The Aprilia RS 150 has been spotted at a dealership in Goa, does this hint at a launch anytime soon? Aprilia had previously announced at the Auto Expo 2018 that two 150 cc motorcycles would be launched in the country, these obviously were the RS 150 and Tuono 150. The motorcycles were to be produced at the Ahmednagar plant owned by Piaggio with launches expected in late 2019 or early 2020. Pictures have now surfaced from a Goa meet of Aprilia dealers where this slightly different version of the RS 150 was reportedly shown by the company.
Now, interestingly, Aprilia produces a similar 150 cc motorcycle named the GPR 150 in the Chinese market, tying up with Zongshen which is a company based in Foshan. The bike shown at the dealers’ meet was the same Chinese bike. Aprilia may be planning to get Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits from China and assemble them at the facility in Ahmednagar. Alternatively however, they could also be planning to shift manufacturing to China from India altogether.
Nothing is confirmed on these twin fronts as of now. What is likely is that the motorcycle comes with a traditional fairing in comparison to the European version’s floating fairing. There are new body graphics and a bigger tail in tandem with a lesser number of curves for the fuel tank. The pillion seat is longer and wider for a more comfortable experience and foot-peg mounts have been put more forward for greater convenience. The switch-gear and mirrors are also different from the motorcycle displayed at the 2018 Auto Expo. Personally we like this version better to the one showed at the Auto Expo.
Aprilia had previously stated that the 150 cc motorcycle would get a fuel injected liquid cooled engine that would dish out almost 18 PS and 14 Nm of peak torque. These are same figures as the GPR 150 from China. Yet, added power could be likely in order to give the Yamaha R15 V3.0 stiffer competition. The upside down forks and perimeter frame seem to be similar as the bike shown at the 2018 Auto Expo but there is a smaller diameter disc in front along with different tyres. ABS is certain for the bike although it is still unknown whether this will be a dual-channel or single-channel unit.
Source: ZigWheels
