1996 Aprilia RS 250

1996 Aprilia RS 250 sits at the top of Aprilia's sportbike range for the era, a small-displacement machine built with genuinely serious intent rather than as a stepping-stone commuter. This is a two-stroke V-twin built around a Suzuki-derived engine and a chassis that Aprilia clearly prioritized over raw output, with sharp, race-replica handling that rewards riders who like to keep momentum up and use the whole rev range rather than short-shift through traffic. It's a physical, involving bike to ride, one that punishes lazy inputs and delivers real feedback through the bars and pegs. Owning one means learning two-stroke maintenance habits and accepting a peaky powerband as part of the character, not a flaw. The 1996 model carried over without significant mechanical changes from the prior year — buyers comparing it to a 1995 example should focus on mileage, service history, and condition rather than spec differences. Buyers today tend to be former racers, two-stroke loyalists, or collectors chasing the last generation of unrestricted small-bore sportbikes, and with collector interest running high, clean, unmolested examples of the 1996 Aprilia RS 250 are increasingly hard to find at sensible prices.