A new Aprilia looks to be on the way, with a 250cc possibly being joined by a 300-class machine.
The partnership between the Piaggio Group which owns Aprilia and the Chinese manufacturer, Zongshen, has led already to the GPR250R twin-cylinder sports motorcycle, which is marketed in Asia.
Recent patents filed, and reported on by Moto.it, suggest that a GPR250RR could be on the way with more sophisticated hardware and a power output of around 35 horsepower.
With a sufficient weight advantage, this would make it even a rival of something like a Yamaha R3, which produces 42 horsepower from its 321cc engine.
Four-stroke 250s are generally the realm of the Japanese. Honda has their two-cylinder, and Kawasaki their four-cylinder. But, in both cases, they remain only in Japan.
Of course, an Aprilia 250 would be more likely to be made available in Europe than the small-displacements of the Japanese manufacturers, but the primary market for the GPR250RR for now appears to be China, which is where the bikes will be built thanks to Zongshen-Piaggio.
But, perhaps a 400 could also be on the cards for Aprilia, using the same architectural foundation of the 250. Such a bike would put Aprilia in the frame for entry to the WorldSSP300 championship, and similar national-level categories.
It would also be a bike more suited to Europe, where the popularity of 300s and 400s in recent years has led to the formation of their own category.
With their RS and Tuono 125s already out there, too, a 400 would fit in nicely between those and the RS 660 and Tuono 660 as something of a stepping stone between the two. Aprilia already has a 35kW version of the RS 660, but that still leaves space theoretically open for an ‘RS 400’, perhaps.
