Aprilia RS 250 - mmmmmm

[Esceptico]

Yes I know I said I wouldn't post in BB again but enjoying my new (old) bike so much I couldn't resist one post. I know I am about as welcome as a Jehovah's Witness (and feeling similar levels of evangelical passion for the Aprilia).

I hadn't intended to buy the Aprilia. I was negotiating the purchase of another old bike when I saw the RS for sale on eBay
An almost unused Mk2. I had only ridden an RS 250 once, back in about 1998 when they were new. It wasn't a particularly good test ride as I didn't know any decent riding roads near the dealer and riding an RA 250 in town or on dual carriageways is not showing it in its best element. I was intrigued but couldn't see it as a replacement for the Zx6R I had then.

Anyway, I decided to take a punt on the Aprilia on eBay with the intention of not riding it much and hoping that it would go up in value slowly such that I could keep it a few years and probably sell it on with no real cost.

I picked it up over a month ago but it was then at a specialist for a couple of weeks having a full service and new tyres.

In the last few weeks I've managed to put on about 500 miles - pretty much all on county lanes. I am completely smitten. It far exceeds my expectations. I'm not 100% sure why. Compared to my S 1000 R it is absolutely gutless and only has meaningful acceleration between about 8000 and 11000 revs. It is difficult to keep it on the boil and too easy to bog down or find you are doing 11000 and need to change up. However It is very satisfying when you sort of get it right. Feels horrid when you get it wrong though.

The handling is of course great. The weight differenxe to the S 1000 R is only around 40kg but feels a lot more than that. I was carving up and down some lanes in Essex yesterday. I can't think of another bike that would have been as much fun. Last year I did test rides on a whole host of exotica: 899, 1299, Fireblade, RSV4., S1000RR. They were all brilliant but whenever I got back on the S 1000 R the BMW felt equally epic. Tellingly, since getting the RS 250 I've only used the BMW to go to the shops and every time I've gone for a proper ride I have taken the Aprilia.

Of course one area the BMW wins hands down is power. It is a giggle using full power and have the front wheel lift up. However that excess of power is not that much of an advantage on country roads as how fast I ride is governed by other factors (safety, not wanting to get banned, etc). It does help in the tighter, blind bends because you can go in slow but wind on the power as soon as you see the road is clear. On the RS, unless you are in the right gear at the right revs you can't adjust your speed so easily - I suspect it takes practice and more skill to do so. The flipside is that on the RS I don't find myself doing silly speeds whereas with the BMW, even though I consciously try to keep the speeds down, it is too easy to find yourself going too fast (particularly when overtaking as concentrating on getting past quickly).

An unexpected bonus of having the RS is that there seems to be a lot of two stroke love out there as I've already had lots of people come over to chat about the bike. When I stopped off at my local BMW dealer it seemed most of the mechanics came out to have a look and take pictures. A couple insisted on being there when I left to get a quick whiff of the exhaust!

Overall I only have two real issues. One is that I am kicking myself that I didn't get a proper test ride back in 1998! Secondly my plan to only ride it a few times a year seems to be going out the window. I suppose once I've fked the value enough by adding on too many miles I can justify taking it in a trackday.

[Yazza54]

Good stuff, once 2 strokes get under your skin you'll need a trip to the priory to shake the addiction

[Steve Bass]

Congrats, this might just be your redemption

Like you say, by ever sensible measure, they're terrible. No power below 8k, a power band of 5k, noisy, thirsty for petrol and expensive oil, just seemingly stupid.
But all that is pish once you ride them. To keep a 2T on the boil takes effort and planning, commitment and ability. Having an excess of power results in laziness. Just twist and go. Getting the best from these little smokers is a whole 'nother ball game, and if you get it, you get it for life...

Your's looks a lovely bike. Does it have any mods to the motor? There's a ton you can do (and shouldn't) to get more reliable power from them. About 65 is the top that they'll live with happily without having to be revved to the moon or becoming overly peaky. Feel free to ask away, with 60+ they really do hustle!
So hang around here, there's a few of us with 2T's and there's a ton of knowledge here. Don't be a ninny and huff off again.

Here's mine, just coming back to life. Might take a spin on Sunday, just to check the jetting you understand...

