Messing with my Aprilia Cup

That's what I've always done. 3 heat cycles then let her rip.

 

About read to hop on and try the patience of my neighbors (they're remarkably tolerant of me). I thought I'd have a chance yesterday but the airbox was a huge PITA for some reason. Almost ready to bring it to Steve (in the middle of Daytona prep season) so the guys can go over it and make sure I'm not going to die or blow it up. Just have to install the Zeeltronic.

I can't find the countershaft sprocket cover nor can I remember if it came with one.

 

Made contact with my 100LL pusher this morning. 5 gallons of blue gas in my garage.

 

Temp got up to the high 40s yesterday and I couldn't resist. Poured in about a gallon of the blue stuff into the MK1 tank (I'm going to send the MK2 tank to the painter while Steve has the bike) and putted around the neighborhood.

Surprised to find that the gas tank on the MK1 seems to be fractionally longer than the MK2 although I managed to force it into position. The MK1 seat didn't quite fit either although the reverse is fine. Nothing fell off. The new front brake pads are serious. Neighbors seemed vaguely amused.

 

Your tanks may be slightly swollen from ethanol gas… my Mk2 tank shrank back nicely after I left it a few months with no cap or petcock. Might be worth a try before painting..?

 

Possibly a little but the MK1 tank fits fine on the MK1 frame. I'm pretty good about keeping it empty. The MK2 tank has T4 in it so it's fine.

 

Started installing the Zeeltronic yesterday. Discovering that one of the wires in the Cup harness was color-coded differently from the documentation and my MK1 was initially worrying but it was the only one. Saving a lot of time thanks to my notes and another installation to reference.

Any thoughts on a redline? The Zeel has two ignition/powervalve maps as delivered from Sean at TTW. One is the stock 23D70, the other is a 'race' map for street gas. It lets you overrev to 13k (pulling timing past 11). The Zuckerbook peeps seem to think even 12 is too high. The stock map stops at 12k (also pulling timing at 11). I put a switch on my last install but I never used it so I'm going to pin this one to the race map. I'll leave the wires in case I change my mind later.

 

And it's out of my hands for proper tuning/find whatever stupid things I did. Off to @SpeedWerks Racing yesterday to eyeball some awesome bikes (how many Spondon/RG500 bikes? it's fucking tagged?), shoot the shit, and get some second hand smoke. Even caught some WSBK. My friend dropped off his RG500 to address the fuel pouring out of the carbs and whatever else turns up. Maybe put some tires on it that aren't old enough to drink.



I wasn't clever enough to snap a pic at the shop but here we are all loaded up with his Rivian doing the pulling.

Steve noticed right away that the shock linkage is not original, explaining the sky high (and awesome for me) seat height. It's not (obviously) aftermarket either. You'd think I might have noticed, having two of the things.

 

I had a lucky break on Saturday. My Pirelli guy was not able to get me a 160/60 rear slick and refunded my money, so I've been trying to decide what to do for tires.

My friend was racing AHRMA on his 998R and put a too-tall slick on it. As his Pit Bitch, I went off to get a proper tire from the on-site vendor, Quentin Mise, who had a bunch of 180/55 Pirellis for the big Kramers. We got to talking and he also had Bridgestone slicks that the TZ250 guys use so I grabbed a pair. These are probably way more appropriate for the Aprilia than the Pirellis. Cheaper too (thank you weak yen). Hope my rear tire warmer fits!

Bike is done or almost so hoping to snag it soon and do a couple events on it next month. It's been a shit year for the track so far. Only two events.

 

Bike is done. Steve and Dave (Dave ) found a few things. I left one of the powervalve covers loose, which they found pressure testing. A mis-installed clip in the alternator cover was hitting something. I didn't notice a missing clip on an oil line at the pump. Finally (and this is something I'd never know), one of the bolts holes for the countershaft seal cover was drilled/tapped all the way into the case, causing a slow oil leak. Initial dyno testing was concerning but Dave worked his magic and it sounds like 60 or just under. 57 is a typical number for a Cup bike. My MK1 does 68 (I've been saying 67 but had it wrong) on their dyno.

Excited to pick it up along with my friend's RG500 some time this week and get this thing on the track.

 

Steve and Dave are awesome……and I don’t blame them for not wanting to see my POS bikes ever again What events are you planning on running this beaut at?

 

Maybe next Monday @ NJMP Thunderbolt. And/or July 16.

 

Back in my sweaty hands.



Fresh Bridgestone TZ250-correct slicks installed. The tires that were on there before just looked wrong for a 250. The new slicks look appropriate and we know how important appearances are. My man Justin at Trackside is going to ship me out warmers that fit. I had a year to sort that out...

Not buying a new master cylinder bit me in the ass. Dave couldn't get the pistons to retract when refitting a caliper. Eventually he cracked the bleeder on the master but I'm on high-alert to be careful in my first couple sessions next Monday. I think my db4 might have the same MC and I can steal that to have a spare.

Naturally, it absolutely poured most of the drive home. Note my lack of bodywork. Hopefully no water got where it shouldn't. It still turns on but I didn't try to start it.

 

It's more beautiful every time.

I went through 3 OEM master cylinders on my 06 GSXR trying to find one that wasn't shit in some way, only to wind up buying a new modern MC. Please buy a new one because that thing is way too shiny to bin it over something so silly.

 

I was thinking about how to pull the MC off the db4 without making a mess when I remembered I had another brembo in a box in the basement. I have too much stuff.

Not ignoring @Martin Lewis, just making do with what I have. Signed up for Monday. Ran around the neighborhood yesterday to bed in the brakes a little more.

 

What’s everyone’s thoughts on using a modern Brembo radial master cylinder on these bikes with axial mount brake calipers? I imagine it’s still an upgrade but that it can only do so much. Also I’ve read that you need longer (custom) brake lines to accommodate the revised banjo bolt location on the Brembo radial vs. the OEM axial MC.

 

Sharath is a big fan of the RCS17 on an RS250. I think Steve likes the 18. I mentioned it somewhere in this thread that I was planning to order one when I realized the brand new brake lines I had just bought would not fit.

 

Weird. Took the MC off, thinking I might be able to use air to blow backwards and clear out something. I can blow air from the reservoir side out but not the reverse.

Naturally, the spare I have interferes with my woodcraft clip-on. Fun.

 

RCS17 is amazing at the track. I don't know if you need longer lines for RCS.
Lose the plastic tray that goes underneath the tripletree and try the stock ones first

 

This took a lot longer than it should have. Getting the master cylinder on took forever. I ended up using a lower profile allen bolt on the clip-on and still had to file a corner down. I pulled a few Dzus fasteners off several months ago to loan to my friend and couldn't find them. Had to drive to the shop to borrow some of his. I hate stickers. Still have the other side to do.

For extra fun, I crashed a bicycle yesterday and wrenched my back. Looks like it's going to rain anyway on Monday. Missed my window to cancel.