[//M]

The RS457 is a looker, specially looks amazing in white. Looks like a promising entry in a segment which has potential in our market.

Some clicks from my end.

[SR1602]

To those who saw the bike in person, were you able to check if the tank was metal or plastic?

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

Anyways, I was looking around the web for expected prices. Some of the price expectations are way too generous. People expect this to be at 4.5L ex showroom. That's far too much money for a 47Ps A2 license restricted made in India motorcycle.

I think the reasoning is pretty much spot-on, however we can't ever put the Bajaj standards of VFM on any other manufacturer. We saw what happened with Triumph Speed/Scrambler 400, once there was a Bajaj backend to it, things became magically priced.

2 years ago, let's be honest, you would laugh at me if I told you a Triumph touching 150kmph will be sold under 3L, when even Kawasaki's were struggling.
Kawasaki themselves aren't having an easy time after Bajaj separation even pricing their 177cc(?) single at a high price.


Aprilia don't have a very big setup or sales network, and its tough to see how profitable they'll be, in the end.
So fingers crossed. Yes, even those who disagree, will hope you're right in the end. Anyone would love this machine in the price you mentioned.

Originally Posted by e46

How could the "now axed" Benelli 302/250 sound so better and closer to inline 3/4 ones compared to other twins? Or at least it did to me, am sure others would have noted it too.
I liked it much more than the R3, Ninja 300 or even 650. It had a deep sound in it.
Sorry for asking a bit OT question.

I can tell you why Ninja 650 sounds almost as exciting as a single cylinder bike, although its inline-twin.
It has a 180* crank, which means cylinder 1 fires, we wait 180*, cyl 2 fires, then wait for 540* with nothing happening, producing a gap in firing.

In short, the firing of the cylinders produces sound, and in Ninja 650, the cylinders fire quite close to each other, so you have to touch high revs to hear anything musical. Plus, Ninja 650 isn't high revving too which doesn't help.
This is the reason why 180* cranks usually sound-- dug, dug, dug, dug
While a 360 crank or inline 3 or 4 (with equal firing sounds) sounds something like -- grrrrrrrrrrrrr

A 270* or 285* crank is in the middle of the above two, at high revs, it can still produce a decent tone. But sound depends a lot on other factors too- exhaust, valve timing, etc.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by SR1602

To those who saw the bike in person, were you able to check if the tank was metal or plastic?

Checked out the bike at the MotoGP Indian Grand Prix, the fuel tank is made of metal. There is a cover at the front half - which seemed to be plastic, but couldn't touch or feel it (was out of reach)

[SR1602]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

the fuel tank is made of metal (was out of reach)

Thank you that's great to know!

I found another video on YouTube from the GP where there's an RS660 with it to compare. I'd say, in all aspects, it's just a slightly downsized version of its bigger sibling. At first glance, I thought both were the same bike! Ergonomics look very much the same. Even the idling exhaust note is barely differentiable with the 660 sound a tad throatier. Although I do feel the 457 looks a little anorexic and incomplete from behind. A fender and number plate would probably fix that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RMo9XGJkIw

[jomson13]

Any news about when the prices would be out? The website has a whole lot of 'Stay Tuned' buttons which redirects to their instagram account

Are they waiting to hit a certain amount of followers before they release the price??

[hungrygamer]

Just have a question for my fellow gearheads. I have an RR310 which is 2 years old and not used much except for small errands. Breakfast rides have been elusive to me owing to office and personal obligations.

I am in love with the whole twin cylinder concept and would've bought the Ninja 300 if not for the stone age electronics. I suppose I can get a good price for my 310 baby (with a heavy heart) but still will need good bucks to upgrade to the RS 457. Does it make sense or am I jumping the gun?

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by hungrygamer

Just have a question for my fellow gearheads. I have an RR310 which is 2 years old and not used much except for small errands. Breakfast rides have been elusive to me owing to office and personal obligations.

I am in love with the whole twin cylinder concept and would've bought the Ninja 300 if not for the stone age electronics. I suppose I can get a good price for my 310 baby (with a heavy heart) but still will need good bucks to upgrade to the RS 457. Does it make sense or am I jumping the gun?

