HELP! aprilia rs125 wont start.

[stirlinggaz]

Hi all,
can anyone give me any advice? (apart from get another bike!)
yesterday when leaving work my bike wouldnt start for about 10 minutes & after about 15 attempts!
but was ok last nite, 3 or 4 times lt started fine.
but when i went to start it late last nite to put it away,
same again, only this time it wouldnt start at all!
tried again this morning but no luck.
battery is ok, showing over 12.5v
petrol in it!
starter making all the rite noises.
checked spark plug, was black & sooty & stunk of petrol!
cleaned it - no change.
tried bump starting it but to no avail!
(not flooded)
im about 3 or 4 miles from nearest garage & im knackered trying to bump start it! so pushing it is not on.
any ideas?
im gonna have to get bus to work until i can get back on road,
so any help/advice welcome.
thanks
GAZ

[Kickstart]

Hi

Are you getting a spark?

To be honest with the wet plug it is sounding like it is flooded. Put a fresh plug in and try again (and if it doesn't start check if the fresh plug is now covered in petrol).

In case the needle vave is leaking, turn the petrol off when parked (or even turn the petrol off 100~200 yards before you arrive, should make that on what is in the carb / fuel line and means less to actually get past the needle valve). Give that a try and see if it fixes it.

Also possible that the ignition pickup has moved. If the gap from this to the rotor gets too large then the bike runs fine, but the starter doesn't turn it over fast enough to trigger the ignition.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[stirlinggaz]

thanks mate,
off to buy a new plug,
but not sure which one to get!
the one i hav removed is a NGK BR9ES
but manual says BR10EG or BR8EG for full power version.
as mine is derestricted i presume i should go for the BR8EG?
is there much difference, as long as the gap is 0.7mm?
GAZ

[Kickstart]

Hi

The number with NGK plugs is the heat range. The higher the number the "colder" the plug, for hotter running engine (basically the amount of insulation around the electrode changes, allowing more / less heat to escape that way).

The full power bike should have a 10, restricted should have an 8. A 10 would foul up more easily if used at low speed round town, which is probably why someone has fitted a 9 to yours.

The ES / EG (or EV, or EGV, etc) is the thread size (the E bit) and the electrode type.

Spark plugs on 2 strokes are not long lived. Can be a good idea to carry a spare with you.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing