooled DOHC parallel twin motor making exactly 47bhp.

With styling inspired by the RS660 and Aprilia’s MotoGP racers, it certainly looks the part, and as you’d expect, there’s plenty of good stuff fitted to it to help it stand out from the crowd (namely Honda’s CBR500R, Kawasaki’s Ninja 400 and the upcoming Yamaha R3). That said, the choice has been made to carefully balance its ergonomics, with slightly lower footpegs and gently dropping bars helping to make it more usable on a day-to-day basis. 

Stopping’s looked after up front by a 320mm single-disc front brake, which is grabbed by a four-piston ByBre radial caliper – which gives a pretty clear indication of the bike’s intended use. It’s not a race bike… well, not out the box anyway.

The 175kg machine also comes kitted out with a two-into-one exhaust; a ride-by-wire throttle; switchable traction control; and three rider modes. There are also back-lit switches, a five-inch TFT display and LED lights.

Sounds like it’s going to be a winner, right? No news just yet on pricing, though we expect we’ll not have to wait long for all the information.

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