Aprilia RS 457 Real World Review: Still The Best In Class!

When we rode the Aprilia RS 457 at a race track earlier this year, all of us immediately fell in love with it. But race tracks are far and few and the experience of owning a bike is also about how it is to ride regularly, in the real world. And practicality and everyday usage is something sportsbikes inherently struggle with. So how does the cheapest Aprilia bike in India perform in that aspect? Let’s find out: 

Design 

If you thought the Aprilia RS 457 looks good in pictures, it’s even better in person. The design is aggressive, sharp and it looks every bit an Aprilia bike. The fit and finish levels are immaculate and there are no uneven panel gaps or weld marks or messy wiring to complain of. Then there’s the RS 457’s road presence. It feels big, premium and could very well come off as a 600cc bike in public. It is what a modern day sportsbike should look like. So those looking for that big bike feel in their first twin-cylinder sportsbike…the Aprilia has loads of it. 

Performance  

Another area where we’d use the word ‘loads’ for the Aprilia is the performance, especially for everyday use. The 457cc engine has a lot of torque and you don’t need to rev it out to extract the performance. There’s grunt right from the word go and being a gear or even two higher is not a problem. And this makes commuting effortless. Slot the bike in the 3rd gear and it’ll handle the entire city without an issue. Riding at a gentle pace is very easy and even if you want to pick the pace up, the Aprilia is happy to do so. 

All that torque means you can target little gaps in the city very easily and very little gear changes are required. And up until about 8000rpm, the engine is butter smooth so no issues there too. 

And if your daily route involves highways, the Aprilia will be extremely happy there. This engine sits at speeds of upto 130kmph in 6th gear effortlessly and there are no vibrations to speak of. And to show you just how much torque it has, this bike actually sits at 100kmph in 6th gear at as low as about 4800rpm. That’s lower than both its rivals (Yamaha R3 and the Kawasaki Ninja 500) and it just shows how relaxed the engine is then. So the engine will handle your highway rides very easily. As for the gearbox, our test bike’s gearbox was slightly clunky. Not that there were any misshifts, just that it shifted with a proper thud. While that’s still fine, we think at this price point, the quickshifter should’ve been offered as standard. Even as an accessory, at Rs 27,799, it’s quite expensive. 

What was a really pleasant surprise though, was just how well the engine managed the heat. Despite getting caught in traffic jams, the Aprilia RS 457 never threw nasty heat on the rider’s legs and we barely even heard the radiator fan kick in. Now if you’re buying a bike in this class with so much performance, heat is obviously something you will have to get used to. But the way the Aprilia dissipated the engine heat was honestly mind blowing.   

Handling & Ride Quality  

It’s an Aprilia, of course it handles well! The handling that we loved on the race track proved to be just as likeable in the city. While the RS 457 feels like a much bigger bike in person, all of that disappears the moment you sit on it. Because then it feels light and very agile, making quick direction changes a breeze. So as we said, targeting small gaps and making quick overtakes, it’s all fantastically easy on the Aprilia. It essentially ticks all boxes but one, to be a good daily rider. 

And that one unticked box is comfort. The RS 457’s clip-on handlebars are set quite low, meaning the rider will have to lean in a fair bit to reach them, resulting in quite an aggressive upper body riding posture. That said, funnily, the footpegs are actually not all that aggressively-set. They’re fairly high but they’re a bit rear-seat too, meaning taller people can actually stretch their legs a bit more in order to reach them. So while our shorter riders found the lower body ergonomics just fine, our taller testers definitely appreciated the more room on offer. 

And add to that the firmly sprung monoshock, which will toss riders of upto about 75kg a fair bit, especially on the deep potholes or sharp speed breakers. So on the whole, while the engine is excellent for everyday usage, the ergonomics are not so much. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not extremely uncomfortable and by sportsbike standards, it’s not all that bad. It’s just that it’s not the best for daily usage.

One thing that we did complain about on the race track though, was the brake fade. Thankfully though, these brakes are more than enough for your everyday use and you won’t face those issues in the city or even out on the highway. The initial bite is nice and sharp and again, we had no issues there. That said, if you plan to take your RS 457 to the track a lot (which you should!), we’d recommend you to opt for Aprilia’s optional race brake pads. 

Features 

The Aprilia isn’t a modern-day sportsbike just in terms of looks. Its 5-inch colour TFT console feels very premium to look at and is inspired from the bigger Aprilia RS models. As for the features, here’s a quick look at what it packs: 

And despite it being a fancy-looking unit, the console is actually very easy to toggle through. There’s a button on the right switchgear to change riding modes on the go and even the traction control can be switched by just pressing the up and down buttons on the left side of the switchgear. Deactivating the traction control just takes a long press of the down button. The main screen itself is uncluttered and easy to read and for those who want the nerdy information, there’s a separate screen for that. So in sum, the Aprilis RS 457’s console strikes a good balance between looking fancy but being easy to use. 

Should You Buy The Aprilia RS 457? 

The RS 457 left an extremely positive impression on us throughout this test and it truly is an authentic, proper modern-day sportsbike. The downsides (firm suspension and committed riding posture) are things that are inherent to sportsbikes in general and not particular to the RS 457. And when you consider that the Rs 4.10 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s not exorbitant either, it does sound like almost a perfect deal, doesn’t it? 

The only caveat is Aprilia themselves. You see, the RS 457 is coming out of Aprilia’s Baramati plant in Maharashtra, a plant that has never produced a bike before. And even with its small fleet of scooters,  Aprilia India doesn’t have the best reputation in after sales service as well. We’re not saying the RS 457 won’t be reliable, it’s just that it’s an aspect that remains to be seen. 

So what we’d advise is to wait a bit. Just waiting for a few more months will expose any chinks in the RS 457’s armour, if there are any. We know waiting is hard, especially when it’s such a fantastic bike we’re talking about. Because as a true-blue sportsbike, the Aprilia RS 457 is excellent, to say the least.