I thought we would see a ‘Factory’ version of the Aprilia RS 660 before the Tuono 660 Factory was announced, but I was wrong (again). Because just this morning, Aprilia announced this, the new baby Tuono. And it’s lighter, more powerful, even more sophisticated and, well, just a little bit trick.
What’s so exciting about it then? Well, first of all, they’ve squeezed another 5bhp out of the engine. That means the Tiny Tuono now makes 100hp; matching the power of the RS 600 with which it shares an engine. Maximum torque remains the same, so that’s 67Nm at 8,500rpm.
As well as injecting a little bit more power into the mix, they’ve also shortened the final drive ratio a bit, giving the acceleration a bit of a boost (at the cost of a tiny bit of top end speed).
They’ve also saved a couple of kilos by binning the old lead acid battery off in favour of a much lighter lithium cell. The Tuono 660 Factory’s kerb weight is now a slender 181kg. Less weight and more power; that’s just what the doctor ordered.
As well as that, the Factory comes with a very welcome suspension upgrade. The 41mm Kayaba forks are fully adjustable for compression and rebound damping, as well as preload. So too is the new Sachs shock, with its fancy remote reservoir. Very lar-de-dar.
As expected, you get the full APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) system with its 6-axis IMU controlling everything. That’s wheelie control, traction control, cornering ABS and you even get cruise control. And the new Factory comes with an up and down quick shifter. You get five riding modes (which are all customisable), too.
The new for 2022 Aprilia Tuono 660 Factory comes in a new ‘Factory Dark’ paint job, and although all the pictures show a pillion seat cover (which you get as standard) you also get the pillion seat and pegs.
The standard Aprilia Tuono 660 is just shy of £10k, so we’d expect the Factory to be between £11k and £12k. Maybe a bit more. I know that’s not cheap, but you’d have to say that it was already one of the best bikes in its class… and they’ve only gone and made it better. The rest of the manufacturers are going to have to pull their socks up.
Mummy, I want one