Edited by Steve Bass on Friday 22 April 12:59

[hebegb]

[quote=Esceptico]Yes I know I said I wouldn't post in BB again but enjoying my new (old) bike so much I couldn't resist one post. I know I am about as welcome as a Jehovah's Witness (and feeling similar levels of evangelical passion for the Aprilia).

Stick around - you are as welcome as you like - if people don't like it ,that's their problem and if they choose to engage with you or not ,who cares ? We do not all think the same or have the same experiences but the place will be less interesting if less diverse.
Sure, there will be differences of opinion, disagreements, "banter bordering on bullying by the holier than thou", but it would be rubbish if we all owned the same bike/s, loved the same bike/s, talked about nothing other than our own bike/s and dismissed everything else that wasn't our own bike..... there are plenty of really sad and boring one model/ make owners' forums for that.
Welcome back.

[Esceptico]

^^^^

Mine is completely standard. Had only done 750 miles when I picked it up so had to finish off running it in before using it properly.

Yours does look very nice. I presume a long way from standard?

Not sure what to do with mine. As it is low mileage and standard I feel like I should leave it as it is. On the other hand I would like to waste some money on carbon wheels, new exhaust and other bits that make it go faster (in my head at least!). Solution might be to buy a second, more used example - perhaps one that is already set up for the track - that I can modify and take on track days.

Apart from the exhaust what are the top/best/most common modifications?

[the_nurse46]

Lovely bike. I saw this (I presume by the mileage) on ebay and really considered it myself but I have poor mechanical knowledge so decided against it. Shame as loved my RGV250 when I was a kid.

I would personally keep it standard but would look great with some nice carbon exhausts.

[skahigh]

hebegb said:

Esceptico said:

Yes I know I said I wouldn't post in BB again but enjoying my new (old) bike so much I couldn't resist one post. I know I am about as welcome as a Jehovah's Witness (and feeling similar levels of evangelical passion for the Aprilia).

Stick around - you are as welcome as you like - if people don't like it ,that's their problem and if they choose to engage with you or not ,who cares ? We do not all think the same or have the same experiences but the place will be less interesting if less diverse.
Sure, there will be differences of opinion, disagreements, "banter bordering on bullying by the holier than thou", but it would be rubbish if we all owned the same bike/s, loved the same bike/s, talked about nothing other than our own bike/s and dismissed everything else that wasn't our own bike..... there are plenty of really sad and boring one model/ make owners' forums for that.
Welcome back.

Good post.

I'm really interested in these light weight sports bikes but I def. don't have the skill yet to make proper use of something like this.

[Baryonyx]

These are too bikes, I've long wanted one. I've missed the boat as far as price goes now as they're commanding pretty stiff prices (in a 'I like 'em but not that much' way). Enjoy it!

[Yazza54]

Baryonyx said:

These are too bikes, I've long wanted one. I've missed the boat as far as price goes now as they're commanding pretty stiff prices (in a 'I like 'em but not that much' way). Enjoy it!

Depends which way you look at it

They're like a good watch, buy well, enjoy and look after it and it's a safe place to have your money. You can't say that about many things.

[Steve Bass]

Esceptico said:

^^^^

Mine is completely standard. Had only done 750 miles when I picked it up so had to finish off running it in before using it properly.

Yours does look very nice. I presume a long way from standard?

Not sure what to do with mine. As it is low mileage and standard I feel like I should leave it as it is. On the other hand I would like to waste some money on carbon wheels, new exhaust and other bits that make it go faster (in my head at least!). Solution might be to buy a second, more used example - perhaps one that is already set up for the track - that I can modify and take on track days.

Apart from the exhaust what are the top/best/most common modifications?

750 miles?? WOW, thats a great find. Can understand your thoughts about keeping it standard and loving it. Prices should be rock solid.

if you were to get another, slightly less cherished bike and wanted to tinker, here's my thoughts, and most of this I have done to my bike.

1. Zeeltronic PCV20V ignition System.
MASSIVE improvement as it allows you to custom map the bike and has a host of other nice touches that really improve the bikes performance.

2. Cougar Heads.
very good improvemement over the standard items.

3.Pipes.
Lomas or Tyga. Very good for the RS and easy to set up. Jetting willl need looking at. NOT Arrow

4. Airfilter.
The BMC is worth it but DO NOT butcher the Airbox.

5. Pistons
Vertex Single ring pistons make a good improvement when combined with the Cougar heads.

6. Modified 1st/2nd/6th
You've probably noticed the HUUUUUGE gap from 1st to 2nd. The modified gears are abig improvement. Really makes riding nicer.

