At 350lbs stock that is pretty light. Figure you can toss lighting and cat to shed instant pounds. Wonder how neutered the engine is for emissions.
I believe it's being made in India. The 350lbs is the dry weight unfortunately, but 385 is the wet weight figure I saw that isn't too bad. If an exhaust and a tune unlock some hidden power, this bike should more than give the Ninja 400 a run for it's money!
Not too bad, but it makes less hp than my current RVF400 makes at the wheels and my engine isn't even built. Granted the electronics on that are far better. Hmmm. I wonder what it would make with the ECU flashed and if it could run regular gas - that's one main thing I love about my RVF400 - I commute on it and regular gas is a lot cheaper than premium gas here in CA.
I'm grateful that some manufacturers are still investing in new or fully redesigned sportbikes. Having said that, I'm personally not interested in buying bikes smaller than Twins Cup class.
So noticeably heavier than a Ninja 400, has 13% more displacement yet the same power output, and likely costs 30% more? Aprilia upstaged by a 7 year old Kawasaki - yikes...
Oh man. An lightweight race bred Aprilia twin....I'm so excited. This is a first for them....wait...wait a minute. Hmmm...I seem to remember something...a legend or maybe a myth.....I cant quite place it. SXV550 owners with F$&^ed engines be like....
I want to be exctied about the new 400 class arms race I really do. But this is coming off like a bargain basement special for a premium price more than anything.
Yes. The full on race engines you could buy right from the dealer that weighed as much as a twinkle. That made what, 20-30hp more than this new engine? Take that engine with the updates to make it reliable enough for a race season. Then put into production the de-tuned version that wouldn't grenade itself when your smile gets too big. Sell a race package on the side. Pipe dream, but dammit, Aprilia could have done it and got the premium price for it.
It looks like the bike is limited to some Euro power limits. With a race ECU and a pipe, I bet this is around 60-65hp. It’s a twin so it won’t rev as high or pump as much air (air + fuel = power) as the Kawi I-4 400cc. With a proper frame, it would be a much better bike to learn on than a Kawi 400 twin. It addresses the big issue with the Jr Cup bikes in that they don’t prepare racers for the next level as well as 125GP or any other “real frame” bike. Good on Aprilia for filling a market gap and making a modern ultra lightweight twin.
