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Aprilia Unveils Tuono 660 – Naked Sibling to RS 660

Aprilia’s RS 660 was recently announced as a middleweight sportbike with comfortable ergonomics, an impressive electronics package and relatively budget suspension (largely non-adjustable). Expensive for a middleweight twin at $11,299, the RS 660 nevertheless provides impressive horsepower from 659cc, a claimed 100 hp.

The naked sibling Tuono 660 was announced earlier today by Aprilia priced $800 less at $10,499. Rated at 95 hp, the Tuono gets more upright ergonomics and a shorter final drive ratio. Here is the full press release from Aprilia:

  • THE 2021 TUONO 660 IS THE WORTHY CREATION OF THE LEGENDARY TUONO 1100 AND SIBLING TO THE ASTONISHING RS 660 WITH WHICH IT SHARES MOST OF ITS SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY
  • INTRODUCING A NAKED SPORTBIKE UNIQUE IN ITS SEGMENT: LIGHTWEIGHT AND POWERFUL, WITH A 95 HP TWIN-CYLINDER, HIGHLY ADVANCED ELECTRONICS AND A CHASSIS ARCHITECTURE WORTHY OF ITS NAME

The highly anticipated Tuono 660 – on display for its global première online at APRILIA.COM – takes the legendary Aprilia Tuono V4 into the medium engine capacity segment. Worthy child of the unbeatable Tuono V4 1100, the new Tuono 660 combines manageable power and light weight, for great performance available to all, refined chassis architect and an electronic controls package derived directly from the Tuono V4.

Aprilia Tuono 660 embraces the concepts of sporty versatility, ease and fun that Aprilia is introducing for a new generation of riding enthusiasts. Aprilia was the first to make a sport naked starting from a technical base created for the track, giving the various Tuono 1000cc V-twins and then the generation of unrivalled V4s incomparable riding and performance qualities.

And so, the new Aprilia RS 660 sport bike is also born out of the Tuono 660, a sport naked version characterized by ultra-high technical content, but with an even more extreme street and daily-use connotation thanks, first and foremost, to the higher riding position which makes for different ergonomics, as well as a natural and comfortable ride.

Aprilia Tuono 660 also shares the primary project objective with RS 660: creating a bike with an extraordinary weight/power ratio: 183 kg (403 lbs) curb weight for 95 HP of power. A category record, which represents the ideal formula for fun on the road, accessible to everyone. Tuono 660 is dedicated to new riders, but also for younger riders who are moving up from smaller engine capacities looking for a high-level sport naked that can provide fun on the road and is also ready to support the rider on the occasional track day.

Tuono 660 has that same aggressive and sporty style as the Tuono family, standing out for its reduced surface dimensions that enhance that dynamic and sport-derived character it has, even when its parked. Like the RS 660, the new Tuono also adopts the innovative concept of the double fairing with aerodynamic appendix function, born out of increasingly more in-depth research in the wind tunnel, as well as the triple LED headlight unit featuring DRL lights.

Tuono 660 boasts a magnificent structure committed to light weight made up of the frame and swingarm, both in die-cast aluminum. The adjustable Kayaba suspension system has a dedicated set-up.

The high handlebar and the chassis architecture measurements differentiate Tuono 660 from the RS, benefiting total control, responsiveness and agile handling, thanks to a different offset of the fork plate. The engine is used as a bearing element and contributes to forming a compact, lightweight and stiff structure. The latest generation forward-facing twin cylinder, small and lightweight, is a child of the experience gained on the powerful Aprilia V4, from which its construction philosophy and basic technical concepts are drawn. The 270° combustion timing allows that character and grit that riders love so much to be achieved. The final drive is shorter than that of the RS 660, privileging responsiveness and quickness.

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88 Comments

  1. Mick says:

    It occurs to me that not only does this “naked” have a fairing, but it has one that extends forward of the front axle. It wasn’t all that long ago when that would have made it against racing rules.