If the reason behind not making it to those breakfast rides was a missing cylinder, we would have asked you to sell your relatively new Apache RR310 and save up for this. But with your usage pattern, it is best to keep your Apache and rent out a nice twin-cylinder motorcycle once in a while to have some fun.

[SR1602]

Back from another round of showroom pestering. They're still being very tight-lipped about everything. I had to use all my marketing prowess to just be able to get out that the next big announcement will be made in the next 10 days, which is why they were collecting every prospective customer's contact data again.

Am I the only one who is getting rather irritated with how Aprilia is handling this? I understand it's their first crack at this segment but what is up with all this secrecy? This is not the way to create hype. They showcased the bike at Misano on the 7th and I understand they need not pour in all the data immediately. But they could have done so much more during their redundant "India Launch" which was just an exact repeat of Misano. Even in the Bharat GP, give some tangible information, show how the dash works properly, or even start it up just for the slightest hint at how its going to sound in a real world environment. What do they do? Nothing. Stand far away and just stare at the bike

So looks like either they're gearing up for a segment disrupting price reveal or they're going to royally botch this up.

[aravind.anand]

Even I thought we would have something more from the Grand Prix of India. But I just got to see the bike up close and personal, with Max Biaggi next to it, no new information at all. But one of the staff at the Aprilia stall told me that booking could open by mid of October, price reveal by mid of November and deliveries to begin from Jan '24. Don't know how authentic this could be, but the person told me that prices will not be announced during the GP weekend, and that came true!

[deep_blue]

Seems like they are waiting for Yamaha R3 pricing. I hate this new marketing concept of separate launch, price reveal, booking dates.

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

But the person told me that prices will not be announced during the GP weekend, and that came true!

Aprilia actually planned the price reveal during the GP weekend. That is why out of the 2 bikes at the Aprilia booth, one was moved over to the Aprilia pit on Saturday race day for an unveiling ceremony.

However, there were a lot of pre-race issues that cropped up. I cannot reveal the detailed info, and Aprilia decided not to pursue the matter.

It's a shame as I was standing at the Ducati pit, and Ducati marketing management was speculating on the price, and they were hoping that some numbers were revealed. My guess is good as yours - Aprilia officials were tight lipped.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by no_fear

Aprilia actually planned the price reveal during the GP weekend. That is why out of the 2 bikes at the Aprilia booth, one was moved over to the Aprilia pit on Saturday race day for an unveiling ceremony.
...
My guess is good as yours - Aprilia officials were tight lipped.

Any idea whether the sale of these bikes will be available across all Aprilia scooter dealerships, or perhaps some of them.

I cold called a local Mumbai dealer and even they don't seem to be aware of what dealers Aprilia will retail these through. But that information is only as good as how well informed the dealership person responding to the phone line is.

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Any idea whether the sale of these bikes will be available across all Aprilia scooter dealerships, or perhaps some of them.

No Axe, nothing was discussed or revealed. I visited the Aprilia stall at the GP Fan village on Friday morning, and the staff were prepping the bikes for display. They didn't have any information, product catalogue or idea. I assumed more information would be forthcoming as I made multiple trips there, but no.

[SR1602]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Any idea whether the sale of these bikes will be available across all Aprilia scooter dealerships, or perhaps some of them.

I have a Moto Plex showroom near my house and I think only these premium outlets are going to take care of the sales and servicing. The service staff over there is already in the training process for the 457 apparently. Coming to think of it, I'd say this fact reinforces the prediction that this bike is going to take premium positioning and not a more mass-market stance like KTM or TVS. Which means optimistic pricing is unlikely.

Originally Posted by no_fear

I assumed more information would be forthcoming as I made multiple trips there, but no.

Same situation with the showroom. I can't even ascertain whether they are actually clueless or being silent on purpose. Neither situation sounds good.

Originally Posted by deep_blue

I hate this new marketing concept of separate launch, price reveal, booking dates.

+1. To be honest, my original plan was to get a used STriple or Ninja 1000 and if a good deal crops up in this period, I might as well take the plunge (with EMIs of course ). Really losing my patience here and the fact that my R15 got sold off far quicker than expected is just adding to the woes.