Aprila RS250

[2much]

I know there are alot of you fulla's on here that own or have owned one of these, so I'd appreciate your opinion on a few questions if ya don't mind.

Basically, the missus has almost sorted out her licence over here so it's time to find her a bike. I was looking at an NC35 as the preferable option as I had discarded the RS250 due to the fact she's gonna be doing alot of commuting to Uni on it, along with a bit of touring.

However was talking to a mate who had one and he reckoned he commuted on it for years without any issues, so it's back in the picture, tho I'm still hesitant. I'd love to buy one as I've always wanted one (yes it's just an excuse for me to get another bike, but she doesn't need to know that), plus they're about a grand cheaper than the NC35 and shitloads more common... and of course, they're not a bloody Honda.

Problem is, only experience I have with 2strokes is thrashing mates' db's around the farm as a young fulla. I know the standard shit like run quality oil, warm it up, etc... but I've got a few further questions....

What's considered alot of K's on these things? What's the servicing intervals? And how many K's for a top end rebuild?

I know these engines love a thrashing, but is a chick filtering thru traffic for 45mins every morning going to harm it (and yes I'm aware it's arse to commute on, but it's not my arse n she'll get over it.)

How about touring on? is the engine happy to cruise at 120-140km/h along the motorway for a few hours do they tend to oil up or anything? (Don't worry, I know it's shit for touring on too, fortunately I'm a good bastard n don't mind swapping with her when we hit the twisties to give her a break).

I know they did an update in '98, face lifted fairings, clocks and wider rims. Was there anything else that makes it actually worthwhile going for the later model?

Cheers guys, that's all I can think of for now.

[imdying]

As much as I think everyone should have a 2 stroke 250 for beating across their favourite mountain pass, it's not the right bike for the job you've got in mind. No point wasting a perfectly good RS250 on the commute.

It won't be warmed up correctly. It's not designed to commute (all wrists and fun fun powerbands). It does not know the meaning of 'cruise on the motorway'.

Yes, it will do all those things, but it's a bit like using under 5s to pull red wagons full of rocks out of mines... not cool at all.

[racefactory]

Top end on a 2 stroke 250 depending on model should be done every 15,000 or 20 k to be on the safe side. Seems to be the general opinion. Cranks will last long time depending on oil used and how oil pump is calibrated and lots other things but seems people often go 50 000 k on a crank.

Those suzuki VJ engines that the Apr250 are pretty much suzuki VJ23 engines with different head and barrels/porting I think. Pistons and cranks are interchangeable (well i guess you could slap on rgv head and barrel if you needed) so parts are quite good i'd say... afterall every man and his dog has some rgv250 engine parts lying around. Also, wiseco does top end kits for these engines as do proX pistons so you have a lot of options really.

[henry]

You're gonna put your newly licensed misses on an RS? Dude, there are way cheaper ways to get rid of her.

[The Pastor]

Ignore .

[2much]

You're gonna put your newly licensed misses on an RS? Dude, there are way cheaper ways to get rid of her.

Ignore .

Perhaps I should've explained further... she's not 'newly licenced', she has her licence in NZ and is now getting it in Europe. She has experience on both my old K2 thou and my TL1000s. And i suspect that if you can ride a TL then you can ride almost anything. I know it's not a noob bike, nor is an NC35 for that matter.

[henry]

Fair enough then.

[2much]

As much as I think everyone should have a 2 stroke 250 for beating across their favourite mountain pass, it's not the right bike for the job you've got in mind. No point wasting a perfectly good RS250 on the commute.

It won't be warmed up correctly. It's not designed to commute (all wrists and fun fun powerbands). It does not know the meaning of 'cruise on the motorway'.

Yes, it will do all those things, but it's a bit like using under 5s to pull red wagons full of rocks out of mines... not cool at all.

Fair call, but aren't most sportsbikes wasted commuting? Isn't it worth it when we get to detour over the twisties on the way home.

Shit how long do they take to warm up? won't 5min idling before leaving then 45min-1hr on the motorway be sufficient? And what's the riding position like compared to the average sports 400?

Top end on a 2 stroke 250 depending on model should be done every 15,000 or 20 k to be on the safe side. Seems to be the general opinion. Cranks will last long time depending on oil used and how oil pump is calibrated and lots other things but seems people often go 50 000 k on a crank.

Those suzuki VJ engines that the Apr250 are pretty much suzuki VJ23 engines with different head and barrels/porting I think. Pistons and cranks are interchangeable (well i guess you could slap on rgv head and barrel if you needed) so parts are quite good i'd say... afterall every man and his dog has some rgv250 engine parts lying around. Also, wiseco does top end kits for these engines as do proX pistons so you have a lot of options really.

Thanks man, that's the kind of helpful advice I'm looking for.

[Chrislost]

I know there are alot of you fulla's on here that own or have owned one of these, so I'd appreciate your opinion on a few questions if ya don't mind.

Basically, the missus has almost sorted out her licence over here so it's time to find her a bike. I was looking at an NC35 as the preferable option as I had discarded the RS250 due to the fact she's gonna be doing alot of commuting to Uni on it, along with a bit of touring.

However was talking to a mate who had one and he reckoned he commuted on it for years without any issues, so it's back in the picture, tho I'm still hesitant. I'd love to buy one as I've always wanted one (yes it's just an excuse for me to get another bike, but she doesn't need to know that), plus they're about a grand cheaper than the NC35 and shitloads more common... and of course, they're not a bloody Honda.

Problem is, only experience I have with 2strokes is thrashing mates' db's around the farm as a young fulla. I know the standard shit like run quality oil, warm it up, etc... but I've got a few further questions....

What's considered alot of K's on these things? What's the servicing intervals? And how many K's for a top end rebuild?

I know these engines love a thrashing, but is a chick filtering thru traffic for 45mins every morning going to harm it (and yes I'm aware it's arse to commute on, but it's not my arse n she'll get over it.)

How about touring on? is the engine happy to cruise at 120-140km/h along the motorway for a few hours do they tend to oil up or anything? (Don't worry, I know it's shit for touring on too, fortunately I'm a good bastard n don't mind swapping with her when we hit the twisties to give her a break).

I know they did an update in '98, face lifted fairings, clocks and wider rims. Was there anything else that makes it actually worthwhile going for the later model?

Cheers guys, that's all I can think of for now.

id go the honda if i were you.

but i would say that wouldnt i...

much more reliable than a 2 smoker and a fair wack cheeper too!

[Creeping Death]

And i suspect that if you can ride a TL then you can ride almost anything. .

You are da man!

[imdying]

Fair call, but aren't most sportsbikes wasted commuting?

4 strokes are boring pieces of crap, who gives a shit if they're going to waste? They also do more than 20,000kms to a set of pistsons, so you can afford to waste them a little.

Isn't it worth it when we get to detour over the twisties on the way home.

Any bike is fun for small detours over the twisties, don't need an RS250 for that.. anything longer than a small detour and you're better going home to armour up unless you're ATGATT.

Shit how long do they take to warm up? won't 5min idling before leaving then 45min-1hr on the motorway be sufficient? And what's the riding position like compared to the average sports 400?

On a bike like your K2, you give it 10 seconds on the side stand whilst your glove and helmet up, and then you're off, being gentle for a few minutes. On the RS, you're giving it the full 5 minute warm up every time. Not much fun in the rain, and pretty inconvienient the rest of the time. They're just not a commuter bike, they're a race bike that spent a short weekend at manners school (and somewhat failed).

I would get your missus on one and send her through town... you sound like you'll be sweet as putting up with all that crap so that you can get a regular hit of that sweet sweet two stoke loving... the oil, the warmup, the lack of bottom end, the harsh riding position... the cracking power band, the super lightweight everything, the delicious smoke in the mornings, the angry bumble bee exhaust note... however, she might not be. Of course, she might get addicted like the rest of us crack addicts, and pretty soon you'll have sold all your diesel shitters and have a garage full of 2 strokes


As fasr as techinical stuff goes... on good oil, you'll get 20000kms from a set of piston and rings. You need to strip the powervalves every 5000kms to clean and inspect the shaft for signs of cracking. Even with good oil, they'll gunk up. You'll also need to set the powervalves, but that's an easy task. In fact, everything is an easy task, they're a doddle to work on.

Entire rebuild kits, std PVs and billet PVs are all avaiable from someone like Sean at The Tuning Works out of the UK. rgv250.co.uk is worth a look, plenty of RGV/RS info there.

[2much]

Alright. Cheers for your answers mate.

[UK_GSXR]

I had an Aprilia RS250 that I commuted on, (and did trackdays too) - I liked it. Back in London on a RGV250 I did 12,000 miles (20,000ks) commuting into central London to work over a year (rain/shine/summer/winter) - and some track days too - it was a blast (I owned it from new and serviced it as per the manual though).

The RS250 I bought here, I got Colemans to do the top end and powervalves and she was sweet.

You pays your money and takes your choice...

[jade]

Ive had 2 rs250s for the past 3 years, perfectly reliable, my first one was an early model (95)
Ran both only on castrol tts oil and never had a problem, always warm them up for 3-5 minutes before using but then they are good to go, my 2nd one that I own now Ive used everyday for 2 years and has never skipped a beat, I bought it when it had 20,000km and did a rebuild at 27,000
I did this by myself with no previous experience (got a mechanic to teach me) and it cost me about 600NZD in parts
I ride my bikes more than most people ride in an average day and thrashed it to redline every gear every time, did wheelies anytime I was in first and stoppies any time I got a red light, like I said never had any problems
someone said in an above post that it was a vj23 engine but its not, all rs's use a vj22 engine..
Personally my powervalves had their own drains on them which drained into a catch tank which I emptied once a month, never in ownership have I cleaned or seen them,
to sum up, warm it up, do your own maintenence and it will be perfectly reliable and sweet as for commuting, with enough oomph to keep you excited.. never sell mine

[imdying]

Personally my powervalves had their own drains on them which drained into a catch tank which I emptied once a month, never in ownership have I cleaned or seen them

They're worth looking at now and then. Whilst the motors as used in the RS aren't as prone to power valve failure as earlier RGVs, it's still worth inspecting them for pin cracking. It's a dead easy, relatively short job, and could save you a heck of a lot of heartache (and money!). Billet powervalves sort it all out in any case Once you see the gunk that doesn't drain away, you'll also be glad you did

Someone once said that 4 strokes are like your wife, and 2 strokes are like your mistress... what they didn't tell you is that 2 strokes are like your dirty mistress who likes it rough