Small displacement sportbikes have been gaining some popularity recently with new models rolling out dishing out impressive performance and flaunting some fancy tech. Some of the latest of which come from China, most notably, in the form of the 450SS (450SR outside of the US). Here, the lightweight sportbike offers an aggressive, sporty style that's also at home on the streets. That being said, could Aprilia be next in line?
A recent teaser of Aprilia's official Instagram account posts the silhouette of a sportbike with a caption reading, "Here's proof you can fall in love on a blind date." The post also gives us a date – September 7, 2023. So, what could this mean? Aprilia is taking us on a blind date? Then in that case, it wouldn't be so blind, would it? Jokes aside, it's clear that Aprilia has something up its sleeve, and we just might have an idea what it could be.
Indeed, it's highly speculated that Aprilia will be unveiling the much anticipated small-displacement sportbike. At present, Aprilia hasn't revealed anything about the bike – not even its name. However, a report by Motorcycle.com unearthed some pretty juicy details. It appears that the bike will be called the RS 457, as the file names of the images posted on the company's website have "457" in them. Another dead giveaway is the URL of the teaser's landing page on Aprilia India's website, which ends in "rs-457."
Other than that, nothing else is known about the bike other than that it's a fully faired sportbike that shares similar styling with its bigger siblings the RSV4 and RS 660. That said, nothing's stopping us from speculating. Given the "457" designation, chances are this is reflective of the bike's displacement. 457cc is more than likely too big for a single-cylinder engine like that of the KTM RC 390, so it's probably safe to assume that this bike will be fitted with a parallel-twin mill like its bigger sibling the RS 660.
That said, what the inner workings of this engine are is anyone's guess. We sure hope that it'll feature a similar 270-degree crankshaft as that of the RS 660. In that case, it'll be very similar to the CFMoto 450SS, which sports a 449cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, parallel-twin engine with 50 horsepower on tap.
With all that being said, there's really nothing else we can do but to wait for the September 7 launch. Be sure to stay tuned, as we'll be sure to bring you all the information we can find once the bike drops.
