My Project eBay Cruiser

[aceofhearts]

I picked up my new bike today. Its a 1998 Aprilia Classic. The story goes that last week i saw the bike advertised locally with a £300 starting bid. Without much thought i stuck a bid in, and 4 days later it turned out I had won it. The 2 mile push home today was quite hard work, but saved hiring a trailer

Plan is to clean it up, make it safe and get it running and MOT'd. Then i will sell for hopefully a bit of profit or maybe ride around on for a while as it is surprisingly nice :getmecoat:

Sorry about the amount of pics, but i have just got it home and cleaned it up. To be honest it is a lot better than I thought it would be. The list of jobs so far is:

-Front brakes (very spongy so i will bleed and put on new pads)
-Oil leak on mixer (I can see that its a cracked hose so should be quite easy)
-Drain tank and strip and clean carb
-Sort out headlight and indicator electrics
-Tidy up pitted chromework (not much) and strip and repaint rusted brackets etc.

The seller said it has not been used for a year, and he used to run it up regularly but one day it just would'nt start. After not much investigation today I can see that the tank is full of water. Thankfully it is plastic and very clean inside. So if it gets a good spark hopefully it should just be a carb strip and clean and tank flush to get it running. I will update this thread with my progress

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2814.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2813.jpg

Wheels are in good condition

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2816.jpg

Rear hub needs some work

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2821.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2819.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2820.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2823.jpg

Rusty Brackets

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2827.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2828.jpg

Low mileage :yikes: (speedo needs some work as well to dry out)

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2829.jpg

And some mugshouts to give an idea of scale :hehe: It feels and looks very big for a 125! (I am 5ft11)

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2830.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2833.jpg

[footnote]Edited by AceOfHearts on Tuesday 13th November 18:10[/footnote]

[sidewinder]

Looks good for £300.should see a nice little profit when it's up and running 2t or 4t?
____________________
"Nitrous is like a cheap hooker, you want to hit it but are scared of the consequences

[aceofhearts]

2t

Hopefully should make a couple of hundred when i'm all done. It should'nt be too hard to sell i don't think since 125's always seem to be in demand

[.Chris.]

Interesting - I saw that too and was almost tempted to bid. Must admit I find the idea of a 2-stroke cruiser somewhat odd, having almost the exact opposite of the usual power characteristics of this type of bike. It's quite a nice looking machine - a not-too-cruisery cruiser, if you know what I mean.

Good luck with the project.
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Chris
1985 Kawasaki Z550F

[andy_uk]

Nice bike!
(although I am biased )

[aceofhearts]

Yes i find it quite strange too, and the videos of them screaming past on youtube are quite funny as the noise just does'nt go with the look, but it should go quite well as it is basically an RS125 engine.

I will have to upload a video of it when i get it running.

[aceofhearts]

[andy_uk]

[aceofhearts]

Thanks for that, i had noticed that the aluminium bar with the indicators mounted did look a bit 'home made' so i will probably move the headlight back to its original postion and find a better way of mounting the indicators.

Its good to have a look at pictures of others bikes, and i didn't realise they were so rare!

I have my first question for you aswell When moving it, the oil filler cap (mounted on the side of the black plastic case by handlebars) fell off and i noticed there was not much in the hole, as in i could not see an oil tank or anything like that. I will get a picture up tomorrow as i am at work now, but where is the oil tank supposed to be located and filled from?

[Irn-Bru]

A 2-stroke cruiser, interesting Seems decent for the money.
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KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[Snotter]

Not fond of the bike but well done for the money.

[andy_uk]

[aceofhearts]

excellent cheers, i will have to have a better look and play about tomorrow but i think that pipe may be missing.

[andy_uk]

Not sure if this pic will post or not...but here's an exploded diagram of the tank including pipe etc.
https://www.ultimateparts.net/ri.php?f=..%2Fimages%2Fcategories%2F20536.jpg
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Aprilia Classic 125, GS500E, ER5-A1, ER5-C4, ER6 & an XJ6 project frame...

