Fast Eddie's Aprilia RS250 rebuild & restore [Archive] - Page 2

ducatilover

19th August 2012, 21:52

Polish them bitches boy!

Dremels suck for any proper polishing, I got one just to prove it. I can't stand it.
They're only good for going over it after polishing it the old fashioned way.
Get something decent size (like Hayd3n used) and go hard, otherwise just use the dremel for those faggoty jobs like cleaning yer teeth

hayd3n

19th August 2012, 21:56

nah i won't sand with power shit... gets too uneven too quick. good point.

yea looks neat, I see you don't quite have a neat line between black and polished ;) haha thats why i carried on.. thought i would strip it all off then make a nice neat job of the center.. but no can't be assed.

what I have is like casting marks on my rims tho? they are all stripped of paint and there are lots of like fine lines over the rims and lips.. as if its been machined before or something. the spokes are ok, fairly smooth but casting marks as well here and there.

so gotta wet sand it or something to grind and rub it all down smooth then polish... little bit of a prick/time consuming.
i plan on repainting the centres and disks at a later date i dont have stands or a garage so removing the rims isint a straight forward task it involves borrowing a decent strop and lifting my bike from the upper sundeck

Fast Eddie

20th August 2012, 11:48

Polish them bitches boy!
Get something decent size (like Hayd3n used) and go hard, otherwise just use the dremel for those faggoty jobs like cleaning yer teeth
yea, i recon ill just grab a 30 buck bit off trademe, the ad claims its the bit that ppl use to polish rims and engines :D haha gotta work

i plan on repainting the centres and disks at a later date i dont have stands or a garage so removing the rims isint a straight forward task it involves borrowing a decent strop and lifting my bike from the upper sundeck

you're more than welcome to come use my sheds bro, under cover, i got stands/lifts and all the tools you'd need :) its welcome to sit there for a while as the job gets completed too..

shit i almost have a loaner bike too..

I should open up a garage

ducatilover

20th August 2012, 13:02

I should open up a garage
Di it, I'm in as long as there are smokes and tits.

hayd3n

20th August 2012, 13:56

yea, i recon ill just grab a 30 buck bit off trademe, the ad claims its the bit that ppl use to polish rims and engines :D haha gotta work

you're more than welcome to come use my sheds bro, under cover, i got stands/lifts and all the tools you'd need :) its welcome to sit there for a while as the job gets completed too..

shit i almost have a loaner bike too..

I should open up a garage

thanks ill concider it
i have the old 88 xl250 as a runaround anyway just need to replace the rev counter cable again and fix the speedo

Fast Eddie

29th October 2012, 08:11

Woah.. dust this f*ckn thread off and lets get back to it.

Sidecar is up in Hamilton recieving repairs after I bumped it into a wall and flipped it over at Hampton Downs over the long weekend, vids on www.youtube.com/southislandsidecars.

Anyway since thats on the North Island I'v got the RS to fill my time with, just tinkering around with it seeing what I need to do to finish it off - one thing I want to do now quickly is remove all the old oil out of the resevoir tank in subframe and fill it with fresh stuff before I run the engine.

Having trouble getting the oil tank out of the subframe though - any RS owners shed some light on removing the oil tank without having to pull apart the subframe and remove all those plastics.

2nd option is just to unplug the oil line and let it drain out that way.

I want to make myself new ign leads too.. the plug cap end is easy.. but the coil end im reluctant to mess with until I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

On the hunt for some reasonable clip on handle bars and reasonable rear sets for the bike.. need to rebuild front forks and get some new tyres and I think I'm away! just in time for Summer eh.

Found oem sticker kits so a full repaint back to factory fresh is on the cards too. (still hunting for a decent sticker kit for the blade.. found a place in UK does some of the blade schemes but not my one yet)

imdying

29th October 2012, 08:52

ducatilover

29th October 2012, 13:46

Hurry up and finish it you limp prick

Fast Eddie

29th October 2012, 17:17

You need to cut down into coil lead lengthwise into the coil body with a sharp flathead or pen knife. It won't give any more trouble after that, should come out with just a tug.

