Aprilia Tuono 660 fully unveiled in launch video

Aprilia have officially unveiled their Tuono 660 model with a YouTube video (below) showing the £9700, 94bhp parallel-twin from all angles.

Following in the footsteps of the RS660 sportsbike, which was revealed late last year and is now on sale within the UK, the Tuono boasts a claimed kerb weight of 183kg and shares the same aluminium frame and two-pot engine as its fully faired sibling.

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This 659cc parallel twin-cylinder motor features a 270-degree crank and is basically the front half of the V4 unit found in the firm’s RSV4 1100 superbike. With a larger rear sprocket for a claimed greater shove at the bottom end, whilst sacrificing some peak power, Aprilia are also set to release a 47bhp A2-compliant version for newer riders. 

Designed to be more of an accessible, road-going alternative to the RS (which in itself isn’t all that extreme), the bike features an aluminium frame, which uses the twin-cylinder lump as a stressed member. This is connected to an aluminium swingarm, with adjustable Kayaba suspension ironing out the bumps. Although the chassis is the same as that of the RS, the KYB springs feature their own unique set-up. 

Helping to keep everything in check is a full suite of electronic gizmos, ranging from multi-level traction control, to anti wheelie and cruise control – made possible by the ride-by-wire throttle. Also featuring is ABS.

On top of this, you also get five customisable riding modes, which are controlled through a colour TFT dash – something also enjoyed by the faired 660. Three of these modes are dedicated to road riding, with a further two offered for the track. Whether you would take the Tuono on a circuit remains to be seen though, with the RS model posing a more obvious choice to knee down enthusiasts. 

Wrapping all of this is bodywork borrowed straight from the larger Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 Factory – MCN’s top super naked for the past two years running. Illuminating this is LED lighting, with the bike finished in either ‘Concept Black’, ‘Iridium Grey’, or the marmite  ‘Acid Gold’ already seen on the RS660.

Available for a smidge under £10,000, despite it’s middleweight size and A2 compatibility, the Tuono could be potentially inaccessible to newer enthusiasts. All things considered, we would expect it to sit somewhere around the KTM 790 Duke, Triumph Street Triple and Yamaha MT-09 – both for price and promised performance.

MCN will bring you more on the bike as it becomes available and look out for the definitive Aprilia Tuono 660 review coming soon.

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What we knew about the Aprilia Tuono 660 already

First published on August 7, 2020 by Ben Purvis

Aprilia’s much anticipated Tuono 660 is nearing reality and the best bit is that it’s barely changed from the prototype.

Although Aprilia’s 100hp RS660 twin-cylinder sports bike is the headline-maker of the range its part-faired Tuono 660 sibling could well be the bigger seller once both bikes reach dealers. That day is getting closer, with the firm’s final design for the Tuono 660 appearing in newly published patent documents.

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Aprilia never made any bones about the fact the smaller Tuono, which was shown as a concept bike last November, has always been destined for production. It’s scheduled to go on sale in 2021, a few months after the RS660. Inevitably there are tweaks to be made between the ‘concept’ stage and the production version, but the new patent shows they’re minimal.

You’ll have to look closely to spot the slightly more extensive bellypan, needed to disguise the cleverly packaged exhaust system that manages to squeeze all the mandated Euro5 emissions and noise reductions kit into the space under the engine.

The pan is deeper and more elaborately-shaped than the concept version’s, and features a fractionally larger pair of winglets near the front along with an extra air outlet vent.

Look closer still and you’ll spot the exhaust header that now bulges before disappearing behind the bellypan; an indicator that there’s an additional catalytic converter in this section of the pipe.

That positioning puts the cat as close as possible to the exhaust port so it heats up faster after a cold start. That’s a vital part of the latest Euro emissions rules, since bikes put out the vast majority of emissions in the few seconds after first starting.

Elsewhere, the styling is almost unchanged. The patent images lack the lever guards on the bar ends, and the Brembo brakes feature a rectangular reservoir rather than cylindrical, but these changes aren’t necessarily representative of the production bike’s design as neither component is likely to be considered a styling element as covered by the design patent.

Under Aprilia’s plan we’re expecting the definitive version of the Tuono 660 to appear this autumn at around the same time as the RS660 reaches production. Tuono 660 sales will follow in 2021, with a Tuareg 660 model joining the range after that.