    The world is not going my way. So called naked bikes have huge fairings while pickup truck boxes become ever more vestigial. Remember when a “long box” was 10 feet long and anything less than an 8 foot box was a “short box”?

    Perhaps Alzheimer’s is simply a natural response to the wold going insane around the elderly. You forget. Or you start to dine on pulled idiot sandwiches.

  2. Kermit says:

    So this is considered a naked bike. When I saw the first pic, I too, was looking for the pic of the naked model then realized this was it. Whatever. Never really liked the term naked anyway. Maybe sport standard would be a better name for it. I don’t think Hugh Hefner would have been successful with Playboy if the term naked had the same meaning for the women in the magazine as it does for bikes like this.

    • TimC says:

      But a “sport standard” wouldn’t have a full fairing, either.

    • cw says:

      “Tuono naked” is different from everybody else’s naked because it’s not as naked. In Tuonish “naked” means “add hhandlebar, reduce gearing to an RSV”.

  3. Motoman says:

    I like the bike. Don’t care what the f@#k they call it.

    • Selecter says:

      Right there with you on both of those counts. My biggest reservation, though, is the lack of gloss paint. I just can’t do the matte thing. However, by the time my current school (extra expenses) program finishes, the 2022 models should be out, so hopefully things improve by then!

  4. Neal says:

    These “that’s not a naked bike!” comments are even worse than the usual “that’s too heavy! bikes were better 50 years ago!“ or “tubes in the tires?! Harrumph!” comments…

  5. Mick says:

    Someone should inform these marketing geniuses that this bike probably was naked during its development. When they stripped off the plastic before adding new somewhat smaller pieces of plastic, the bike must have been naked for a brief time.

    Prehaps these people are very reserved. They might live in world a century or so in the past when woman’s swimwear covered every inch of her body. They should send some of their more freewheeling types over to CCM to hang out for a while. Maybe they would return with a better understanding of what naked means. Or at least a taste for real ale.

    Hmmm. Maybe it’s all the chianti swilling going on at the Aprilia factory that has them calling this bike a naked. Imagine their dismay when they finally sober up.

    • Kermit T Frog says:

      Well said, Mick. While this version isn’t quite a “coyote date” of a ride, I think your words sum it up quite well. 😉

  6. Kermit T Frog says:

    The stupid term “naked motorcycle” was coined by priapic “moto-journalists” to supplant the previous and far superior term “Standard motorcycle”. Standard as in setting the standard. It is also a play on words if you will… a response to the terms “full dress”, “dresser” and “full dresser” but not “bagger”. The first three are used to describe bikes fitted for touring that have fairings of some sort as well as saddlebags and a top case or touring trunk.

    The aforementioned idiot “journos” thought (more felt, really) that calling a standard bike a “naked” was cool. FTN .

    This bike is not quite nude and therefor as others here have pointed out, it is not a “nudist” bike. But neither is it a standard. The Guzzi V7 is more in line with what a genuine standard motorcycle is. This isn’t to say that this Aprilia is junque but rather it is not what it’s manufacturer claims it to be.

    But I bet it’s still a very nice street bike to own and ride. One far more capable than most, excluding the great Harry, master of the 160 past broken down HD riders, of us here are. It looks pretty cool but looks are subjective. It’s not my kind of bike but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good one. Or even a great one.

    With regard to manufacturers dumbing down horsepower on these nudie bikes I would suppose they do it just to piss us off. It really makes no sense for them to do this and yet…They do.

    Perhaps this bike can be ridden at 160 past broken down HD owners and thereby secure it’s rider/owner a place on a massive “Pylon of Priapism” for really cool and hip motorcyclists?

    Nice bike Aprilia. Tough crowd here and in this case, they are correct. The bike ain’t nude. Why not make it a standard bearer for your marque? Think about that one.

    And yes I am making fun of the stupid term “naked motorcycle”. Does anyone here really tell people they ride a naked bike?

