Tag: rs250

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

Late December Summary Post of German Cars and Rare Sportbikes For Sale

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, here are the entries for the end of December:

1990 Honda VFR750R RC30 For Sale in Rochester 1990 Honda VFR750R RC30 For Sale in Rochester – The title and registration, combined with the the obvious care and thoughtful upgrades, make this bike a standout. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one listed for sale in recent memory. What do you guys think of the $16k asking?
An RVF400 and VFR400 For Sale in the Bay Area An RVF400 and VFR400 For Sale in the Bay Area – Naturally the VFR400 with original looking bodywork would be my pick. Too bad it doesn’t have registration. The RVF400 is probably the cooler bike mechanically, but restored plastics would be at the top of my list. But with a title and registration, and an asking of only $3k, it’d be a great rider while you tried to determine if it was going to be a track bike or light restoration for the street.
Honda NSR250 MC18 For Sale Honda NSR250 MC18 For Sale – With no title, this great little bike will be attractive to collectors and track day enthusiasts. As a track day bike, do you pick something like this or a new Aprilia RS125? I sat on the latter this past weekend at the Seattle International Motorcycle Show, it’s amazing how beautiful it is in person…
1988 BMW M3 w/ 38k Miles Back on eBay 1988 BMW M3 w/ 38k Miles Back on eBay – in my previous post, I guessed that the winning bid would be around $25k. Considering brand new M cars are apparently immune to the sales slump, do you think this legendary M car will find a buyer this time?
2001 Ducati MH900e Mike Hailwood Evoluzione 2001 Ducati MH900e Mike Hailwood Evoluzione – The seller has it listed with a $13.9k buy-it-now shown. Having covered only a few thousand miles, this looks like a great buy considering brand new Sport Classics go for about this much!
1995 Aprilia RS250 Chesterfied Replica 1995 Aprilia RS250 Chesterfied Replica – Oh man… I’m very tempted to get myself the best xmas present ever and buy this before the auction ends in a few hours. It’s even titled and street legal. It’s only a couple hours away and I’ve taken all of next week off… But I probably won’t though, so I’m posting it here in case someone else can snag it.
1998 Bimota SB6R For Sale on eBay 1998 Bimota SB6R For Sale on eBay – For a buyer with some skills or connections to a good technician, this could be a steal. Current bid is around $7k. What do you think it’s worth once it’s running properly?
Stunning 1991 Porsche 928 GT For Sale with 5 Speed Stunning 1991 Porsche 928 GT For Sale with 5 Speed – I’m a big fan of the 928 anyway, but in this color, trim, and with the 5 speed, I think this looks like a great example. Current bid is just under $14k (no reserve auction) and 8 days to go. I’ll update after auction for the final sale price.
1993 Ducati Superbike 888 SPO: Just In Time For Christmas 1993 Ducati Superbike 888 SPO: Just In Time For Christmas – The only other Ducati’s of this vintage and price range that I would consider would be a 748, or a Superlight. And even in that company, I think the 888 is the bike of choice.
1998 Suzuki RGV 250 SP Lucky Strike Replica in Washington 1998 Suzuki RGV 250 SP Lucky Strike Replica in Washington – This bike looks incredible, but the only problem is the asking price. It’s $16k! It does have very low miles and a title, but this is an outrageous premium considering the market and other examples of the Lucky Strike replica’s that we’ve posted on this blog.
1988 BMW e28 M5: Possible Project Car? 1988 BMW e28 M5: Possible Project Car? – Obviously this one has a lot more miles than most cars I post on here. And I don’t know what showroom they’ve been hanging out in, but this car clearly isn’t that condition. Despite the fact that this car could’ve really benefited from a detail before shooting pics, the car looks complete and pretty good shape. If the motor was sound, this could be a pretty cool project car considering the asking. Which way would you go: fix it up as a nice driver or maybe enjoy as a weekend track toy?
Categories
Ramblings

Announcing the MotoringBlogs Automotive and Motorcycling Blog Network

First I want to say how much fun I’ve had bringing readers at dancrouchblog.com the diamonds in the rough over the past 4 years. I have really enjoyed connecting with like minded enthusiasts and I look forward to making that experience even more meaningful moving ahead.

Now it is time to take my career more seriously, and that means making a transition from passive enthusiast to eventual full-time automotive and motorcycling, web and blogging specialist. I’m a bit premature in the announcement of this plan, but I want to keep dancrouchblog.com readers in the loop!

The most immediate and visible change is that I am splitting the topics that are most popular at dancrouchblog.com into their own blogs: German Cars For Sale Blog and Rare SportBikes For Sale. If you’re a fan of dancrouchblog.com, you’ll love these two blogs! They both follow the familiar “best of for sale” listings and resource guides you’re used to at this site, but both have much nicer .rss and email subscription options than I have utilized before. I hope you’ll consider subscribing. If not, don’t worry, I’ll still be highlighting these new blogs on dancrouchblog.com on a regular basis.

These two blogs are the first to be part of my new automotive blog network, MotoringBlogs. My hope for the network is two fold:

  1. Provide greater focus and detail to the automotive and motorcycling niche that the enthusiast searches for. The ability to provide more than a highlight reel or summary of information, and instead cater to the intense and educated enthusiast with detailed and opinionated editorial blog content.
  2. Build a network of authors, websites, and enthusiast readers that grow together to gain access and knowledge via an entertaining and informative blogging style to address sports cars, motorcycles, amateur motorsports, and the latest in breaking industry news.

The MotoringBlogs concept is in it’s infancy, but will grow quickly. More details will follow in the coming months. I will of course keep dancrouchblog.com readers informed first!

I hope you’ll find MotorBlogs to be an even better resource than dancrouchblog.com has been and I welcome your feedback in the comments below.

dc