Derestricting Aprilia RS250

[Atomic]

Is there a quick fix for more power?

[tri boy]

How much more do you need!
Those things fly.

[imdying]

AFAIK they weren't restricted (not that I know much about them). NZ new?

[Atomic]

How much more do you need!
Those things fly.

Goes good but a put more punch would be good. More power the better!

[Atomic]

AFAIK they weren't restricted (not that I know much about them). NZ new?

OK, might need to do expansion chambers etc, dunno that the huge expense would be worth the small gains...

AFAIK they are all imports.

[imdying]

AFAIK they are all imports.

Used to be able to buy them new in NZ. It's not the NZ new that's important, but more where it came from... some markets do horrible things :'(

[pritch]

Are you sorted...?
Performance Bikes, March 1999
By Alex Hearn

Listen: 5 % of the time Aprilia's RS250 is the purest, most highly charged motorcycle you will ever ride. 5 %, that's all. Nothing on two wheels can match its race track focus, B-road corner speed, roundabout carving capability and sheer cat-like precision. For the other 95 %, the part that involves boring A-roads, deathly motorways, tickling along with turgid mates, the thing's pants. Useless, a major drag in every respect.

But it's that 5 % that makes the RS250 worthwhile, and so highly desireable in my book. It's all about commitment, is the RS250. Commit yourself fully to riding so hard - within an inch of your being - everywhere and you'll be up there (wherever it is) with the gods. It's that good.

There's no pretence of practicality, and none needed. If you can't fully embrace or understand the concept of this bike, or are too used to he gentle forgiveness of most four strokes (R1 excepted) then don't bother with the Priller. Carry on gathering moss, lovehandles, pension plans, VFR800s and (oops) gray hair.

Want to feel 10,000 volts up your spinal column? Are you ready to forget/ignore the other 95 %? Get one of these bikes. Sell your soul to the two-stroke cycle, mainline a little Silkolene Comp 2 and come on over to the darkside... yes.

Oh alright, enough already. Time for facts: the '99 [identical to the '98] Aprilia RS250 is powered by a six speed 249cc liquid cooled two stroke 90° V-twin, just like it's always been, robbed from the kamikaze Suzuki RGV250. Peak power is 56bhp@10,500rpm with 28 ft-lbs of torque at the same revs. Nothing happens below 8,000rpm, the motor's working but dead. A thousand rpm later it's kicking, screaming and by 11,000rpm you'd better have hooked the next gear or get ready to suffer the brick wall effect.

In effect you've got a band of about 2,500rpm to play with. If you're a fraction late with a down change and the motor bogs, you cruise at a steady speed and the motor bogs... You've got to attack and flog the RS250 at all the time... keep it in that 5 % bracket, or park it.

The gearbox is like the engine. Try a lazy shift, or even a regular-everyday-gearchange and it feels slack, disjointed. But time your foot and wrist to perfection with the barest twitch of movement and changing up a ratio becomes a barely perceptible surgical act. Pulling away from standstill is a balancing act, just the right amount of revs, not too many and not too few, because you'll bog. All controlled between clutch and throttle, with some GP-like body language to keep the front wheel nailed to the ground in first gear.

Aprilia have connected a fancy electronic clockset to the engine. It weaves all sorts of magic: lap times, gear shift light, fastest speed travelled, khp/mph in digital numbers, but all that stuff is meaningless. The only thing to pay any attention to is that big tacho (in the right place and the right size) and the sweeping needle within it. That and the tarmac ahead viewed through the plastic you'll be permanently tucked behind.

The sculpted ally twin spar frame that contains the frenzied powerplant is a quality object, an object where function and form come together with margins to spare. And then there's the swingarm, which is a piece of polished aluminium art. Forks are fully adjustable usd 41mm Showas, the shock a fully adjustable (plus ride height) Boge. Brakes are Brembo 4-pot calipers mated with twin 298mm discs. Check the rear Brembo 2-pot caliper - it's tiny and mounted on the slenderest amounts of metal. Details like this are what make the RS250 special: look at any other sportsbike and most are still chunkily bolted together - for the road, see. Not the RS250, it's built like a 125 but with the strength and grace of a race bike.

The chassis, quite simply, is flawless and could easily cope with more power, lots more power. Most bikes roll onto their sides prior to entering a corner. The RS250 razors onto either footpeg so fast your ears may bleed the first time or two. And as for feedback.. if you laid face down, stark bollock naked on a stretch of road with the entire cast of U Fat Bastard - the musical on your back you wouldn't feel more than you do through the Aprilia's seat foam and clip-ons. Wet, dry it makes no difference, the tarmac's yours to own.

The real beauty of the RS250 is this: thrash the living daylights out of it, cane it, murder it, all of that stuff and you'll never get much above 120mph, anywhere. It might feel like 170mph, but it's a long way off. It's anti-social, but compared to an R1/ZX-9R quite harmless.

And the rewards of making it fly, in your skilled hands (and feet), far outweigh the effect of merely opening a throttle and sitting there like a sack of shit. In the end you'll be living for that 5 %... raw, pure, uncut. I guarantee it.

I guarantee also if you're on a B-road mission and take a look in those surprisingly useable mirrors for your slack-arsed mates, they won't be there. They'll either be dead from spent two-stroke fumes, or so far behind theirs beards will have grown knee length by the time they get to you. Meanwhile you'll have had time to sit, smoke a luxury-length tab and admire the gorgeous flowing lines of the Priller, its sexily slung rear seat cowl and GP snout. Only a 916 is as drop-dead fuck-off beautiful.

It's a reminder, the RS250. A reminder of what this whole motorcycling job is about - if you're a bit bored or disaffected with two wheels then the Aprilia RS250 is the serum you need. That's why Aprilia's RS250 is a must have for 1999: it won't be around for ever, and life without one could get boring. Boring in the extreme.

[FilthyLuka]

dude... you sure your not an aprillia salesman?

[RidingHard]

fuck thats a scorching review right there mate......makes me want to buy one!

[RC1]

thats a great read and so true

[pritch]

dude... you sure your not an aprillia salesman?

Not really, what that says, and what may be glossed over by the over enthusiastic, is that 95% of the time the thing is a totally impractical pain in the arse.

Having said that, I still want one but only as a second bike. Really, nobody who only has one bike should own one of those.

And I resemble that remark about love handles, VFR 800s, and grey hair

[Dave-]

worked for me.

pritch008, go have a chat to the local dealer if you want a new job