Aprilia Ownership: Day Two (with video) 

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 05/09/2018 at 14:07 • Filed to: Decay's Beaters, Tiny Racebike, Aprilia, 50cc

5

14

Did some more work on the RS last night. I’m pretty sure the idle issue is fuel, but just to check all the boxes I went in and confirmed that everything else on the engine is operating correctly. Compression is at 110psi, which seemed low to me, but according to the forums is exactly where this motor should be. I also confirmed that it had spark while cranking. The new carb should be in this weekend, so hopefully I can have it running next week.

Most of the stuff on this are adorably small. The chain for instance is a 420, same size as a stock Grom despite about double the power.

For comparison, here is the chain on my Street Triple.

The tires are also tiny. Here is the rear tire on the RS50 compared to the new tire for the Street Triple. Both are mounted to a 17" wheel.

Not having much to do until the Malossi carb comes in, I decided to put the stock carb back together and see if my cleaning had any effect. Also wanted to get the engine through a full heat cycle to burn some of the oil out of the top end (previous owner was running a really rich premix)

While I was running it, I found out that my kill switch doesn’t work... and that the ignition switch doesn’t cut spark... I discovered this when it decided to have a runaway condition on me and I couldn’t turn it off. Scared me a bit! I just happened to catch the whole thing on video.

I ended up having to pull the plug to shut it down, if the fairings had been on, not exactly sure how I would have turned it off.

So remember that wire I couldn’t figure out from yesterday? Well that’s the connection to the coil that cuts spark. Apparently it will not run with the kick stand down, so the previous owner bypassed the whole circuit. I jumpered out the kickstand interlock and attached coil to the kill circuit, Now both the kill switch and the ignition switch correctly cut spark as expected when toggled.

She’ll probably get moved to the back of the garage for the rest of the week until parts come in. I’ve run out of things to play with until I can get it idling.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Decay buys too many beaters 05/09/2018 at 14:15

2

You sure it’s an Aprilia...there’s a glaring lack of fire in any of these pictures

Decay buys too many beaters > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 05/09/2018 at 14:21

1

Hey, that’s not fair! Not like it’s an Mv Agusta or anything!

Mercedes Streeter > Decay buys too many beaters 05/09/2018 at 14:28

1

Your saga is making me obsessive about 50cc sport bikes that look like bigger bikes. Whew, so far, so good.

Decay buys too many beaters > Mercedes Streeter 05/09/2018 at 14:34

0

Yep, they are pretty rare beasts. I think Aprila and Derby were the only companies to bring them to the US, and they did poorly (because “no replacement for displacement” ‘murica )

Be sure to also look at the Honda MB5, same layout (50cc, two stroke, six speed), but 80's.

CaptDale - is secretly British > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 05/09/2018 at 14:55

0

I’ve had no fire with mine!

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > CaptDale - is secretly British 05/09/2018 at 14:57

1

From here on out you no longer have any credibility in my eyes

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Decay buys too many beaters 05/09/2018 at 14:58

1

It does sound like it was trying to self immolate though, no thanks to you

CaptDale - is secretly British > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 05/09/2018 at 15:00

1

Well I will take reliable Italian over credibility.

Decay buys too many beaters > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 05/09/2018 at 15:01

1

She made a valiant attempt. A for effort, D for execution

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 05/09/2018 at 23:25

1

Plugging the intake is a good way to stop a runaway. Or suffocating it with a fire extinguisher.

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 05/09/2018 at 23:49

0

Didn’t have any thing handy to plug the intake with! The thought crossed my mind

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 05/09/2018 at 23:52

1

Don’t you have hands? Or if you were from Florida you could use a different body part!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Decay buys too many beaters 05/20/2018 at 13:51

1

It was cool seeing your bike! Real nice

Decay buys too many beaters > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 05/20/2018 at 14:36

0

Thanks! Was really cool meeting everyone in person

As for the Aprilia in this article, I’m slowly learning that Italian parts availability isn’t quite as good as the Japanese or British bikes. First round of parts I needed came in incompatible with USDM bikes, wasn’t aware of a difference and there is not a whole lot of online documentation.