[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by kai

A warm welcome to all the viewers. I want to share my initial impressions of the Aprilia RS 457. My first 300 kilometres with the motorcycle. (Break-in period).

Come on, man, it is criminal of you to not share some pictures of your new whip in a review!

[Kiran Britto]

Am I being looted?

I have booked Aprilia RS 457 before 2 months. The dealer called me to pay the remaining amount.

I am buying from a dealer in another city as I live in tier 3 city where RS 457 cannot be bought. Due to the above reason, I have to do temp registration in that city. The dealer quotes INR 13,739 which shows under (LIFE TIME TAX AND HANDLING CHARGES).

Is this okay or I am being looted? FYI I am buying the bike in Tamil Nadu (Madurai).

[extinctdodo99]

Originally Posted by Kiran Britto

The dealer quotes INR 13,739 which shows under (LIFE TIME TAX AND HANDLING CHARGES).Is this okay or I am being looted?

Ask the dealer to show proper breakdown of charges. Find out what charges are they charging under handling charges - you can talk to them and get it removed. If they resist, stress on it further.

They should only charge you the following:

1. Ex-showroom
2. Insurance
3. RTO charges (in your case - temp registration)

[aniruddha_98]

Originally Posted by Kiran Britto

Am I being looted?

I have booked Aprilia RS 457 before 2 months. The dealer called me to pay the remaining amount.

I am buying from a dealer in another city as I live in tier 3 city where RS 457 cannot be bought. Due to the above reason, I have to do temp registration in that city. The dealer quotes INR 13,739 which shows under (LIFE TIME TAX AND HANDLING CHARGES).

Is this okay or I am being looted? FYI I am buying the bike in Tamil Nadu (Madurai).

Even I got a call recently for the payment. I had similar issue with insurance, They didn't allow me to buy insurance from third party (as I was able to save a lot through a different insurer). I asked them the reason, and they said Aprilia is not allowing customers to have third party insurance. I simply asked them to give me Aprilia's email address so that I can ask reason for this directly to Aprilia. Dealership said they don't have the email address with them and they'll give it to me the following day.

After a couple of days I got a call from dealership, saying, "Aprilia has allowed for third party insurance in your case"

I would suggest you to press them on breakup of the charges, and if they don't budge, ask them for the quote in writing, and tell that you will be going to Aprilia directly for clarification

[7000plusrpm]

Originally Posted by kai

Choosing the Aprilia RS457:

Can you please share the location of the showroom from where you purchased the Aprilia? I went to Speed Auto near the 7-point crossing, Park Circus. Those guys are scooters only it seems.

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by aniruddha_98

I asked them the reason, and they said Aprilia is not allowing customers to have third party insurance.

What a great way to start a dealership. Aprilia is already lacking presence in India, and if this is how the dealerships are going to treat the customers, it is boderline extortion.

[kai]

Originally Posted by 7000plusrpm

Can you please share the location of the showroom from where you purchased the Aprilia? I went to Speed Auto near the 7-point crossing, Park Circus. Those guys are scooters only it seems.

Yes, the Park Circus Showroom doesn't sell the 457 yet. You can visit Ghosh Automobiles, Birati. You can search that in google maps. I assume they are the only Vespa / Aprilia outlet that is selling the RS 457. The test ride unit is also available.

[neil.jericho]

Over the weekend, a fellow TBHPian and I dropped into the Motoplex Falcon Mobikes dealership in Banashankari, to check out the Aprilia RS457. My friend currently owns a middleweight adventure tourer and is looking to add a smaller capacity faired motorcycle to his garage. Both of us felt that on paper, the Aprilia RS457 brought a lot to the table, and were equally keen to check out the bike.

All 3 colours side by side

Thinking back, I dont recall the last time that I had stepped into an Aprilia dealership. That said, as a motorcycle enthusiast, I was very happy to see so much activity in and around the dealership. Potential customers and new owners were walking in and out of the showroom. A couple of new owners had come for the installation of the HSRP numbe rplate. There were a few RS457s parked outside. And there were a whole lot more inside the showroom, as well! Some of these motorcycles were already allocated to their respective owners. As I had mentioned earlier (Aprilia RS 457 Track Review), the ergonomics are extremely comfortable. As for quality levels, if you looked carefully, you can spot where Aprilia could have paid more attention to detail. However, these are not aspects that will bother the majority of its buyers. We watched one excited family take delivery of their Prismatic Dark RS457.

