Aprilia RS250 Help

[RS 250]

I rode my RS250 around to a mates place and was there for a couple of hours. And when I went to leave my kickstart was locked solid and It won't budge at all. Now It's been sitting in the back shed now for a couple of months and finally decided to do something about it. Firstly does anyone know what could be wrong with it and where would the best place to get it fixed in the Tauranga area. It's been maintained well and only done a few months on new Pistons,rings, and Powervalves.

[Ixion]

Hydrolock? Was it running OK when you rode to the mates place?

[Buster]

Could possibly be a broken powervalve moved into the cylinder when you shut down the engine.

[Ixion]

I presume when you say the kickstart was solid, that you mean the engine was locked. Can you turn the engine by putting the bike on some form of stand and turning the rear wheel with the bike in top gear ? Either forward or backward? (Try carefully and gently , do not apply great force)

[RS 250]

Yeah bike had been running sweet previously, Had no problems with it. The kick start wont budge. I can move the bike around in nuetral but havn't tried it in gear yet. I'll try tommorrow. Thanx for all the help guys.

[2much]

Agree with Ixion, it could be hydrolocked (hopefully anyway). Pull the plug out then see if you can turn the engine over.

[What?]

If it still won't turn over with the sparkplugs out, go to The Motorbike Shop in MacDonald st at the mount (behind GP Honda). Ph Ian on 574 2030.

[imdying]

What sort of 2 stroke oil were you feeding it?

[Mr. Peanut]

What's two-stroke oil? I wish I had an NSR.... :innocent:

[RS 250]

It's been running on Motul 100% synthetic 2 stroke oil

[2much]

so any success with getting it to turn over?

[wildcat_lgf]

There are a few different recommendations for 2-stroke oil. Fully synthetic is recommended by guys in the UK (for my Cagiva Mito too) but spoke with a couple of shops here who recommend semi-synthetic as they said the fully synthetic is "too slippery" and doesn't lubricate well enough...Could be seized. (Want to sell :blip: )

[SimJen]

There are a few different recommendations for 2-stroke oil. Fully synthetic is recommended by guys in the UK (for my Cagiva Mito too) but spoke with a couple of shops here who recommend semi-synthetic as they said the fully synthetic is "too slippery" and doesn't lubricate well enough...Could be seized. (Want to sell :blip: )

Woteva....
Sounds a crock of shit to me.
Any high performance two stroke should be running on the best oil you can get, namely a high grade synthetic.
A lot of peeps have a habit of running an oil that is too thick for an oil injected bike though. Most full race oils are designed for premix only so be sure to check the bottle.
If the oil is too thick the pump will have a hard time and the motor may not get its full quota.
Most shops these days have no idea how to look after high performance two stroke road bikes......comes with dealing with fuel injected computer controlled rockets I spose.

[marty]

the only issue with running full synthetic, is that on some bikes the wet clutch plate doesn't like the oil. check the owner's manual for the recommended oil.

btw your RS sounds fucked. i'll give you a grand for it.

[Jonty]

I didn't even realise the RS' had a kick start!!!

Hope you get it sorted - I'll give ya $1500

[thesedays]

Sounds like hydrolock or a seisure. Remove the plugs and see if it will move when kicked (and see what if anything spews out of the plugs). If it's petrol (did you leave the fuel tap on?)...your carbs will also need checking and possibly new needle valves. With regard to oil..use the best you can and DON't mix brands / types in the same tank as different types can react and block up the oil feeder pipe.

[Ixion]

A conventional piston seizure seems unlikely. The machine was apparently running OK when it was stopped in the normal course of events. It had not recently had a new piston. The odds of a seizure at the exact moment it was stopped would be very low. It's not just a jammed kick starter pinion ?

[SimJen]

the only issue with running full synthetic, is that on some bikes the wet clutch plate doesn't like the oil. check the owner's manual for the recommended oil.

btw your RS sounds fucked. i'll give you a grand for it.

Two stroke oil is put in the pump oil reservoir, not the gearbox oil.
And gearbox synthetics should no longer have any effect on 4 stroke clutches....if it is made for motorcycles then it should have all the correct friction modifiers etc to enable clutches to still work well.
I think a lot of early problems with clutches and synthetics were caused from Car type synthetics being used. Once the main manufacturers came on board with a specific bike only mix, all the probs pretty much vanished....

[RS 250]

Been to busy at work to do anything about it yet. I'll get on to it this weekend asap.Regardless though i'll get it into a bike shop next week to be checked out. I hope it's not fucked I've spent shitloads on it.(Carbon airbox,carbon guards,braided lines,arrow exhaust,wave discs,etc. I might be selling RS 250 parts shortly.

