Aprilia’s RS 660 platform has never been short on sporty equipment. As a prime contender in the super twins category, the RS pairs lightweight, nimble handling with a class-leading 100-horsepower rating. There may be little room to climb higher on the dyno charts, but Aprilia is willing to go lower in other areas, cutting the 2023 RS660 Extrema down to fighting weight.
Introduced at EICMA 2022, the new Extrema variant takes everything we love about Noale’s middleweight sport model and gives us less—weight that is. Aprilia’s carbon fiber diet starts with the SC-Project exhaust, which comes standard on the trimmed-down trim. The new system mounts the carbon-fiber end can alongside the swingarm thanks to a new black anodized aluminum bracket.
Aprilia designers complement that relocated silencer by reshaping the belly pan as well. Of course, carbon fiber constructs that new unit and matches the Extrema’s carbon fiber front mudguard. These measures amount to a 3 kg (6.6 pounds) weight saving, with Aprilia reporting a 166 kg (366 pounds) dry weight compared to the base model RS’s 169 kg (372.6 pounds).
Gallery: 2023 Aprilia RS660 Extrema
With all these sporty preparations, Aprilia assumes you won’t be carrying any passengers, and rightfully so. Despite that single-seat orientation, the OEM still includes passenger pegs hung from the Extrema’s tail section. Anyone looking for additional fat trimmings? That's the first place to start.
Catering even more to racers, the specially-equipped RS also benefits from a new software patch that enables a GP shift pattern. For those unfamiliar with the reverse-shift orientation, riders stomp down on the shifter to ascend through the gears and pull up on the lever to downshift. As expected, Extrema’s quickshifter will make those gear changes even easier.
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To match the trim’s new raceway ambitions, Aprilia adorns the sportbike in graphics that fuse the checkered flag and the Italian flag. Unfortunately, the Noale firm hasn’t announced availability or pricing yet. The 2023 Aprilia RS 660 Extrema proves that sometimes less is more. Let’s hope the brand keeps that in mind when it comes to the MSRP.