7. Straight Cut Primaries
Only if you're feeling a bit spendy. These free up a couple of ponies and remove the thrust load on the crank.

8. Lighter Clutch
Combined with the SC primaries, improves low end pick up, less rotaional mass. Which is nice

9. Cougar Power Valves
Are a 3 piece power valve and more reliable than the standard items. OEM have a habit of dropping the centre pin and destroying the motor. Only downside is that make the motor a little more peaky

10. Blueprint
The Aprilia motors are built with miles of tolerances. Just blueprinting the bareels to cases and heads as well as modifying the reed cages makes a massive difference. We're not talking Stan Stephens levels of tuning here, just getting the quish set right and the port heights set. The reed cage on the vert cylinder has a piece that obstructs a part of the boost port. A dremel and 10 mins helps this.

11. BST Wheels
Make a massive difference. The OEM wheels are quite heavy. On a bike like this, they are an incredible improvement. far less rotaional mass so acceleration is massively improved

12. Steering Damper.
Advisable

13. Electric Water Pump
By removing the hydraulic load on the crank from the water pump, you free up a few ponies. better response, faster acceleration. VW Golf GTI Turbo aux water pump is th eone to use. jsut run it with no thermostat. Easy

14. Battery Eliminator.
A capacitor across the battery erminals to substitute the battery. saves weight but the dash can sometimes lose it's memory if the internal battery is poked.

15. Suspension
The front forks on the mk2 are VERY good. But for track use, a refresh and k Tech valve kit as well as correct springs will always help. At the rear, Nitron do a really good spec shock.

16. Bodywork.
Either Tyga of replacement OEM fibre glass panels.

17. Quickshifter
Plugs into the Zeeltronic and really keeps the motor on song. more addictive than Crack

18. Vented Powervalve Covers
These have spouts for a pipe to drain away the 2T gunk. Route to a catch bottle and the PV's stay much healthier for longer.

With all the above you'll get a completely relaible 65bhp as long as you keep the redline to 12k. The bike will go like a trooper and really sing. A mate ha sa Cagiva with the Suzuki TL 1000 motor in it and it struggles to keep up with mine in a straight line. DON'T be tempted to go down the Kit route. It's old tech and was designed for Proddy racing. So it revs to 13500 (crank lasts 500kms at these rpm) and has feck all under 10k
Speak to Sean at the Tuning Works, he sells most of this and fits as well. BST's I can help with
Don't touch the brakes. They're Epic!! Same calipers as the Ducati 916/996 so race pads are easy to get and cheap. A new master Cylinder is always nice but really not needed.
Don't bother with the 300 kit, no real benefit for a track bike. And DON't bother porting orr tuning the barrels. They produce so little extra and casue so much grief it's not worth it. The go well enough as it is. There's better gains to be had by reducing parasitic losses and rotaional mass than a couple of bhp in the cylinders.
Should give you food for thought

Edited by Steve Bass on Friday 22 April 17:14

[Esceptico]

Thanks for that list Steve.

Definitely food for thought.

I suppose the most cost effective route would be to try to find a bike that has already had some of the work done (without some of the stuff you don't need).

Although I want to keep my bike standard I suppose the BST wheels would be a good and reversible change so could do that.

I need to keep a lid on my enthusiasm for the rest of this year as not sure how I talked my wife into agreeing to a second bike (when one bike is already one too many!)

[Steve Bass]

Esceptico said:

Thanks for that list Steve.

Definitely food for thought.

I suppose the most cost effective route would be to try to find a bike that has already had some of the work done (without some of the stuff you don't need).

Although I want to keep my bike standard I suppose the BST wheels would be a good and reversible change so could do that.