    • Gary in NJ says:

      Good post KTF. It would seem as though much of the talk of this bike is its excessive clothing – and not on the attributes of the machine itself. If one really hates the small amount of plastic – but likes the bike, then simply remove said plastic and replace it with a headlight of your liking.

      • mickey says:

        Aren’t we here to assess the products as presented, and not what we could do them ourselves if we wanted to?

        as far as the attributes of the machine itself, until they are on the road and ridden, that’s pretty hard to do. What is claimed may or may not be what is experienced.

        Plenty of motorcycles have made great claims only to not live up to those claims once ridden and lived with.

        We here, can only review what we are shown and told.

        • Gary in NJ says:

          I think it fair to assume that this will be 95% of the RS660. A little less top-end power, geared for road use, a bit more comfortable. The reviews will not be surprising in any way. More telling will be the head-to-head comparisons.

    • Dave says:

      Harry will be disappointed as the other version of this bike’s top speed is about 144mph so this will be slightly slower.

      It’s a shame that “less” horsepower is automatically a negative. By sacrificing a couple of HP (that nobody will ever use on the road) in order to offer better low and mid power that everyone who buys the bike can appreciate on the street.

      • todd says:

        I see you too bought into the farce that reducing power makes it … more powerful. Reducing power makes this bike slower. Slower top speed and less acceleration. This will *feel* more powerful if you rode them back to back because the gearing is slightly lower. This means more “drive” for each gear but at a slower speed for each gear per RPM.

        • Dave says:

          That’s only true if the rider uses full throttle and the full rev range when they ride, which almost nobody does. We ride motorcycles, not dyno graphs.

          The bike will “feel” more powerful by having more power in the rev range that most riders will use. Anybody who’s ridden a 600cc SS bike below it’s optimum rev range (again, he way they’re ridden most of he time) knows exactly what I mean.

          Nevermind that I have not made the claim that you assert.

          • todd says:

            I’m sorry, but that still doesn’t make sense. So, you’re saying that at partial throttle openings, one bike will feel more powerful than another? Doesn’t that entirely depend on how much the throttle is opened? If the throttle on the RS is opened to 60% and the Tuono is at 50%, the RS will feel faster. Who keeps track of percentages of throttle openings? The only time there will be any discernible difference between the two is at full throttle at the top of the rev range. If anything, the rider on the Tuono will notice it has shorter spacing between gears and he has to shift sooner. The rider on the RS will feel like it has “longer legs” and a longer power band. This is all due to gearing.

            When I’m cruising around and not trying to exploit the full potential of my bikes, they all are producing the same power at any given rate of acceleration and speed (barring differences in weight and aerodynamics). Some need to rev more because of lower gears but they are all producing similar work and similar power.

            Delivering a bike with less horsepower than its stablemate is just a marketing ploy to make people think it is somehow “meatier”. If they kept the gearing the same people would realize there is no difference between the two under normal operation and anything less than full power scenarios.

  7. motomike says:

    It’s pronounced “nekked” here in the south. Ain’t gonna see many of these down by the holler!

  8. Tom R says:

    A “naked” bike that isn’t really naked? Welcome the new definition.

    For several years now various automakers have been producing certain four-door cars and insisting on calling them “coupes” just because they have sloping rear roof lines.

    • ChrisB says:

      Agree. I was very confused when I read this article. Thinking where is the “naked” bike???

      Welcome to modern marketing, that makes all terms now meaningless. After Porsche decided to call the upper levels of it’s electric cars “TURBO” (Ex: “Taycan turbo”) I’ve lost all hope. Jayemm on Cars had best response I’ve heard to all of this nonsense, saying he expects a “high res 4k shampoo” to hit the market soon. 🙂

  9. dt-175 says:

    “that’s quite a nice little nothing you’re almost wearing…”
    -007 to tiffany case

    • Kermit T Frog says:

      Excellent choice of quotes, dt! Well matched to the subject indeed! And a great film to boot… 🙂

  10. Dino says:

    Nice looking bike, I would love to ride one!
    Not exactly naked, as many have mentioned already. But I did see a couple inch gap between the upper fairing and the lower bits.. So maybe more of a bare midriff. More like the tube top of naked?