Of the 3 colours, the Opalescent Light (white) is easily the most standout option. The race inspired Racing Stripes (black) one does look stunning when viewed from a distance but up close, the sticker job is one that is poorly executed. The Prismatic Dark scheme is somewhere in the middle of the other offerings. Overall, it feels as though Aprilia's designers put in the most effort into the Opalescent Light paint scheme and it will age gracefully, as compared to the other two. We also spoke to a gentleman from the service department. The organic brake pads for the front will cost Rs 4,620 and sintered ones will cost Rs 9,300. A clutch cable should cost around Rs 300.

However, as good as the RS457 is, the Aprilia dealerships have a really long way to go, before they can cater to the reasonable expectations of the enthusiast community in the country. After we entered the showroom, not one single employee paid any attention to us for over 10 minutes. We asked the receptionists for a test ride, and in turn, they requested a sales executive to arrange for the same. We were promptly ignored the gentleman, who didnt even look our way and he went on to conduct the upcoming delivery. Finally, after we repeatedly reminded the receptionists about the pending test ride, another gentleman arranged for a helmet that smelled like someone had left fish to rot in it for a week and a half. My friend outright refused to even try on that helmet and asked for an alternate one. With that, this second gentleman disappeared like a Chris Angel magic trick, almost never to be seen again. Tired of all this incompetence, we had a friendly chat with the management, who promised to set things right and to their credit, finally things were in motion.

Someone rushed off to get petrol for the test ride motorcycle (yes, it was a Saturday and the TR bike didnt have any fuel in it, these are just Aprilia things). We really appreciated the fact that the stinking test ride helmet was taken away and a brand new Aprilia helmet was provided to us. When my friend was done with the test ride, nobody came and asked for feedback on the motorcycle, or if he was interested in booking it. I cant imagine how many other potential customers have been redirected to the nearest KTM showroom, only on account of the apathy shown by the Aprilia sales staff.

The initial impression from my friend was that the RS457 is a very good choice for enthusiasts who are upgrading from single cylinder motorcycles (think R15, CBR250, Gixxer SF50, Duke 250, Pulsar 200, Apache RTR 200 etc).

All things considered, I hope that the management in these Aprilia dealerships pay a lot more attention to what is happening on the floor and run a tighter ship. The RS457 is playing a very important role in the evolution of our Indian motorcycle industry, and Aprilia needs all the help that it can get to sell these delectable motorcycles to eager Indian enthusiasts.

[hikozaru]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

However, as good as the RS457 is, the Aprilia dealerships have a really long way to go, before they can cater to the reasonable expectations of the enthusiast community in the country. After we entered the showroom, not one single employee paid any attention to us for over 10 minutes. We asked the receptionists for a test ride, and in turn, they requested a sales executive to arrange for the same. We were promptly ignored the gentleman, who didnt even look our way and he went on to conduct the upcoming delivery. Finally, after we repeatedly reminded the receptionists about the pending test ride, another gentleman arranged for a helmet that smelled like someone had left fish to rot in it for a week and a half. My friend outright refused to even try on that helmet and asked for an alternate one. With that, this second gentleman disappeared like a Chris Angel magic trick, almost never to be seen again. Tired of all this incompetence, we had a friendly chat with the management, who promised to set things right and to their credit, finally things were in motion.

I am not an Aprilia shill but they, at least the sales team is doing a good job in Bangalore. Perhaps they thought your friend was just browsing because he did not bring his own helmet?

It is a great bike, interested in hearing why you got the duke instead of this.

[mak.prasada]

I have had a similar experience with a dealership here in Hyderabad.
Since I got my car a few years back, my 500 is just gathering dust. After the 457 reveal, my interest was piqued and I took some time out of my day and went to the nearest Aprilia dealership.

Granted, this was not the dealership for 457 (only one in Hyderabad apparently), however, there were three people in the showroom and all of them were busy on their phones to attend to the only customer in the store. Further, after telling them that I was interested in 457, one of them started giving me advise as to why such a bike is not for Indian roads and that my commonsense should prevail not to buy such a bike. Needless to say, commonsense did prevail, and I left the showroom. I was initially happy to put down the deposit, now I keep thinking I don't even use bikes do I need to spend some more on them, all because those guys were disinterested. Might be a one-off experience, but these people are the first point of contact for a person approaching the brand and need to well-trained.

[Zyppher]

Such experiences are very bad indeed.

