Fast Eddie's Aprilia RS250 rebuild & restore

[Fast Eddie]

Which place did you send the engine parts into in the end, the place by dick smiths, or the stafford street lot?
Cost me $15 for a hone at stafford st - pretty happy with that!

the cylinders are at a place called United Engineers, its by the skatepark and train station area. They are just removing some broken screws and the rusted out water spigots out of the cylinders for me cause I couldn't get them out with the tools I had sadly. They are cheap and do cash jobs on the side which is sweet

Will take it to the stafford st place for a look at a hone out.. but I think its complicated with these cylinders due to the nikasil coating? but not sure if they actually have that coating or not. havent confirmed it online yet. maybe someone on here knows..

oh also, the Advanced Anodizing place said they could get any color you wanted pretty much depends on whats being anodized etc but yea, they said they could do any color you wanted if they didnt have it they would source it. but they def did the gold and black which i want for now

[footprintracing]

Awesome thread Fast Eddie! Good following someone elses project when youve got one on yourself to glean ideas and info off Will have to look into anodizing my front forks as well at that place in Tokoroa i think

[ducatilover]

Nikasil makes me facepalm. Thankfully our petrols aren't too sulfuric so our Nikasil bores don't tend to get eaten too fast.

Fuck ya, I want brembos now. Cunt.

[gatch]

wicked, cheers for the link will ring them up too for a quote - did you send them motorbike parts or other stuff? the one guys I rang had done a few fork tubes and bike parts before so they were confident at least.

Nar I've never sent them anything personally, some ali pneumatic cylinders though. Which is the same sort of deal as fork. Thin ali tubes. Came back mint. If it is decorative anodizing, the coloring is just a dye they add in at some point.. Easy stuff.

I intend to get my fork bottoms, frame and swingarm done at some point.

[Fast Eddie]

These water spigots are not cast in are they? anyone know?

Engineer shop recons they can't get them out and asked me if they were cast in and I said nah, cause on TTW they sell the little spigots..

[gatch]

These water spigots are not cast in are they? anyone know?

Engineer shop recons they can't get them out and asked me if they were cast in and I said nah, cause on TTW they sell the little spigots..

I wouldn't have thought so. But I have been wrong before.

Do the replacement ones have a thread on them ? If they are the same they could be so badly corroded they are essentially welded in. May need to be bored out. Tell them it shouldn't take more than an hour. If they whinge, send them to me and I'll do it for cash. and a fang on the bike when it's finished...

[Fast Eddie]

Do the replacement ones have a thread on them ? If they are the same they could be so badly corroded they are essentially welded in. May need to be bored out. Tell them it shouldn't take more than an hour. If they whinge, send them to me and I'll do it for cash. and a fang on the bike when it's finished...

haha, you don't live in Dunedin tho do ya?

The replacement ones have no thread on them.. I assumed you just sorta banged them in with a soft face hammer..

The ones in there are pretty bad, in the photo you can see its rusted right through the pipe, a few holes.

[Madness]

the cylinders are at a place called United Engineers, its by the skatepark and train station area. They are cheap and do cash jobs on the side which is sweet.

The Inland Revenue Department thanks you for your post.

[Fast Eddie]

The Inland Revenue Department thanks you for your post.

lol its welcome. I'm sure they pay tax. They just don't have eftpos - cash only. and cash jobs on the side was meant as in for general public bringing in bike cylinders. they usually do commercial stuff and are quite busy every time i go in but are friendly and keen to help out when they can fit it in between their proper work

[gatch]

haha, you don't live in Dunedin tho do ya?

The replacement ones have no thread on them.. I assumed you just sorta banged them in with a soft face hammer..

The ones in there are pretty bad, in the photo you can see its rusted right through the pipe, a few holes.

Have you got access to a die grinder ? You may be able to grind (CAREFULLY !!) into the inside of the spigots, to make thin spots, then cave them in with a punch, or something.

Or get them machined out..

No I live in palmerston north. I work in a machine shop..

[gammaguy]

to answer some of your questions,not necessarily in any order

never hone the cylinders,they are hard coated and doing so will fuck them.replace the pistons with new ones,oversizes are NOT available.

the water pipe is pressed in.to get a corroded one out,it will need to be either heated and pulled out or basically destroyed from within with a die grinder.

when you put it all back together,use coolant mixed at 50%.or you will be doing all this again.

Be very careful with the power valves,they are a weak point and fall into the cylinder when worn and fuck everything inside.If in doubt,replace them.There is a crowd in australia making improved ones,google it.

check the bottom end,because a new top end on a worn bottom end means you will soon be seeing all those parts again a lot sooner than you expected.

dont cut corners on oil,use a good quality 2T full synthetic(im not getting into the brand wars,I have my personal favorite,you probably have yours)

And yes,i know a lot about these engines....I sell them, have rebuilt many of them and even helped a good friend of mine almost win a championship with one a few years back.

good luck flying the 2T flag,I have done so for years.

[Fast Eddie]

good luck flying the 2T flag,I have done so for years.

Cheers. Yes I know the cylinders are coated in Nikasil I believe
Must be able to hone out the cylinders and recoat them though? surely one can recondition them - the Nikasil can be reapplied/recoated, no? I have some wear on the inside of mine. (TTW sells reconditioned cylinders so it must be possible)

Obviously going to replace my pistons.. look at the state of them in the photos haha! Oversize pistons are definitely available - thetuningworks.co.uk.. they have 3 or 4 different sizes, they will sell u a 300cc kit too if u have cash.

will use anti corrosive coolant after rebuild for sure, thats a given lol have left cylinders at engineers they will get the water spigots out one way or another.

powervalves are a well known issue. mine look ok, and again thetuningworks sells modifications to solve the weak pin problem or sells a different style of powervalve altogether from Cougar racing products. $$$ tho.

Cheers for the post. keep riding those smokers.

[hayd3n]

haha, you don't live in Dunedin tho do ya?

The replacement ones have no thread on them.. I assumed you just sorta banged them in with a soft face hammer..

The ones in there are pretty bad, in the photo you can see its rusted right through the pipe, a few holes.

ues a press to press them in

[Kickaha]

Must be able to hone out the cylinders and recoat them though? surely one can recondition them - the Nikasil can be reapplied/recoated, no? I have some wear on the inside of mine. (TTW sells reconditioned cylinders so it must be possible).

You don't hone them, if they need replating you go see these guys nzcylinders.co.nz and fort out $600 odd per cylinder

[eelracing]

These water spigots are not cast in are they? anyone know?

Engineer shop recons they can't get them out and asked me if they were cast in and I said nah, cause on TTW they sell the little spigots..

Further to Gamma's post,apply heat then clamp the spigot in a vice.This will crush the spigot in the process (it's toast anyway) and hopefully weakening it's hold.Then by twisting the cylinder in a circular motion you may work it free.