Aprilia RS660 - 5,000 mile review

[cg_ops]

As friends and with very similar/parallel stories about our recent updates (890/660 purchased within a year of one another & road hazard-induced spills within 6mo of ownership on each) I love/hate reading your posts like this. Our experiences are practically linked, owning these European divas. I was VERY surprised my recent head gasket + countershaft seal replacement took less than 3 weeks total, especially considering last year's spill took 4.5 months for parts to arrive... functional-parts-only, at that! Had I ordered any aesthetic parts it would've been even longer!

Glad things are coming together to get you back on the road. Looking forward to the next update/blog!

 

[R3DS!X]

I like your style

 

[shiryu]

How's your RS660 running Lordi? I finally took delivery of one three weeks ago. At 151 miles on the odometer my gear lever fell right off; the shift lever dropped and blocked the kick stand from folding down.

 

[FXCLM5]

I was gonna get this vs a 890 however the last Tuono v4 ape dealership soured me so bad I will never own a ape regardless if I am in love with riding one.

Interesting first post, my 890r is very linear motor with a flat spot between 5-6k, the rearsets also has 1 major bolt going to the swingarm and frame

 

[mdorkenhoff]

How's your RS660 running Lordi? I finally took delivery of one three weeks ago. At 151 miles on the odometer my gear lever fell right off; the shift lever dropped and blocked the kick stand from folding down.

There's a TSB about the gear lever issue. Details here.

 

[felixthecat]

Jumping back into moto'ing (and barf) after a long hiatus, and I'm so glad I found this post while perusing the forum for like-minded riders.

I feel the OP on most of these things, especially the dealership network, or lack thereof.

Although the bike is insanely fun to ride, because of dealer experience alone (in terms of locations, parts availability, and subject matter knowledge for maintenance/service), I agree with FXCLM5, this is also the last Aprilia I will ever own.

I've brought mine to Scuderia for under-warranty oil leaks twice before it was finally repaired, and this was after the 600mi service so it's already been in the shop 3 times in the past year, but they still can't for their life figure out how to reset the 600mi service light indicator and have it stay off.

On another point, I think the suspension is also not correctly set up for smaller riders like myself (130lbs); when turning, the rear feels easily unsettled on anything but the smoothest roads. I've already gotten my bike's suspension dialed in a bit so it's gotten better, but it's still not as stable as my first bike (R3) so that might mean I have more work to do. Or it could very well mean I'm still rusty and need to work out my correct basic riding skills.

 

[atoyf]

Nice bike.
Nice write-up.
Nice if you let me ride your 660.

it's a nice ditto

 

[NATEWA]

My friend is racing one of these. He got some track time with it this weekend at Laguna Seca. He’s racing with it in MotoAmerica this year.

 

[SeattleFabio]

Nice info! Thanks!

 

[Joezilla916]

Fantastic review!