I have a set of Gilles Tooling GPLight clipons here, RGV fitment, 50mm I think, maybe that fit an RS250, I don't know.

sweet, second question - where can you buy ignition lead/cable just by itself with no end caps on.. quick google didnt return much.

could be keen on those clipons if you want to off load them? I'll measure my fork tubes tmoro

Fast Eddie

29th October 2012, 17:17

Hurry up and finish it you limp prick

too right, might be a little while yet - gotta pay for sidecar repairs and finish that trailer too lol..

but I'll get there

ducatilover

29th October 2012, 18:45

Whinge 'nd moan!

Fast Eddie

29th October 2012, 19:06

Whinge 'nd moan!

find me a place that sells ignition lead blank with no end caps on on the cheap..
surely someone just sells it by the meter or something so people can cut their own lengths and put their own caps on

ducatilover

29th October 2012, 21:25

Tried the likes of BNT, staparts, proparts, partmaster etc?

Fast Eddie

30th October 2012, 06:39

Tried the likes of BNT, staparts, proparts, partmaster etc?

yea done BNT, never hears of staparts and proparts will google! chur, and no partsmaster in dunners but can try when im in chch

imdying

30th October 2012, 08:20

Supercheap on Stanmore, or Butlers on Stanmore.

Fast Eddie

30th October 2012, 12:00

Supercheap on Stanmore, or Butlers on Stanmore.

Chur, can go there when I'm in chch, BNT sent me to a place called AP-Co or something today, didn't find it with their directions but will google map it and hit it up tomorrow, apparently they just sell it by the meter. chur!

still can't get the damn oil tank out of the tail of the rs250... surely it can be done without pulling the whole subframe apart.. or am I just lazy

imdying

30th October 2012, 12:20

Chur, can go there when I'm in chch, BNT sent me to a place called AP-Co or something today, didn't find it with their directions but will google map it and hit it up tomorrow, apparently they just sell it by the meter. chur!

still can't get the damn oil tank out of the tail of the rs250... surely it can be done without pulling the whole subframe apart.. or am I just lazy

Appco is the trade arm of Repco... it's where you find the old guys who know about selling parts rather than fresh out of school kids that have no fucking idea what points are.

ducatilover

30th October 2012, 13:33

Appco is the trade arm of Repco... it's where you find the old guys who know about selling parts rather than fresh out of school kids that have no fucking idea what points are.
Reminds me of the last time I went to ropeco
"Hi there, after an oil filter for a 1st gen 4AF in an AE92 corolla sedan, here's the part number"
"Have you got your rego number?"
"I just gave you YOUR part number, type it in"
*types P/N in....* "oh, yeah we have that one in stock"

Useless fucks. Had to do the same thing looking for fork seals at the local bunch, "here's a list of all the bikes with the same seals, here are the dimensions, here are all the part numbers that cross over"
"Err, can't find them" :faceplam:
10 min on the net and pyramidparts had a set in teh mail, at a good price

So much for shopping local, I'd rather have the three day wait to get something faster/cheaper off the net and not have to deal with people with absolutely no mechanical aptitude.

baffa

30th October 2012, 14:20

Fast Eddie

31st October 2012, 09:26

What colour scheme you thinking of for the paint?

Im thinking of getting a signwriter to knock out some decals for the blade, I dont want all the original ones, they look a little too busy, just a fireblade on each side of the tail, the honda logo on each side of the tank, and the double Rs on the fairings would look good.

