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The history of the Aprilia RS250 motorcycle has been quite impressive since its introduction from 1994 to 2004. However, the two-stroke engine is rather old technology and is not allowed for the current market due to non-compliance with standards of global emissions.
Despite this, sources confirm that Aprilia will bring back the RS250 model but with a new engine. The engine is a 250cc parallel platform 4-stroke (4-stroke).
This CAD sketch shows the brand new 250cc DOHC 4-stroke parallel twin engine that Aprilia is developing. Interestingly, this engine places a “center cam drive” between the cylinders instead of just one side.
Several factors contribute to this configuration, including producing a more compact “cylinder head” while reducing the flexibility of the “camshaft” and “crankshaft”. What is certain is that this 250cc parallel twin developed by Aprilia was never made by another manufacturer.
For the record, the engine has been registered by Zongshen-Piaggio in China and will be at the heart of the all-new RS250 for the European and American markets. Meanwhile, for the Asian market, Aprilia will use the name GPR250RR.
Zongshen was also previously responsible for the production of the Aprilia RS125 and GPR250R for the Chinese market, powered by a single-cylinder engine. The GPR250R is also the platform for the RS250 SP which is released as a circuit machine in the United States in 2020.
The development of this new model indirectly marks the next stage of Aprilia and comes to compete with the 250cc “sportsbike” segment which is currently led by the Yamaha R25, Honda CBR250RR and Kawasaki Ninja 250.