One year ago Aprilia surprised everyone by showing its RS660 concept bike at EICMA in Milan. Now the production version of that bike has been unveiled and it’s even prettier than the concept bike was.

Where we’d normally expect concepts to be toned down or lumbered with oversized, eco-friendly exhausts by the time they reach production, the RS660 street bike actually looks better thanks to classic Aprilia paint schemes and a belly-mounted pipe that’s less obtrusive than the concept’s race-style system.

The 660cc engine is effectively made from the front two cylinders of the RSV4’s 1077cc V4, with tweaks to the bore and stroke to massage the capacity. It’s Euro5 homologated and achieves a claimed 100hp. It comes in a bike that weighs just 169kg (dry), so this might just be the lightweight sports bike for riders who’ve been starved of new machinery since the Japanese manufacturers lost interest in their 600cc fours.

We’re still waiting for full specs, but released details include full LED lighting, self-cancelling indicators that automatically flash as a warning under hard braking, cornering lights and IMU-controlled traction control and ABS. There’s also wheelie control, cruise control, an up/down quick-shifter, engine brake control and multiple selectable engine maps. Five riding modes include three road-oriented settings – commute, dynamic and individual – and two track modes; ‘challenge’ and ‘time attack’.

TFT instruments include Bluetooth multimedia and infotainment, as used on the latest Tuono V4.

Two colour options include a purple/red that harks back to the 1994 RS250 Reggiani Replica, while the second is a black and red that’s more like the concept bike’s scheme.