Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

@Chak I don't have particularly bad credit, more I've never borrowed any money so don't really have any credit score. Hoping this will make getting a mortgage a bit easier. From snooping rsvr.net I get that impression too, people really like them. I'm just excited to own a bike that isn't a screaming inline 4, which I'm sure will take some getting used to.

@Jung See the gold and black doesn't do much for me, although saying that never thought I'd own a bike with blue wheels! I do like the idea of having a bike in its most iconic colours... Kawasaki - green, Ducati - red, Suzuki - blue, and Aprilia - black? Much appreciated for the heads up on suspension service costs, hadn't accounted for this so worth knowing.

Not sure Aprilia has a signature colour really. Signature scheme would have to be the chesterfield RSW250s but that just makes me old...my only Aprilia was a puce green and lavender colour. No idea what they were thinking!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yALPWWwKKnA

Guy Martin and fame.

Yeah, same. It was a really strange situation for me to be in; being told I don't have enough lending evidence to allow me to get a credit card. Anyway, I digress.

I suppose Aprilia has the same owner mentality as say...Triumph. Low number ownership and a bike with a lot of character.

@Jung They seem to depreciate quite a fair bit and I have no idea why. The '10 models in quite mind condition and a whole bunch of carbon can be had for under £7k.
The noise man. The noise!

I bloody love V-Twins. Was a blast to ride and had so much character, also the components look like jewelry compared to the Japanese bikes I'm used to. Not really important but the turning circle is hilarious. Potentially 3 bad things though:

• The bike looks to still have the recalled swing arm. I've called a local Aprilia dealer with the reg and they're looking into it. I basically want to know if I can get it replaced for free. The first dealer I called said there's nothing they can do without the recall letter to the original owner, which is strange as it's only had one owner from new.

• The bike wouldn't fire when I went to test ride it. They lifted the tank and plugged something in that was disconnected and was fine after.

• There's no dealer service stamps since 2012. The previous owner did all the services himself since 2012, even if the mileage is squiffy I'd hoped the dealer stamps would give some credence to 16,000 being the minimum mileage (RSV's have an issue with the clocks resetting).

These two are radness. Both owned by @andrew_rsv4 on Instagram.

There are other bikes with that engine..I always liked the futura.

Think it is the single sided swing arm...

Think the front issue used to be poor quality seals and single lip seals I think? There were ways around it, think it was some yamaha twin lip seals. But the more the bikes were used the less the seal failed. Think sitting for long time didn't help.

Also remember that there was something about the difference between proper ohlins kit and the ohlins kit that were factory fitted. But that may have been hear say.

You remember how long I had my mille.

Holy shit, I never knew the name to that bike but always remembered it. It looks like one of those 80's autoshow concepts that come out to predict what future motorcycling looks like.
Also looks like the concept model for a second gen VFR.

@Nahguavkire It was entirely something else to ride. I didn't go far enough to even make a cohesive idea, but I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. The bike just felt....right.

I didn't go far enough to even make a cohesive idea, but I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. The bike just felt....right.

Not much you can do when you get that feeling. I still vividly remember test riding a 675R - the noise, the fit, stopping in a deserted country lane and ragging it from 0 to scary - there have been times since my TT got stolen that I could probably have bought a new bike, but it wouldn't have been the bike I wanted

Yeah nowt to do with Aprilia in general. All Ohlins forks tend to blow seals more often. Less stiction on single lip seals, I guess that's why they use them. I'm a stickler for suspension servicing these days and it makes even more of a difference on the fancy stuff.

Aprilia in the 90s were really ahead of their time - the Pegaso, the big adventure bike, the Futura and the RSV (and the bonkers SXV450/550)....Ducati are damn lucky they were bought by TPG and got good at marketing because the Aprilia line up was smoking them back then.

Fun to look at the factory in Noale - still only a little place!

J.

Barman in my local is "rocking" this.

For a learner I think it's "ace".

https://muttmotorcycles.com

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Battery on my '99 xv250 has been flat the last few times I've gone to ride it. It just does that "click-click-click" thing when you hit the starter button.

I figured it was just because I don't use the bike very often. It always bump starts ok and a wee spin even just round the corner to the petrol station has been sufficient to put enough juice into the battery that it'll start starting on the button again but today I had to bump it, I then rode for 20-30miles at decent speed and when I got back home it was still too flat to start on the button.

I presume the charging system must be working as it had charged the battery previously.

Could the battery just be gubbed from sitting flat?

I put a meter on it after my ride today and it was showing about 10-11v when just sitting, ignition on or off and dropped to like 4-6v if I hit the starter button.

I didn't check it with the engine running as that would have meant bump starting it again.

Guess I need the engine running to tell if alternator/charging system is functioning? How/where do I test the output of this?

Oh, might be worth noting that the bike is kept in a garage with no power so trickle charger is out but I have got a normal battery charger so could bring the battery up to the flat and give it a good charge. Might get me by for a while?

First port of call is to whip it out and leave it on a batter minder overnight.

The optimate ones are meant to resurrect them I think.

If it still happens after that then it might be new battery time.

How old is this one?

How old is this one?

It's been in the bike since I bought it earlier this year. It had new tyres, most everyhting else seems original...

If your battery is healthy it should read around 12.5 v with ignition off and around 13.5 on tickover.

If there's not a significant increase from ignition off to tickover ( after a full battery charge ) you have a problem with your alternator or regulator/rectifier.

Cool, I'll wait till later in the week when I can get it out in the morning and leave it on charge during the day. Could do overnight but it'd be inside the flat and leaving that kinda shit on while I'm sleeping makes me nervous as frig.

Went for my first off road excursion since May. A hot afternoon and eve of steep, sinuous, dusty, heavily rutted, single track.

I took my XR650r with 110mph Baja gearing and a 7 gallon tank. Which is a bit like entering Mike Tyson in a chess tournament.

Blisters on blisters. Noodle arms. Done. Amazing fun though, off road riding is the best.

my XR650r

Apologies if you've posted before, but would love to see a photo. Always had a soft spot for these.

A couple of friends are obsessed with these but I’m not convinced. They look quite gangly with someone actually riding them and the prices seem steep...

I thought about one of them or the hardtail Sinnis but in the end I got the 250 Virago. At 6'3 I'm pretty sure I look gangly AF but at least it was only £700!

I am a total small bike convert. Top speed for me is around 75-80mph but that allows me to cruise along motorway and the accelaration is plenty for b road thrashing.

Here is the pig.

It's probably the biggest do everything bike. Only downside so far is that it EATS rear Tyres. I'll get one more out of the one on there, making 3 rides. At 60-90 a pop that's a bit ouch.

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Got back from France on Friday - ~1,500 mile round trip on the new bike, two up with full luggage.

The bike was impeccable; super reliable handling, braking etc, even fully loaded. The return journey wasn't that fun with 40mph side winds.

Only managed to take a single (shit) picture of the bike...

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Love the colour. Great looking bike in general.