[ZorsT]

what use is a carbon airbox?

[Mr. Peanut]

Don't question the carbon, it's just better. :yes:

[imdying]

Sex appeal naturally!

[Madness]

Carbon Airbox?? There's your problem right there mate.

[marty]

Two stroke oil is put in the pump oil reservoir, not the gearbox oil.

oh yeah. blonde moment...



And gearbox synthetics should no longer have any effect on 4 stroke clutches....if it is made for motorcycles then it should have all the correct friction modifiers etc to enable clutches to still work well.
I think a lot of early problems with clutches and synthetics were caused from Car type synthetics being used. Once the main manufacturers came on board with a specific bike only mix, all the probs pretty much vanished....



true. people don't always use the right oils though.

[marty]

Two stroke oil is put in the pump oil reservoir, not the gearbox oil.
.

oh yeah. blonde moment...

[RS 250]

I took out the plugs and tried to kick it over,but i'm afraid it looks like she's dead........

[Mr. Peanut]

Take it to the mechanics? :blah: RS250's are worth saving as they are not made anymore. Two stroke engine are not a big deal to fix either.:rockon:

You'll thank me in 20 years when they go for 25k :yes:

[imdying]

Yeah, if it was running ok, it's probably not too bad to fix. Worse cases... siezed and rooted the barrels and pistons, not much over a grand... powervalves dropped in and caused mucho damago, under 2 grand.

[2much]

I still doubt it's seized... Put it in 6th and try turning the engine over by spinning the rear wheel by hand. Probably best to use a paddock stand if you've got one.

[Cajun]

was wondering why i not seen you out about on that bike for a while.

I am on the yellow gsxr 600, that lives further down welcome bay road, i see you every once and a while

[imdying]

I still doubt it's seized... Put it in 6th and try turning the engine over by spinning the rear wheel by hand. Probably best to use a paddock stand if you've got one.Agreed... seems unlikely that it would sieze at the moment you turned it off at a mates place... Turning the rear wheel in 6th is a good idea though... if that turns the motor over, then maybe it simply has a jammed kickstart mechanism.

[Ixion]

Same thing just happened to me on a Suzuki GT500. Came home last weekend, all good, praked in the gargre, all good. Now this weekend, it's seized. solid. Solid as. Without being used in between.I finally freed it up, but. Weird.

See http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?p=668945#post668945

[wildcat_lgf]

I had a similar incident...well not exactly. It was on a ride-on-lawnmower. :)

Was running fine and dandy, then got it stuck in some mud. Turned it off and went to get help to tow it out. Came back and it just wouldn't start (can't remember if it would even turn over).

Turned out to be a seized crankshaft. It somehow got hot enough but the constant movement kept it from locking up. Once it stopped the crank seized completely.

Strange but true.

Hope its not the cause of yours :)

[MidnightMike]

there is a new aprillia shop at the mount on newton st, could get it checked out there. I would definately say get it fixed could mean the diff between 3k in parts or 7k of bike. :rockon:

[**R1**]

I had the same thing happen a few years back on a RGV, I have no idea what the problem was (I do have my suspitions(SP)) but all I did was put it in gear and rolled it backwards, went fine for months after that then i wrote it off...

I suspect it was the piston catching on the power valve but I never pulled it apart to find out..

[vtec]

With regard to putting it in a high gear, and effectively forcing it to turn over. It could be a bad idea. I've heard of people on CBR250's trying to pushstart their bikes, with hydrolock from flooding, and it's broken their engines badly. I'm not saying you've got hydrolock, but if something's jammed you could end up doing it more damage, like maybe breaking conrods. I don't know what is wrong though. Best bet is if you're not going to strip it down yourself, then take it to the bike shop and get them to sort it. You'd probably be better off taking it to a well known twostroke mechanic, as somebody said, most bike shops mostly do 4stroke work, so I wouldn't trust them with a two stroke (unless you know they are good at it).

[2much]

That's why I suggested spinning the rear wheel by hand rather than pushing the bike while in gear.

You would have to be a fucken rough cunt and swing off the wheel pretty damn hard to bend a conrod by hand.

[HDTboy]

I could take a look at it next time I'm in Tauranga. I might scratch my head a bit then tell you I don't know, or I may be able to get it going for ya.

[emaN]

I might scratch my head a bit

dude, told ya to tone it down a bit....think of yer eyesight!