Ollie.T's Aprilia RS250 rebuild and restore

[Fast Eddie]

oh mint the choke nuts are cheap, did you get em from a suzuki dealer? I'll go check em out tmoro see if my suzuki shop charges the same.

86 bucks a head gasket! shit.. I just bought a complete set of gaskets, every gasket on the bike, but it was under 200 im pretty sure for every single gasket on the bike, exhaust, heads, base etc etc

u decided not to do the o-ring conversion? at 86 a head gasket it could be worth it after all haha!

[Ollie.T]

I was gonna wait a bit on the O ring conversion until i saw the price they wanted for the gaskets!
Now I'm seriously considering it again... the 1.4mm base gaskets are pretty pricey too (about the same price that the shop wanted for the head gaskets!) and I also have to track down some of those O rings and find a machinist type person I trust in Wgtn to do the job.

With the gold valve emulator kit thing, will that work with our forks? I never asked but I imagined as we had one fork leg, doing twice the amount of work than normal, the specs would be all wrong. Though if it would work, and we did only need the one emulator, we could go halves on a set (that is, unless there is a left and right emulator? Truly i have no real idea of what I am talking about....)

[Kickaha]

Truly i have no real idea of what I am talking about....)

That's ok, neither does he

[Ollie.T]

Which is why I sent the forks to Rob Taylor for him to look at. He makes youtube videos - he MUST know what he's talking about!

[Fast Eddie]

That's ok, neither does he

haha too right ya bastard

[Fast Eddie]

With the gold valve emulator kit thing, will that work with our forks? I never asked but I imagined as we had one fork leg, doing twice the amount of work than normal, the specs would be all wrong. Though if it would work, and we did only need the one emulator, we could go halves on a set (that is, unless there is a left and right emulator? Truly i have no real idea of what I am talking about....)

yea the front forks on these mk1s are retarded, I will have to enquire a bit more - I think the kit includes valves for the one leg and springs and whatever for the other leg - otherwise a swap to normal symmetrical forks might be an option for me..

the 1,500 quote I got from KSS was for some serious tuning I believe, close to ohlins quality.

[gammaguy]

http://www.motoparts-online.com/apps...s/show/2493973

[GSW]

Hey dude I dont know if you have a good manual, but here is a link to a direct pdf download for an "Aprilia_RS250 Service Manual - 1995-1997"
http://www.carlsalter.com/download.asp?p=102.

[Ollie.T]

Cheers, though I dont know if there is such a thing as a good manual for the Aprilia, they are all half in Italian and with next to useless diagrams

Finding a manual was the first thing I did - even before buying the bike!

Man, I hate waiting for the post. And getting out broken bolts. And finding replacement bolts for the broken bolts...

And I have to get up fucking early tomorrow... But thats all part of the fun!

[Ollie.T]

Anyway whats been going on it's been a little quiet of late?Do you two need some inspiration?kick up the rear?..i'm hoping to have her all together and run in by sunday.

Been pretty busy with life & everything else, so have not been able to even touch the bike for the last week and a half.
However, I got a parcel in the post from the tuning works, containing a gasket set and various carb and power valve screws.
Also, got a email from Rob Taylor on Thursday, saying forks are done and are in the post!
I guess this served as a kick up the bum as I managed to get back out into the shed today and got a bit done.

Still can't get the power valve screws out, and one of them is looking a lot worse for wear due to my efforts, so I took the whole cylinder off, gave them a clean and gonna take them round to a engineering place if I get the chance tomorrow, let them have a crack at it.
Also, this let me check out the piston skirt and have a look right through the cylinders. The bottom one looks sweet as, but there is a bit of scuffing on the top one. Normal piston wear or something to be a bit more concerned about?

Also, as I was taking the top cylinder off, I found the source of that constant buzzing noise that I can hear when Im riding - I always thought it was a normal two stroke noise!

[Ollie.T]

Also, took the carbs apart to give them a clean - Though I have no idea how they work.

Ok, well i got a vague idea how they work and what all the bits do, but I have no idea how to make sure they are set up right so my bike doesn't explode (which I am trying to avoid)

It looks like there is some sort of paint or mineralization? in the bowl, someone has had a go at it in the past with some sort of scrapey thing, should I continue on where they left off and get it as close to spotless as I can?

There is also a little bit of rust in places which I will get off - just ran out of time today (any advice on the best way to do this?)

Lastly, it looks like the overflow pipe has been soldered up. Is this normal?

