Categories
Motorcycles

Spring Aprilia Update

The weather here in the Pacific Northwest has been exceptionally wet, for the second year in a row I might add. So opportunities to get the bikes out has been few and far between early in the season. I did get the Aprilia out for a great ride on my regular loop south of Corvallis where I grew up. I went with Blake who recently picked up an old Katana 600. We had a blast running the RS and Katana up through the revs repeatedly on the back roads. And I confess: It’s so addictive hearing the little 2 stroker scream on these sweet pipes!

But of course the fun had to come to end as we got back into town. The bike started sputtering and losing power, and finally died all together. I waited about 10 minutes and the bike re-fired, but was noticeably down on power. I was able to get it back into the garage and started crawling through the AF1 Aprilia Forum for RS250’s. Sounded like changing out the plugs was the right place to start.

I chose to upgrade to the NGK Iridium version of the stock plug recommended by forum members as a preferred street solution to help prevent fouling. The new plugs feature a different top connector than the standard plugs though and I ended up having to change out the plug wire ends.

This is where I give a shout out to Fred’s Honda of Corvallis, who spent the time to look through the books to find the unusual plug wire ends that fit the fatter connector that is not usually found on wires for motorcycles. After searching the catalog, they found a snow mobile application that is basically exactly like the unit I needed, but with additional length on the rubber boots at either end for water proofing. I was impressed that they were happy to take the extra time help me get the right parts that were only going to cost $6 in the end. Good service is hard to find and I’ll be back — often!

Unfortunately the new plugs and wire ends did not solve the problem. Lots of smoke out of one pipe and no smoke on the other. So time to start going backwards from the wire…

dc

Categories
Automotive Classifieds of Interest German Cars For Sale Motorcycles On The Job

Check Out What’s Up on My Other Websites

Here’s my March 2011 summary of interesting posts on my other websites. Yep, shameless self-gloss!

Rare Sport Bikes For Sale

1992 Kawasaki KR250C3 KR1-S still in the crate!

This post has generated the most comments ever on a single post on my website. The seller is quote eccentric in his presentation and demands of the potential bidders. It’s a very rare opportunity to own a new 1992 KR1-S for sure!


Rare Sport Bikes

Mike hits the Las Vegas Mid-America auction and files his report. He is definitely inspiring me to make this a company trip next year! Great post Mike, thanks so much for the first hand account!


German Cars For Sale Blog

Steve McQueen’s 1970 Porsche 911S is being offered soon at auction and the classic car blog world is abuzz. We didn’t miss it either! We’ll be keeping an eye on the result of this sale for sure.



Classic Italian Cars For Sale

1958 Fiat Fiat Abarth Zagato “Double Bubble”

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Categories
Motorcycles

Honda RS125 Onboard Video

As stated in the previous post, I’m totally jealous of the recent acquisition Alex made with his Honda RS125 track bike. Here’s an excellent illustration of why the lightweight 2 stroke can make bikes with 3-4x the displacement look like amateur hour:

The super fast change in direction and razor sharp lines in this video make me an absolute believer in the bike Alex got, even if it’s not quite the same model. But I’m eager to learn more about these and will report back when I know more.

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Categories
Motorcycles Photography

Photoshop Fun with a Honda RS125

My buddy Alex who is a contributing author on Rare Sport Bikes For Sale is about to pick a Honda RS125 for track days. What a great early Christmas present to yourself! He sent over this picture of the bike to show off his latest acquisition. I started staring at in Photoshop and ended up with these two versions of the image. The first one is more photo-realistic and the other has a filter applied for a more stylized look. I’m leaning towards the latter. Probably end up wallpapering one of my garage walls with a huge print out.

Honda RS125

alex_rs125_black_and_white_2Honda RS125

Congrats on the new bike Alex! Can’t wait to see it in action!

dc

Categories
Motorcycles On The Job

It’s Been Quiet Around Here, But It’s Been Going Off Over at RareSportBikesForSale.com

I know my personal blog has really been neglected this summer, but I’ve been very busy consulting. And when I’m not helping out moto-clients with web services consulting, I’m working with a great team to really dial up the Rare Sportbikes For Sale site. Check out some of the sweet rides this week alone: MC28 NSR250 SE, CBR250R Hurricane, Huge Teaser for some OW01’s, VF1000R, Bimota YB9, and well you get the idea.

VFR1-300x225NSR7c-150x150ducati-01DSC05544-13n03k23m35O15Qe5R999e6d8ba8dc07ff16e9-150x150!B,i8Cqg!Wk~$(KGrHqUH-CsEqtbPDy2fBKr8+hwOHw~~_12YB94

If you’re in a shopping mood, I’d subscribe as the best deals are always had in the fall and early winter.

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