  11. Grumpy farmer says:

    Nice

  12. todd says:

    What we have here is a new class of bikes: the fully faired naked.

  13. Marcus says:

    If somebody said they were sending me a “naked” bike and sent me this, I would be highly disappointed.
    This is NOT a naked bike.
    If you have to remove plastics to get at the engine it’s not a naked bike.
    And just because you say it, it doesn’t make it so. That may work for many but not me.

  14. mike d says:

    That picture is not in any sense of the definition “Naked”. Is it the wrong picture?

    • Goose Lavel says:

      Nope. Picture is correct. Shame its dosen’t have adjustable suspension; new aftermarket shock and front springs, cartridges should fix it. More money…

    • Goose Lavel says:

      Nope. Picture is correct. Shame its dosen’t have adjustable suspension; new aftermarket shock and front springs, cartridges should fix it. More money…

  15. Goose Lavel says:

    Gunna need $ for fully adjustable, after market suspension to make it a winner. Maybe more like $$$.

  16. Freddy says:

    If I can keep myself from buying a used Tuono 1100, I would be VERY interested in a Tuono 660 Factory with and up/down quickshifter and higher spec suspension as a bike to ride both street and track days. The KTM Duke 890 is also an option, but the Tuono recipe with more aggressive riding position and small windshield seems to be be best sportbike alternative out there at the moment.

    • Jon says:

      If you add the “higher spec” suspension the cost will be the same as buying the Tuono 1100. The Duke is an option if you don’t mind the upright ergonomics. If you really want a sportbike alternative, the Street Triple RS is the closest in terms of chassis and ergonomics.

  17. Stuki Moi says:

    It looks to me as peg position is carried over exactly from the RS. Perhaps on account of how Aprilia affixes the pegs, in order to get them closer together, hence allowing for effectively more ground clearance. Regardless, less forward lean with same seat and peg placements, will put added load on the knees. Which at least for me (and many others), is not particularly conducive to comfort.

    The “big” Tuono also has excessively rearset pegs for an “upright” as far as I’m concerned. As a result, I find it, if anything, _less_ comfortable than the RSV, despite that one not being exactly Goldwing like, either.

    • KenLee says:

      I tried to sit on both big versions standing next to each other- Tuono and RSV and I fully agree with you. On Tuono upper and lower body positions seems to be inconsistent and expected higher comfort feels more like usual sporty position with just some strange tweak. Suprisingly, RSV feels more “natural” to me with low clip-ons and weight on the front.

  18. Jeremy says:

    “Naked” used to mean something very different. I actually thought the picture was a shot of the RS660 for comparison, and I was scrolling down the page to see the Tuono.

    I’m honestly not all that impressed with these bikes, at least on paper. Perhaps the riding experience is more magical than the specs suggest, but the 660s don’t really seem to have a very good value proposition. They are light, but not that light. Powerful, but not that powerful. Good components, but not great ones. Expensive, but, well, expensive.

    Hopefully the bike is more than the sum of it’s parts because the price certainly is.

  19. At $9K its a winner and would get lots of folks to Google their closest Aprilia dealer. At $11K all it does is justify the price points of its competitors (for better or for worse)

  20. Reginald Van Blunt says:

    Funny how after 50 years of popular interest in inline 4s, the advantages of a vertical twin are being addressed with the development of the 270 degree crank. What could a 1960s vert twin, most of which weighed a little over 400 pounds, have been like with a 270 crank ?

    • Dave says:

      Not very different. The 270* crank really only alters sound and inertia interplay of the pistons, the former being the only hint a street rider would notice.

      Interestingly enough, it’s easy to see today what it would’ve been like. Just take a current Triumph street twin or Royal Enfield for a spin.

      • mickey says:

        “What could a 1960s vert twin, most of which weighed a little over 400 pounds, have been like with a 270 crank ?”

