Aprilia RS 457 vs Yamaha R3: Your 1st Twin-cylinder Sportsbike

Picture this ....you bought your first sportsbike a couple of years ago. It could’ve been the Yamaha R15, KTM RC 200 or even the Suzuki Gixxer 250. It’s been a couple of years, you’ve ridden it a fair bit and now you want something more. You want to cross that 300cc mark, you want to get past that sweet 40PS mark, you want 2 cylinders. And for exactly that, we have 2 of India’s most affordable twin-cylinder sportsbikes here: Aprilia RS 457 and the Yamaha R3. Let’s see which one deserves your money: 

Designs 

Sportsbikes have their visual appeal and that’s true for both the bikes here. Both will grab attention but one will do it a LOT better. The Aprilia RS 457 is just immaculately finished. The panels flow very nicely, plastic quality is high and the finish levels are top-notch. There’s not 1 spot or angle of the Aprilia that looks ugly or ungainly. Heck, there are no welding spots to be seen too. And you combine that with its size….I mean the Aprilia can very well come across as a 600cc bike, that’s how much of a ‘big bike feel’ it has. 

The R3, too, is attractive but look closer and you’ll start noticing some not-so-nice things. The wiring around the console, the non-adjustable brake and clutch levers, the rather cheap-feeling switchgear, the finishing on some of the nuts & bolts and even the overall plastic-ky feel, the R3 doesn’t give the same premium feeling. And when you combine it with its smaller size, one can’t help but mistake it as a Yamaha R15 V4 from afar. So if a big-bike feel is what you want from a bike in this segment (as you should), the Aprilia is definitely the winer. 

Engine, Mileage & Performance 

 Looking at these tables, your 1st thought might be ‘Wow, the power figures are surprisingly similar despite such a big displacement handicap for the R3.’ Well, you are right but I want you to think this way: Imagine an amount of work that is being done by 457 people, versus almost the same amount of work being done by 321 people. The first will obviously be done a lot more easily and just the overall feeling of strain will be a lot less. And that’s exactly the difference between the RS 457 and the R3. 

In the real world (city commuting and weekend rides), the R3 will just keep up with the Aprilia in just about everything, but the Aprilia will be doing it all in a much more relaxed manner. Be it slow city commutes, fast highway rides or even riding up and down some twisties, the Aprilia feels a lot more relaxed. For perspective, the RS 457 does 100kmph in 6th gear at about 4800rpm, something that the R3 does at about 6200rpm. Quite a difference! In fact, you can see that in the table too, that the R3 makes its peak power and torque a lot higher in the revs than the RS 457, meaning you will have to rev it a lot more and make it work hard in order to feel the speed. 

 But that’s the feeling side of things. Getting to the actual numbers will show that the Aprilia is quicker and the difference keeps increasing as you increase the speeds. The RS’ sheer mid-range torque means it is very tractable but also zooms ahead the moment you roll open the throttle. Sure, the R3 is supremely tractable as well but in order to really get it going, you will need to shift down one or more gears. In short, be it the city, on the highway or on the race track, the Aprilia’s engine will be the quicker and the easier (given you require lesser downshifts) one to ride.   

Handling & Ride Quality 

Now we’ve already talked about both bikes being great handlers in their individual road test reviews (read the Aprilia’s road test review here and the R3’s review here). The only difference is that the Aprilia feels a little bit more agile to turn into corners and gives the feel of an authentic modern day sportsbike. The R3, on the other hand, feels a tiny bit slower and easy-going while turning in. That said, this will only be felt when you’re riding hard and for most scenarios, both bikes will feel sporty enough so it’s a tie there. 

As for the tyres, the Aprilia’s TVS Eurogrip Protorq Extremes are FAR better than the R3’s Dunlop Sportmax. And that combined with Aprilia’s excellent traction control system and riding modes will keep you safer: not only during track rides but also during this season. Rains are quite unpredictable and when you have to inevitably ride through wet, slushy, muddy roads, the RS 457’s excellent tyres, traction control and 3 riding modes (Sport, Eco and Rain) will give you all the confidence you need. 

Talking about comfort, that really is the R3’s highlight. The handlebar is quite high and the suspension feels soft, ensuring a comfortable riding posture and ride quality. The RS 457, meanwhile, has much lower-set clip-ons and the suspension feels quite a lot firmer, so you will be bounced around if you take potholes at speed. So this is where the R3 wins. 

One caveat though, is that the R3’s footpegs are not as rearset as the RS 457’s, meaning taller riders won’t have as much room to stretch their legs. As a 6 foot tall person myself, I was ready to put up with the Aprilia’s firmer suspension because my lower body felt a lot more comfortable on it. But again, this will be an issue for riders taller than about 5’10”. So for most riders, the R3 will be the more comfortable of the two.  

 While braking was the RS 457’s Achilles heel in our first ride review, we found the brakes to be just fine for everyday use. The initial bite is strong and the bike has no issues slowing down. And that is the same for the Yamaha bike as well. The R3’s brakes feel adequate and we had no issues with them too. So braking is another department where both bikes feel alright for most uses and it’s a tie. 

Dimensions-wise, both bikes feel quite light on their feet and you will enjoy commuting on them. The Aprilia’s high turning radius (given the restricted handlebar movement) was a bit surprising initially but it’s something you will get used to over a period of time. 

Features  

The Aprilia’s Italian genes come out in its fancy TFT as well. It’s big, packs a lot of information and has almost everything you expect from a bike in this class, while being quite easy to use. The R3’s console, in comparison, looks extremely bare bones. If you’re buying your first ‘big bike’, you would want to look down at a nice-looking console each time you get on your bike and the Aprilia will give you those feelings each time, so no points for guessing which bike won this segment. 

Aprilia RS 457 or the Yamaha R3: Which One Should You Buy?  

Design, performance, hardware, comfort, safety and features, what happens if a bike wins 5 out of the 6 parameters in a comparison? It’s the winner of the comparison, of course. The Aprilia RS 457 has comprehensively outperformed the Yamaha R3 in almost every way. So does that mean you should head out and buy it straightaway? 

We’d say wait…just a little bit. As we said in our road test review, it’s coming out of a factory that has never made bikes before so we’d advise you to wait just that little bit more to see if any reliability issues pop up among the existing owners. And that is an area where the R3 has nailed, for it’s known to be an extremely reliable bike. So if that is paramount to you and you must get an R3, we’d suggest you look through the second-hand market once. You can get good ones for under Rs 3.50 lakh. Sure, the 2024 R3 is the updated one but the updates don’t bring around a big enough change in the riding experience for you to spend over Rs 5.5 lakh on.

But if you really want a true-blue, modern-day sportsbike, the Aprilia RS 457 is one you should get. Fast, exciting and still somehow very friendly, the RS 457 will keep you entertained for a long period of time. Aprilia truly has a winner in its hands.