Aprilia RS 457: a New Chapter in the Aprilia RS Saga

The Aprilia RS 457 seeks to become the new technological and stylistic benchmark for young motorcyclists worldwide and the new key to the Aprilia version of the sporting world.

The RS 457 is a historic step for Aprilia and not only in technological terms. Indeed, Aprilia’s new twin-cylinder sports bike appeals to new targets and markets to meet the growing worldwide demand for easy but fun, technologically and stylistically groundbreaking motorbikes targeting broad market segments.

Michele Colaninno, Piaggio Group CEO, said, “In recent years, the Aprilia brand has seen an intense burst of renewal, also supported by continued progress in the racing world. The recent introduction of the 660 family, with RS and Tuono first and Tuareg later, has expanded its target, creating a full and competitive range. We are now ready to take another step towards the future with an astonishing bike developed entirely in Noale, capable of stimulating and thrilling young people and opening up huge potential in new markets near and far. It is a step closer to the globalization of a brand that has always had the perfect combination of technology, fun and looking to the future in its DNA.”

The RS acronym represents Aprilia’s take on sportiness. These motorbikes are designed to amaze, with innovations derived from a long and successful racing history that has shaped Aprilia’s unique motorbike culture. Thus, Aprilia became the dream object of entire generations, indulging the passion of younger riders with extraordinary motorbikes.

At the same time, it has been a leading player in the racing world, dominating the two-stroke categories. After reaffirming its technological supremacy by winning SBK competitions, it has also risen to prominence in MotoGP.

Now, Aprilia returns to its founding mission with a project for a new generation of motorcyclists, pooling the knowledge accumulated on tracks worldwide.

Starting in 2020, the massive success of the Aprilia RS 660 (Europe’s best-selling sports bike) has revolutionized the world of mid-range sports bikes, creating a new segment.

The same winning formula is repeated with the Aprilia RS 457, which began as a completely new project, conceived and developed where all Aprilia motorcycles are created, including MotoGP bikes. The new Aprilia is the ideal link between the first 125 engines and the RS 660. It completes the RS family that includes the powerful V4 superbikes and, at its most technologically advanced, the MotoGP-winning RS-GP.

The Aprilia RS 457 speaks the language of younger riders, of people who want to start riding faired bikes, exploiting all of the company’s expertise to design and build a true sports bike. This motorbike’s strengths are its lightness, with the highest possible power-to-weight ratio for a bike you can ride with an A2 license, ease of handling and technological equipment. The RS 457 is designed to accompany motorcyclists as they progress on road and track. The ergonomics feature clip-on handlebars mounted above the upper steering plate, a road sports solution that provides the best compromise between sportiness and riding comfort.

The new RS 457’s styling follows the legendary RS range, the supersport bikes that made motorbike history, starting with the double front fairing through to the underbelly silencer, with a 2-in-1 exhaust.

The full LED front headlamp incorporates the light signature typical of Aprilia’s larger super sports bikes, while the front turn signals are integrated into the front headlamp’s light signature. The dashboard uses an elegant and practical 5-inch TFT color instrument cluster, while the handlebar controls are backlit.

The Aprilia RS 457 is powered by a state-of-the-art, liquid-cooled, parallel twin-cylinder engine, double camshaft timing and four valves per cylinder, delivering 47 horsepower of power. Besides the pure power figure, there is also the motorbike’s weight: 159 kilograms dry, rising to 175 kilograms wet.

The Aprilia RS 457’s power-to-weight ratio is simply unbeatable because the designers at Noale aimed for the maximum possible and achieved it. This figure was translated into pure performance during road development at Aprilia’s Noale headquarters.

The new engine is paired with a stiff frame. The aluminum frame makes the RS 457 unique for bikes in its segment. All of Aprilia’s design expertise, honed over decades of victories on all the world’s racetracks, goes into this solution. The crankcase functions as a load-bearing element, a solution borrowed from the RS 660, which ensures the low weight, dynamic qualities and riding pleasure that have made Aprilia famous.

The 41-millimeter fork features 120 millimeters of travel and preload adjustability. Ditto for the monoshock, which works on the steel swingarm, adjustable in preload, for 130 millimeters of wheel travel. The braking system features a 320-millimeter front disc with a ByBre radial-mount 4-piston caliper.

At the rear, the ByBre caliper brakes a 220-millimeter steel disc. All this is assisted by a two-channel anti-lock brake (ABS) system with dual map of use on both wheels or only on the front.

The 17-inch sports rims mount 110/70 tires at the front and 150/60 at the rear — perfect sizes for excellent grip while maintaining agility, the true strength of the new Aprilia.

The Aprilia RS 457’s electronic equipment is of a true sports bike, designed for a wide range of bikers and entirely faithful to Aprilia tradition. The Ride by Wire system, which Aprilia was the first to introduce both in MotoGP with the futuristic RS Cube and in production, manages the engine with three riding modes that intervene on power and torque delivery and traction control, adjustable to three levels and that can also be disabled. The quickshifter comes as an accessory.

The Aprilia RS 457 is available in three color variants: Racing Stripes, Prismatic Dark and Opalescent Light.