This Aprilia Is A Budget Sports Bike With Class-Leading Features

Sports bikes are single-minded beings. They are designed for one purpose only, which makes it a little easier for the designers and engineers. However, these machines are also expected to be the pinnacle of engineering and development, so the pressure remains on to make a product with a fairing that is also desirable – it needs to look good as well as go fast.

But when you get to budget sports bikes, things get extremely complex. Not only should the product be fast and light and designed to turn heads, it has to be built within a budget as well. Because the potential customer will want to see value and a low sticker price. It seems impossible, but modern budget sports bikes are managing to do this quite well. Not only that, they’re also offering features like never before, along with daily usability. Here is a prime example.

The Aprilia RS 457 Is The Budget Sports Bike With Class-Leading Features

Price: $6,899

Aprilia

The RS 457 is a resurgence by Aprilia in the budget sports bike segment. There was a time when this Italian manufacturer ruled racing series with its small two-stroke sports bikes, and that success translated to some extremely potent roadgoing sports bikes as well. When two strokes were killed off by emission norms, Aprilia exited the segment altogether. There never was a real effort to get back into the segment until recently, when it moved manufacturing of its small 457 cc bikes to India for the cost advantages.

What it hasn’t lost is the desire to be the sports bike of choice in the budget segment, and the 457 brings back the magic that Aprilia made in the lower categories once again. It has a strong engine, a chassis that is unheard of even in a class above, suspension that is adjustable at both ends, and the best electronics suite in class, by a country mile. That is why it is the budget sports bike with class-leading features.

Why We Picked The Aprilia RS 457

• Aluminum twin-spar frame
• APRC electronics suite
• Six-axis IMU
• Adjustable suspension at both ends
• 270 degree parallel twin

Aprilia RS 457 Engine

Great Character From 270 Degree Firing Order

Aprilia

The RS 457 is the second product in the class to offer a 270-degree parallel twin engine, the first being the CFMoto 450SS. The CFMoto is also more powerful, but the Aprilia delivers more torque and lower in the rev range. That means this is a more flexible engine than you’d expect, and Aprilia has given it a by-wire throttle. It has three ride modes that have different throttle responses, but they don’t change the bike’s output. The APRC electronics suite gives it four levels of traction control, including off, but strangely, a quickshifter is an optional accessory. The six-speed gearbox and chain final drive are par for the course in the segment.

Aprilia RS457 Engine Specifications

Aprilia RS 457 Chassis

Class-Leading Aluminum Chassis

Aprilia

The only aluminum twin spar frame in the segment is present on the 457. To be honest, it is overkill for this segment and the power you get from the engine, but it does have some benefits. This chases lightness, and it achieves that handily. It is some 40 pounds lighter than the Honda CBR500R, and with that lack of weight comes performance everywhere. It doesn’t need much more than a single 320 mm brake disc, but it keeps a radially mounted fixed caliper. At 385 pounds, it is among the lightest in the segment, which is commendable considering all the electronics it has. Speaking of which, the six-axis IMU allows for cornering ABS, and the ABS can be disabled at the rear.

Chassis Specs And Dimensions

Aprilia RS 457 Features

This Is Why We’re Here

Aprilia

Aprilia says that this is a compromise between an all-out sport bike and a practical runabout. It chooses to be more of the former rather than the latter, but it still has some great equipment for the class. The 5-inch TFT color display is identical to that you’ll find on the RS 660, and the RS 457 also has an aluminum twin spar frame, just like its bigger displacement sibling. The display offers Bluetooth connectivity and navigation as well.

Elsewhere, its six-axis IMU offers unprecedented control over the ABS and traction control for the segment – the traction control can be switched off, and the ABS can be switched off at the rear. The only area here where Aprilia can improve is the quickshifter – for the price and the product positioning, it really should have been a standard feature. Color-wise, you can have this in three different paint schemes. The black color scheme you see here is the only one with black wheels, while the white and gray paint schemes get red wheels.

Notable Features

• 5-inch TFT color display
• Bluetooth connectivity with navigation
• Six-axis IMU
• Cornering ABS, can be switched off at rear
• Four level traction control, including ‘off’
• Aluminum twin spar frame
• Two-way quickshifter is optional

Aprilia RS 457 Competition

Fits Into A Space By Itself

Aprilia has priced the RS 457 such that it fits into a place all to itself somewhere between similar displacement bikes, and the sports bikes from a class above. Yes, it is a steep premium of $1,000-$1,600 over the competition. But they don’t offer the combination of features and performance that the Aprilia does. We’d like to give honorable mentions to the Yamaha YZF-R3 ($5,499) that feels dated now despite the recent facelift, and the Honda CBR500R ($7,399) which is the second most-expensive product.

The real competition then is the CFMoto 450SS (which also offers a very strong feature set), the KTM RC390 (which is a great track tool, even though it is dated now), and the Kawasaki Ninja 500 (which is the default sports bike in the segment). It is incredible the kind of variety this segment has. The 450SS has a 270-degree parallel twin like the Aprilia, the RC390 is a thumper, and the Ninja and CBR use a 180-degree parallel twin.

Aprilia RS 457 Vs Rivals