At the moment I'm thinking of just cleaning them up, putting them back together and taking it in to a bike shop and getting them to actually set them up properly - unless someone here can guide me through what to do and what to look for?

[Ollie.T]

Also, how do people clean brake calipers properly?

I have got mine cleaner than they were, but they still have black crud on them which is resisting my best efforts (and I have not used anything too strong on them because I don't want to destroy the seals round the pistons, I have heard they are hard to find replacements for....)

Should I split them open carefully, clean and reuse the seals? or just clean them while together?

[eelracing]

[QUOTE=Ollie.T;1130323105]
Still can't get the power valve screws out, and one of them is looking a lot worse for wear due to my efforts.
An impact screwdriver will have those puppies out no probs

[QUOTE=Ollie.T]Also, this let me check out the piston skirt and have a look right through the cylinders. there is a bit of scuffing on the top one. Normal piston wear or something to be a bit more concerned about?[QUOTE]


Photo is not the best but it looks like at some stage it has had a slight seizure...don't panic yet as a light rub down with very fine sandpaper and kerosene should remove what looks like a bit of melted piston on the cylinders nikasil lining.Lets hope the nikasil has not been scored up at all especially on the exhaust port bridge,coz then you will be looking at re-nikasiling...not cheap.

Of course I would be replacing the piston and rings as well,just for peace of mind.[COLOR="#FFFF00"]

Also, as I was taking the top cylinder off, I found the source of that constant buzzing noise that I can hear when Im riding - I always thought it was a normal two stroke noise!

Haha better there than buzzing around your helmet.

[QUOTE=Ollie.T;1130323114]Also, took the carbs apart to give them a clean - Though I have no idea how they work.

Ok, well i got a vague idea how they work and what all the bits do, but I have no idea how to make sure they are set up right so my bike doesn't explode (which I am trying to avoid)

It looks like there is some sort of paint or mineralization? in the bowl, someone has had a go at it in the past with some sort of scrapey thing, should I continue on where they left off and get it as close to spotless as I can?

There is also a little bit of rust in places which I will get off - just ran out of time today (any advice on the best way to do this?)[QUOTE]



Strip down carbs one at a time so you can always use the other as a reference source if you get stuck or forget what went where...altho your manual should have it covered.
A really good cleaner is CRC's Clean.R.Carb...it is powerfull stuff so make sure your work area is well ventilated and don't smoke around it.Its also good for cleaning/scrubbing brake calipers and all that gunk in your powervalve housing.Carbies are pretty basic and easy to get your head around once you've done it a few times,but just make sure your running standard main jets (manual again)and give all the jets a good blow-out with compressed air.


[QUOTE=Ollie.T]Lastly, it looks like the overflow pipe has been soldered up. Is this normal?[QUOTE]


No and is indicative of a munter previous owner.Get it off and if carb is still overflowing then it is either a float height issue or worn float needle.All an easy and cheap fix and once again your manual should have it covered



[QUOTE=Ollie.T;1130323147]Also, how do people clean brake calipers properly?[QUOTE]

As above and an old toothbrush...now get to it.

[Ollie.T]

Tried the impact driver, no luck, tried butane pencil torch then impact driver, no luck. My bro is mates with a few engineers, so just get one of them to do it.

I'll try and clean up the cylinder... Was really hoping that I wouldn't have to get new piston... it means a few more weeks and less money, which Im trying to save...
I was planning on trying to get ~2000km more out of this set of pistons and then doing the 1.4mm gasket mod when I rebuild again. You reckon this is asking for trouble?

And how to remove the solder? heat it up with butane torch and try and use something to wick it out? I guess it depends how deep it is...

And I shouldn't worry to much about getting solvent type stuff around the brake pistons? I thought that was something to avoid?

[tigertim20]

Tried the impact driver, no luck, tried butane pencil torch then impact driver, no luck. My bro is mates with a few engineers, so just get one of them to do it.

I'll try and clean up the cylinder... Was really hoping that I wouldn't have to get new piston... it means a few more weeks and less money, which Im trying to save...
I was planning on trying to get ~2000km more out of this set of pistons and then doing the 1.4mm gasket mod when I rebuild again. You reckon this is asking for trouble?

And how to remove the solder? heat it up with butane torch and try and use something to wick it out? I guess it depends how deep it is...

And I shouldn't worry to much about getting solvent type stuff around the brake pistons? I thought that was something to avoid?

you have it all apart now, do as much as possible while its apart now