I'm a fan of keeping shit OEM bro, so the aprilia stickers are actual OEM replicas, it'll look the same as now, black with the chesterfield livery on it from the early 90's grand prix days.

and the blade, same thing, I found an outfit that does good quality oem replica blade graphics but haven't found the right ones for my model yet.

gotta be factory! haha, I like the blade scheme, you need busy graphics on jap bikes to break it up a bit.. gives it some depth i recon.

but personal taste eh..

and as for paint itself, factory matched colors.. the aim is to make them look like they just rolled off the assembly line brand new.. took me long enough just to color match the seat cowl haha, But I got all the color codes/recipes now.. bit of a mish! blade had slightly hard to get shades. The aprilia just jet black at least

Fast Eddie

25th November 2012, 16:23

Since I'm still minus a hand, the mrs helped do a few hours on the aprilia today, need some smaller circlip pliers to remove the water pump impeller from sidecover. paint and bake a few parts.
getting there, do a few hours after work tomorrow - might even run it for first time tomorrow.

front forks still to be rebuilt, clip ons to be purchased and need tyres. sold the old ones while I was polishing the rims.. :weird:

umm exhaust needs welding I think.. on one the collar that mounts it to the head is fixed on the other its loose, so I assume that ones broken.

gettin there!

mrs is motivatin me cause I told her she can ride it... which means we will soon be rebuilding it :D haha naa she's all good.

Ollie.T

25th November 2012, 17:15

Depending on budget, these tyres are the right size i think (can't be bothered going out to garage and checking...)

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/154632-power-ones-and-a12h-dunlops

not bad price, depending on condition...

Fast Eddie

25th November 2012, 17:32

chur bro, yea sent him a pm.

Fast Eddie

9th December 2012, 13:35

Bike was coming along nicely, Got some nice near new tyres for cheap cheap thanks to that link above. So new hoops to go on the polished wheels.

Ran into a hitch when trying to just spin the motor by hand and notice it had a little tight spot.. so back on the bench and pulled top cyl off for some measuring.

Not sure whats going on - both of the old pistons slide up and down in it fine (its original piston and the old piston from the bottom cyl too)

It'll be measuring time, gotta go buy an accurate bore gauge/micrometer as the stuff I have is a bit cheap and is giving me estimates more than measurements. None of the usual repco/supercheap had anything suitable. Monday will be shopping day.

Was hoping to run it/ride it before xmas! but this is a set back.

Ordered bunch of bits off TTW tho.. so getting there. Still gotta get some cheap clip ons, fix the exhaust and change front fork seals but gettin there.

Fast Eddie

10th December 2012, 12:48

Anyone have some base gaskets for the RGV/RS250 motor in NZ?

Chur! saves me the overseas postage from TTW or ebay..

Asher

10th December 2012, 14:12

I have a base gasket that I use as a template. Want me to trace it onto some cardboard and sent that down.

Fast Eddie

10th December 2012, 16:15

I have a base gasket that I use as a template. Want me to trace it onto some cardboard and sent that down.

yip that would be even better, I was going to try trace the cylinder but was a bit lazy. old gaskets are fucked now after taking cylinders back off.

pm'd ya my addy. I can sling ya some postage money

Fast Eddie

18th December 2012, 10:05

Got a gasket template off Asher, chur
And got 2 Dunlop A12h hoops off Kiwi cowboy, which look and feel nice and sticky. They will go on the rims soon .. thanks! and thanks for gettin the mrs to deliver them to me too! :D

So back into it, getting close to riding it again!

Sadly we gotta go North on Wednesday for Family Xmas and Racing in Wangas (not so sad for that) so prob won't finish the bike til 2013!! oh well, shes been a long journey.

Got heaaaps of photos to sort and upload, probably do one big list of posts from start to finish of build. Did a a fair bit to the motor and the whole bike. Stripped it right down to bare frame n swingarm and pulled every bit apart for a clean, replace or repair.

TTW has a lot of my money! I wish the postage wasn't such a killer, its great buying from TTW but the postage is through the roof! bloody GBP exchange rate.

imdying

18th December 2012, 10:27

Weird, I got all sorts of shite... discs, ignition systems, Brembo radials, freight was only 85GBP.

