Aprilia Tuono 660 Review: The Featherweight Thriller

It is easy to be seduced by big numbers, but the Tuono 660 makes a compelling case that the most thrilling motorcycles are often the lightest. Aprilia took its RS 660 sportbike, raised the bars, sharpened the attitude and created a naked that trades brute force for a scalpel-like precision. On a real road, ridden hard, it delivers a purity of experience that far more powerful machines struggle to match.

This is a bike built by a company with racing in its blood, and it shows in every input. The Tuono 660 does not overwhelm you with power; it invites you to carry corner speed, to be smooth, to enjoy the process. Get it right and it flows down a ribbon of tarmac like almost nothing else at the price.

A twin with genuine character

The 659 cc parallel-twin, effectively the front bank of Aprilia’s V4 superbike engine, produces 95 hp at 10,500 rpm and a useful 67 Nm of torque. That may sound modest against triples and fours, but in a bike this light it is more than enough to thrill, and the 270-degree crank hands it a throaty, characterful bark that belies its middleweight displacement.

The delivery is the clever part. There is enough low-down drive to make it easy in town, a strong, elastic midrange that suits real-world roads perfectly, and a top-end that rewards a committed rider chasing the redline. It will dispatch 100 km/h in around 3.6 seconds and stretch to 220 km/h, but it is the everyday accessibility of that performance that makes it so addictive.