        It would have still leaked oil and had bad electrics. lol

      • Reginald Van Blunt says:

        Smoother, better traction control and a wider torque range would have stopped all the cracking brackets, some of the oil leaks and a few of the electrical failures.
        All jesting aside, with less weight ( unlike modern retros ) even Dunlop K70s and Girlings would not diminish a serious improvement.
        *Always install bulb filaments vertical for good luck.*
        On the other side of the argument, maybe not having serious counter balancer technology would null out the 270 crank. I dunno. Just BS-ing in the shed.

        • Dave says:

          That’s what the marketing tells us but flat-crank in-line twins and fours are competing successfully against V and x- plane engines today on the road and in dirt track, the latter placing an ultimate premium on drive traction.

          The x- plane crank appeals to me from a smoothness and packaging perspective. I’ve always loved v-engines until it’s time to pay for a valve clearance inspection. Than a thumper gains a lot of appeal.

          • Reginald Van Blunt says:

            A cross plane I-4 is two 270 degree vertical
            twins side by side, a good thing. The same driving traction advantages as a vertical twin 270.
            In the dirt on a smooth sit down go fast road with a powdery surface, a trailing rider can see the galloping power pulses clearly from the rear tire ahead. Even power pulses can allow spin more easily than two close then an inertia recovery time, with a 270 crank.
            Seem to work in the real world.

          • Dave says:

            That perception is the product of an active imagination. While there is an effect happening, it’s happening at twice the engine’s output rpm divided by the gear reduction ratio. Ie. The human eye can’t “see” it.

            The power pulses spacing is one aspect, the piston inertia trade is the other, more important part.

            What we can see are the flat-crank Ninja/z650 based flat-track bikes and Ninja 1000RR WSBK bikes often galloping away from x-plane and v-engine bikes on the track, so while there may be some disadvantage to the format, it is not impossible to overcome.

          • Jeremy says:

            Agreed, we are talking about very marginal differences. Pumping losses, inertia, power pulses, fist and second order vibrations… Both formats have their pros and cons, none of which likely matter to most of us mortals.

            Even in racing it isn’t decided. If the crossplane in the R1 was some magic bullet, flat plane cranks wouldn’t exist in any major racing format. And yet Kawasaki and Suzuki don’t seem compelled to develop one.

          • Reginald Van Blunt says:

            Dave- Observation, not perception. A Triumph Scrambler, as described surface condition, flat smooth dirt road at about 10 mph, south into the morning sun with a steady load, for about 1/2 mile.

    • joe b says:

      The 270° crank seems to help with vibration, modern bikes still have the balancer, so if it had the new crank angle, and balancer, it would be like the new bikes. Instead of turning the cylinders to get a V twin, you twist the crank, but you get better packaging of the engine, the cylinders are side by side, so the weight can be placed farther forward, centrally massed, and carb or throttle bodies side by side, exhaust side by side, all that stuff. it was Phil Irving that suggested the 270° crank back in the fifties. You could, if you had the money to do it, take a 60’s or 70’s twin, and make it a 270° crank. I’ve always wanted to do it to a twin 2 stroke, and see. the 270° alters more than just the sound, its interplay of the balancing of the engine and power pulse, is different, some think desirable.

  21. TommyD says:

    First off the mid-Tuono has wheels in the same color. HIP-hip-hooray! I don’t understand the RS’s black and “lava red” come with miss matched wheels. Also, why is it $800 cheaper? I can’t seem to justify the RS bump in price. I understand the lower bhp after reading this note from the UK press.

    “The Tuono doesn’t get the full-fat, 100hp version of the engine that comes as standard in the RS660, instead using the fractionally less potent 95hp one that’s optionally available on the fully-faired sports bike. Why the small change? Because it allows an A2-licence-friendly 47.5hp restricted version to be made under EU rules that say such bikes can’t be based on machines with more than twice that power figure in derestricted form.”