I myself had kind of same experience when I went to go and check out the 457 at Aprilia Showroom in Okhla Phase 2 in Delhi.

My younger brother who was very much interested in putting the deposit for the bike as he has been wanting to get a faired bike from quiet sometime and to be honest in papers the 457 seems to be one of the best ones available in the segment.

But after the showroom visit the only thing he said was "I am happy with what I am currently riding I do not want to get into this mess".

So the showroom had 2 vehicles, one was on the showroom floor for display and the other one was downstairs in the parking area where all the test ride vehicles were standing. There was only 1 sales guy and we had to wait close to 15 min just so he can get free from the other potential customers. The sales rep was okay, he did give us the information and when asked about the accessories he said "Pehle bike lelo sir, in sab ke bare me baad me sochna". I was like dude we install all the accessories while taking the delivery of the bike.

Then came the time we asked to show the console of the bike. The one standing on the showroom floor had a dead battery we had to go downstairs to the bike parked in the test ride area. All was fine he showed us the vehicle and everything then when we asked to take it was a test ride (note we had out helmets and gears with us) we were told that for test ride we need to go to another showroom which was 25 kms away. Upon asking the reason i was greeted with the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard. They said Sir roads here are not good we cannot give test ride here, I wanted to as then please take us to the track to get a test ride but kept it to myself. I and my brother quietly thanked them and left the showroom with same conclusion that we can get an R3 but not the 457, the place whose pre sales service is so pathetic we can only imagine what the post sales would be.

TLDR: went to checkout 457, the showroom was short staffed, they did not gave test ride saying the roads are bad, concluded not to buy one.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by Zyppher

TLDR: went to checkout 457, the showroom was short staffed, they did not gave tesrtide saying the roads are bad, concluded not to buy one.

I got a test ride from this very showroom in May, just walked in and got one without even having to show my license. Left my bike outside their showroom and took a long ride via Kalindi Kunj > Noida Eway > DND and back to Okhla. Pleasant folks, but they never called me back again to ask me when I'm buying it.

[kai]

Originally Posted by Zyppher

Such experiences are very bad indeed.

I ’myself had kind of same experience when I went to go and check out the 457 at Aprilia Showroom in Okhla Phase 2 in Delhi.
…
TLDR: went to checkout 457, the showroom was short staffed, they did not gave test ride saying the roads are bad, concluded not to buy one.

As an Aprilia RS457 owner, these issues that you have pointed out are utterly bothersome. I am from Kolkata and as per my knowledge as of last week, there is only showroom (out of the three mentioned at Aprilia's official website) that is delivering the RS457 in all of West Bengal.

However, since I was the first person to take delivery of the RS457 in Kolkata, the sales team was efficient enough to get things done within the committed time. However, I must say the reluctance of doing the most basic things was visible at almost everything.

I am deeply concermed about their after sales service and customer support. Considering Aprilia is just stepped foot in a country as vast and versatile as ours is, the absence of properly trained technicians, service parts, etc. will eat up a lot of customers. I have already started to see the "this will do" , "chalta hai" attitude among the Aprilia service team rather than exactly pointing out problems and solving them as required.

I don't know when this will even out. But if I may ask, this does, or does not make the Aprilia RS 457 a little less reliable. You will always live in fear of "but what if this or that happens" on your tour with your motorcycle , while you scratch your head for local support from Aprilia.

[amyntor]

Originally Posted by mak.prasada

...
Further, after telling them that I was interested in 457, one of them started giving me advise as to why such a bike is not for Indian roads and that my commonsense should prevail not to buy such a bike. Needless to say, commonsense did prevail, and I left the showroom.
...

Wow! Does Aprilia even want to sell these bikes in India?

[Zyppher]

Originally Posted by boniver

I got a test ride from this very showroom in May, just walked in and got one without even having to show my license. Left my bike outside their showroom and took a long ride via Kalindi Kunj > Noida Eway > DND and back to Okhla. Pleasant folks, but they never called me back again to ask me when I'm buying it.

Thanks for sharing your experience I will definitely make sure to give this reference if I go again for the test ride.

Originally Posted by amyntor

Wow! Does Aprilia even want to sell these bikes in India?

Haha I wont say that, but yes they definitely need to work on public dealing and customer experience since for the past aprillia has been selling only scooters, and the same sales reps need to be educated and trained to deal with customers looking for a premium motercycle which is kind of the leader in its segment.

The bike has potential to show good sales but the employees need to be willing to sell them as well…!