Don’t be fooled, the RS 457 isn’t just a chopped-up RS 660, the 457 is entirely different, with its own engine, chassis, body work and rider aids aimed at the highly competitive small-capacity sportsbike market. Manufactured in India at the Piaggio group’s Baramati facility, it dances right on the edge of LAMS approval with its power-to-weight ratio dialled up to maximum – 35kW/175kg.
After seeing the promotional images and footage on track, I was expecting a peaky, high-revving parallel twin, but it’s not like that. As I left the hotel in Italy, a generous spread of usable torque was immediately apparent. At slow speeds, notably below 60km/h, the fueling is as smooth and soft as you would expect for a premium bike, with the pick-up and drive from low rpm being far sharper than I was expecting. Once away from the congested traffic, the RS continued to surprise me.
That flowing drive through the midrange made me feel like I was riding something closer to a middleweight, while the hard-pulsing soundtrack from the 270-degree-crank twin