  22. Neal says:

    I think some Aprilia marketing guy noticed that nerdy riders (like me) are buying a lot of high vis gear (out of safety considerations), and concluded there’s a market for a high vis bike.

  23. bandit says:

    Naked? Yet in the factory blah-blah they mention FAIRING WTF !!

  24. fred says:

    Tough crowd. I like the RS660, and also the Tuono 660. It might be easy to tell them apart up close, but I couldn’t tell which was which at first glance. With a bit closer inspection, I suspect I’d prefer the Tuono, but I’d need to ride each to say for certain. Like the rest of you, it sure doesn’t look naked to me, but it seems to be a nice bike, regardless of the marketing terms. Perhaps the gold paint looks better in person.

    • John says:

      I love the bike, but THAT color … . It’s like saying puke, perhaps, looks better in person. But if somebody out there likes it, good for them.

    • mickey says:

      It’s ALWAYS a tough crowd here fred, because unlike moto journalists, we are not paid to like every motorcycle that comes down the road, and we are not afraid of being penalized/snubbed by the manufacturers, so we are free to say how we really feel about the bikes.

  25. Mick says:

    Must they destroy even the concept of naked?

    Please kill me.

  26. ScotocS says:

    Kind of looks like the donor bike but it didn’t get enough oxygen in the womb.

  27. John says:

    Completely agree with the observation about there being so many great mid-size bikes to ogle over these days, but not the “Acid Gold” version. Hey designer dude, you got some bad acid that last trip. Slap some purple paint on there, start a new Joker class series, and the baby Tuono will indeed be golden.

  28. mickey says:

    That’s NAKED?

  29. Gary in NJ says:

    There are just so many great mid-displacement bikes these days; the KTM 890, Triumph Street Triple to name a few…and now this. I can’t wait for the reviews and the comparisons. My only concern is the small upper faring. My experience with these is that they send turbulent air up into the helmet. That would be a non-starter for me. My next bike will NOT be a project (or so I keep telling myself).

    • Lawrence says:

      Don’t forget the upcoming fully naked Trident 660. Agreed about the turbulence, maybe this one is low enough to not be too obnoxious.

  30. Motoman says:

    Looks like there are a bunch of great bikes around $10k. I would include this one and think it’s a lot of bike for the money.

  31. Jon says:

    Sadly underwhelming, especially for the price.

  32. Nick says:

    And why call it a naked bike with so much plastic fairing on it? I think Aprilia have always been confused over this point.

    • jon says:

      Yep, basically looks exactly like a sportsbike other than the bar height. I want some fugly with my Tuono!

    • Lynchenstein says:

      Perhaps “naked” in Italian means, “has a handle bar, not clip-ons”.

  33. Lawrence says:

    Maybe it’s a trade-off for changes to benefit the mid-range. 95HP in 403lbs is plenty for the intended (street) use.

    • todd says:

      I doubt they bumped compression or any of the other tricks to increase torque. It’s likely the just reduced the ignition timing a little and full rpm to deal with regular fuel. It does mention they went with shorter gearing so it should *feel* like it has more torque.

  34. Grover says:

    So why give it LESS hp than the fully faired model? It makes no sense at all.

    • Ereen says:

      I’d like to see the charts. It might have less top end HP, and have more in the mid section as a usable DD/commuter bike.

    • Bubba says:

      Maybe b/c of reduced gearing, etc..

    • ilikefood says:

      Because on the street (vs. the racetrack), where naked bikes are more likely to be used, more power at lower RPM is a lot more useful than more power at the top of the rev range.

      “Less HP” doesn’t mean “less HP across the rev range”. It means “more HP everywhere else, except at highest RPM”.

      • VLJ says:

        Except that 99% of the time “retuned for street riding” means that it’s simply detuned, with no additional torque or HP anywhere. Instead, it arrives at its lower peak hp/torque numbers at lower RPM, supposedly making it more streetable, but those peak numbers are still nearly always lower than the original motor.

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