Fast Eddie

18th December 2012, 10:44

Weird, I got all sorts of shite... discs, ignition systems, Brembo radials, freight was only 85GBP.

it goes by weight doesn't it..

anyway I seem to pay about the same in freight as whatever I'm buying, I tried doing bulk orders but since it goes by weight the more you buy the more you pay.

imdying

18th December 2012, 11:19

Yeah same, try and get as much as possible all at once. I've never worried about the price though, I can't make it myself, and I can't fly over there to pick it up!

Fast Eddie

18th December 2012, 14:37

I've never worried about the price though, I can't make it myself!

this is true.. haha, I don't really mind about the price.. I was just going through invoices and adding up all the freight I've paid :D no worries tho!

still got a minor issue with my motor, so had to pull it back apart and have a measure up, it wasn't spinning freely by hand, was binding at TDC on the top cylinder.. bottom cyl seems smooth as..

can worry bout it in the new year - xmas time! and street racing time in Wanganui yee ha!

imdying

18th December 2012, 14:51

What's the squish on each cylinder?

Fast Eddie

18th December 2012, 15:02

What's the squish on each cylinder?

too large, I was gonna have to pull it apart to bring it down anyway, 1.4mm I have written down.

but it was still binding at TDC with heads back off.. old piston which is same size as new one.. works fine tho.. I swapped rings round but that new piston is just not keen to slide up and down smoothly.. I even put the old cylinder from the bottom cyl in to see if maybe the cyl was out of round and its orig piston was same shape - but nah piston from bottom cyl works sweet too..

imdying

18th December 2012, 15:22

Fast Eddie

18th December 2012, 17:12

Yeah, not much squish effect will happen at 1.4! Sounds like you need some decent measuring tools for this one... something ain't round!

Has it been plated? Has the bridge been relieved? The ports chamfered?

yea - worry about it after xmas and the nationals racing etc. Will get better micrometers and bore gauges. $$$

Has not been plated no, bridge relieved no and chamfered no. I have taken a little bit of meat out of the exhaust port but barely anything, it was smaller than it should have been according to book. Just trying my hand at blue printing. As far as the internal surface of the cylinder it should be untouched and clean. Either its not round anymore or one of the new pistons I bought is a dud (does that ever happen.. maybe?)

imdying

19th December 2012, 14:19

Nothing is ever to be taken for granted I guess.

Fast Eddie

20th December 2012, 09:19

Nothing is ever to be taken for granted I guess.

bingo,

maybe santa will bring me a decent micrometer and bore gauge, mine were cheap off tradme so probably not the best.. time to invest (always blame your tools fellas, lesson number 1)

will get back into this in the new year and finish it!!

in the meantime, those of you interested make your way to the Sidecar Racing thread in the Racing forum and keep an eye on it after boxing day - Will post up pics and videos of the Wanganui Street Races!

yee ha

imdying

20th December 2012, 09:34

I don't use anything special, just Mitutoyo gear. No idea if they're much good, but there's engineers on here so I assume someone will be along with that answer.

speights_bud

20th December 2012, 10:15

Your measuring gear is only as good as it's calibration... You need to get youself a set of slip gauges, or drop ointo a precision engineering workshop and they may have some you can compare your micrometer to. Telescopic gauges can be checked on a bore ring, but you have to be sure that your micrometer is calibrated 100% accurately at the diameter.

I'd check both max and minimum sizes each micrometer measures, as well as the size that you think your bore should be. wouldn't hurt to check in 5mm increments along the way.

Because you've bought 2nd hand gear you don't really know how old it is or how it was treated in the past, dropping it once or even knocking the spindle can be enough to bugger it for life. This is why i don't let anyone borrow my measuring gear...

I don't use anything special, just Mitutoyo gear. No idea if they're much good, but there's engineers on here so I assume someone will be along with that answer.
Mitutoyo is good, its the 'name brand' to have, but as i said above, its how its treated that really matters