I need to keep a lid on my enthusiasm for the rest of this year as not sure how I talked my wife into agreeing to a second bike (when one bike is already one too many!)

one word of warning though. Not wanting to dampen the enthusiasm.....
Due to the cost of maintenance, a lot of track bikes are in less than ideal health. Even a semi decent road bike can be a nightmare. Avoid at all costs any bike that's been run on premix. These engines suffer badly with poor left side bearing lubrication when run on premix only. It's not for nothing that one of the oil ports injects directly to this bearing!!
Cranks are a service item. When rebuilding an unknown engine, you need to measure the crank and big ends carefully to gauge its serviceability. New cranks are readily available and worth the expense as a failure can be catastrophic.
It's easy to drop 3 or 4 thousand pounds into a new motor with all the toys, so start with something as good as possible. Top ends need renewing every 10k miles at road use, more frequently when tracked.
But once built, they're very reliable and immense fun. And probably a rock solid investment.
Regarding BST wheels find out how much they are in the UK and drop me a PM.O I'll ask Terry at the factory how much to me....

[Sam All]

Baryonyx said:

These are too bikes, I've long wanted one. I've missed the boat as far as price goes now as they're commanding pretty stiff prices (in a 'I like 'em but not that much' way). Enjoy it!

Same here

a forever classic.

[Esceptico]

Steve Bass said:

one word of warning though. Not wanting to dampen the enthusiasm.....
Due to the cost of maintenance, a lot of track bikes are in less than ideal health. Even a semi decent road bike can be a nightmare. Avoid at all costs any bike that's been run on premix. These engines suffer badly with poor left side bearing lubrication when run on premix only. It's not for nothing that one of the oil ports injects directly to this bearing!!
Cranks are a service item. When rebuilding an unknown engine, you need to measure the crank and big ends carefully to gauge its serviceability. New cranks are readily available and worth the expense as a failure can be catastrophic.
It's easy to drop 3 or 4 thousand pounds into a new motor with all the toys, so start with something as good as possible. Top ends need renewing every 10k miles at road use, more frequently when tracked.
But once built, they're very reliable and immense fun. And probably a rock solid investment.
Regarding BST wheels find out how much they are in the UK and drop me a PM.O I'll ask Terry at the factory how much to me....

PM sent.

Having just looked at your profile...do you still have that Mk1 GT3? I used to have a black one -
a long time ago - but comfort, not clubsport. Had the opportunity to buy a UK RHD Clubsport in Zanzibar a couple of months back (a good friend had found one privately for sale but decided to pull out and I could have stepped in). If I weren't so caught up with bikes I would have gone for it. Also not doing car trackdays and perhaps a waste owning a GT3 and not taking it on track.

[Stuart-9nf62]

Steve Bass said:

Esceptico said:

Thanks for that list Steve.

Definitely food for thought.

I suppose the most cost effective route would be to try to find a bike that has already had some of the work done (without some of the stuff you don't need).

Although I want to keep my bike standard I suppose the BST wheels would be a good and reversible change so could do that.

I need to keep a lid on my enthusiasm for the rest of this year as not sure how I talked my wife into agreeing to a second bike (when one bike is already one too many!)

one word of warning though. Not wanting to dampen the enthusiasm.....
Due to the cost of maintenance, a lot of track bikes are in less than ideal health. Even a semi decent road bike can be a nightmare. Avoid at all costs any bike that's been run on premix. These engines suffer badly with poor left side bearing lubrication when run on premix only. It's not for nothing that one of the oil ports injects directly to this bearing!!
Cranks are a service item. When rebuilding an unknown engine, you need to measure the crank and big ends carefully to gauge its serviceability. New cranks are readily available and worth the expense as a failure can be catastrophic.
It's easy to drop 3 or 4 thousand pounds into a new motor with all the toys, so start with something as good as possible. Top ends need renewing every 10k miles at road use, more frequently when tracked.
But once built, they're very reliable and immense fun. And probably a rock solid investment.
Regarding BST wheels find out how much they are in the UK and drop me a PM.O I'll ask Terry at the factory how much to me....

Steve it’s a while ago but the post listed a bunch of upgrades and if u still see this thread is there anyone around good at setup after doing the changes to exhaust heads power valves , not tuning just a nice track biases road set up for my standard RS250 4000 miler I’m working on after it’s been laid up for quite a few years , just want to improve the kit on it a bit but doing that I’m not skilled in setting up once new gear is installed .......any suggestions for someone within range of Berkshire

[Steve Bass]

Give Sean at The Tuning Works a call. Not sure where he's located but pretty much the top of the tree in terms of the Suzuki VJ's of which the Aprilia is a close cousin.
He carries parts for the Ape and is a top chap.