KIWI RIDER JULY 2021 VOL1 | Page 61

MID-SIZE LIGHT That darkness is now at an end , and the light is back on . The rather moribund mid-range sportsbike class is going to get very interesting very soon . And the first potent shot across those bows is this new Aprilia RS660 . Once again , Aprilia has taken to painting its bikes like a party girl dancing on a table with two different-coloured highheels on . Once again , Aprilia has reached into its deep bag of racing expertise , and offered up a new and very beautiful bike that ticks all the boxes such a bike needs to tick . And once again , my heart rejoices because I have been a long-standing lover of how the Noale paisans make their prosciutto .
SO , WHAT IS THE RS660 ? It ’ s light – and if you understand this class , you ’ ll understand how crucial such a thing is . And this is as light as it gets in this pond . It ’ s comfortable , with ergos that quite belie its ability to behave like a trackready weapon – and dimensionally , it feels like it ’ s a bigger bike than what it is . It ’ s very electronically sophisticated – and look for this TFT screen , its attendant computers , and its much-easier-tonavigate menus , to appear on the new Tuonos and RSV4RRs . It boasts a level of equipment that reflects it premium price tag – and I ’ m good with that , since money must never dictate what feeds your soul . It handles ... oh , sainted baby in a Jerusalem manger , does it handle .
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