[aceofhearts]

Yes i can visualise that now. I will start pulling the bike apart tomorrow and get some more pictures uploaded of what i find

[aceofhearts]

Started stripping the bike down today, and am amazed how clean and straight it appears under all the dirt.

I have drained the tank (over 50% water) and brought it inside to dry out and replace the tank seals that are obviously letting the rain in. I also removed the homemade light bracket (which was bodged into place with badly fitting bolts) and will remake a proper mount when i get the time.

I have just ordered my first lot of parts (total £43) so when they come i should be able to get the bike into a running condition. No doubt i will find plenty more things in need of replacement when i start digging though!

I have also drained and cleaned the carb (which was spotless inside ) and have proven that the bike does spark.

Hopefully once i have got the oil leak fixed and the tank back together it should run.

(all of these pictures were pre-cleaning)

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2835.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2836.jpg

Oil tank

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2837.jpg

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2838.jpg

Perished rubber where the 2 stroke oil is leaking from

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2839.jpg

Homemade headlight and indicator bracket

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2840.jpg

Air filter

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2841.jpg

Im sure i have missed some bits but thats the main gist of todays progress

ETA have also remove the (Bosch) battery and is currently on charge. It was showing 12.3 volts and had enough juice to turn the bike over so i am sure it is salvageable.

[aceofhearts]

First parts arrived today

Hopefully will get some time over the weekend and get it running

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2851.jpg

[andy_uk]

Just out of interest...where did you get the air filter from?
I tried a few places and everywhere was out of stock and told me they weren't getting any back in! (although I've not tried recently)
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Aprilia Classic 125, GS500E, ER5-A1, ER5-C4, ER6 & an XJ6 project frame...

[aceofhearts]

All the bits there are from Ultimate Parts

[andy_uk]

They were one of the ones who told me that they wouldn't be getting any more in...
I'll try them again

Oh, one thing I noticed...the bike's unrestricted and can't legally be ridden on a provisional license.
I suppose that if you're still on a provisional and want to be legal you could just unplug the powerlead from the RAVE unit...
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Aprilia Classic 125, GS500E, ER5-A1, ER5-C4, ER6 & an XJ6 project frame...

[aceofhearts]

How can you see that? And what lead are you talking about?

I have a full license so its not a problem for me, but since i am planning on selling it on i should keep it restricted for the target market

[andy_uk]

[aceofhearts]

New parts fitted today, and got it started up for the first time!

First job was the new oil tank outlet rubber and air filter. I then replaced the tank and filled it with petrol and 2 stroke oil. I also have some new gearbox oil which i will change once i can get it running long enough to warm it up. I have also changed the coolant and cleaned the carb.

More bits:

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2867.jpg

Cleaned and flushed tank and speedo

https://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/lewis_sharman/DSCF2866.jpg

The only issue is getting it to tickover. It starts fine on the choke, but will not tickover unless the throttle is held slightly open. I warmed the engine doing this, but even with a warm engine, close the throttle or the choke and the engine will die. I tried adjusting the tickover screw but this made little difference. This leads me to believe that the mixture needs to be a little richer, but i could not see the screw without removing the airbox or oil tank again, so i will leave this to another day. Any other thoughts?

I have attached a video of it running and trying to get it to tickover, and also what happens when i close the throttle. Apart from the tickover it sounds nice and healthy though so i am very happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_873M4bhe7A&feature=youtu.be

Also with the battery attached and the bike running i have checked over all the electrics and now have a final list of jobs i need to do:

-Get it to tickover
-Fix dodgy wiring to oil level light
-Replace or fix front brake light switch
-Fit headlight and indicators properly
-Replace gearbox oil
-Clean and refit chain
-Bleed front brake

After that it should be ready for the MOT and sale

Also to people asking what my plans are for the bike. I am just fixing it up and MOT'ing it to sell on to try and make a bit of profit.

Does anybody have any recommendations on the best way to clean the chain?

[nowhere.elysium]

Every one of OP's images are broken. That's quite a feat
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[aceofhearts]

I think thumbsnap is playing up

I have just ordered a new chain though