THE INDO-ITALIAN JOB

Living with the Aprilia RS 457

- ANANT PANDEY

Although I missed out on the racetrack rendezvous with the Aprilia RS 457 and Lorenzo Savadori, I was keen to put the RS through its paces in the real world. The ‘self-assigned’ task at hand was to live with the RS in different scenarios to gauge whether it is just an angry track scorcher or is it capable of delivering on multiple fronts.

I knew it was not a swiss knife. What I didn’t know is that it is an Italian stiletto but with a slight twist. Stabbing people with its pointy end? It was particularly developed for that but that doesn’t mean you cannot chop veggies with it, right?

Even before you’re enchanted with other elements of the RS, its irresistible Italian silhouette would charm you into writing a love sonnet about it. Become a little Shakespearean in the process. A shrunken down RSV4, that’s exactly how the RS 457 looks. It doesn’t lose its purpose in the wake of being pretty. It is not a social media influencer, it is an Italian supermodel with wits to go by too. For instance, take the bulky front half of the motorcycle, imparting the RS with big bike looks and feels but as you pan your eyes towards the rear, it just ends too soon.

The RS 457 is a compact motorcycle but it doesn’t feel like one once you look at it from up front. I loved being on the RS because wherever I went, I could feel drool all around. Not just in my helmet. The RS has a striking road presence and I would go as far as saying that it is the most gorgeous motorcycle that you can get under INR 5 Lakh. Fight me on that and you will get buried with so many gorgeous angles of the RS that I’m going to throw right in your face. Despite being Indianized like the pizzas that we eat, this Italian recipe hasn’t lost its flavor. A thought that popped in my head several times when I was dancing with the RS.