APRILIA AF1 1987 PROJECT 108 WON'T WORK!

[Paulw]

Hi all.

Son Oliver has this bike which has a Tuareg engine fitted (1 up 5 down gearbox).

We have the engine manual from Peter Knight.

On investigation the clutch isnt disengaging when the lever is pulled, irrespective of cable adjustment. Looking into the inspection hole the actuation lever inside the clutch housing is moving when the clutch is operated and the adjusting screw is moving also.

We dont have a suitable tool for the adjusting screw locknut so havnt been able to check adjustment yet. Does anyone know where to get one?

The end of the clutch cable or where it attaches to the actuating lever inside the housing isnt visible through the inspection hole. What is the cable connection like, how do we get at it to disconnect the cable?

Much worse we are unable to start the engine. It was running OK when Oliver got the bike in August but it has stood for a while. Have tried the electric start (battery fully charged), "bump" starting in gear, also had the chain off and tried a spanner on the sprocket nut with the bike in gear. Unable to turn over the engine by any of these means.

It looks like the engine has siezed up while it was standing though I cant understand why. Am I right. Any thoughts?

We are currently thinking of taking the engine out and sending it to Peter Knight (Rotax) for servicing. I'm not sure on cost of this yet & wondering if we might be better looking for a replacement engine - any thoughts or advice on this, costs, availability, other service dealers etc would be appreciated.

Regards


Thanks to Kickstart for earlier info.

[Kickstart]

Hi

First thing I would check is that it has not flooded in style. Take the spark plug out and take the drain plug out from under the crankcase (just in front of the starter motor, real pig to get at on the Rotax 127 engine). Then try rotating the engine (NOT using the starter motor as if it is full of petrol the last thing you want to do is have the spark plug giving a nice spark).

The ignition system is self generating and it doesn't need the battery for a spark.

Change the spark plug. They use a B9EG plug. 0.5mm spark plug gap.

Peter Knight should be able to supply you with a tool for adjusting the clutch. Failing that the same tool is still used on the RS125 engine (part number 276 040) so try a few local breakers for a tool kit from one of those.

The clutch cable just has a smalle nipple on the end. Slaken the adjuster off at the lever and remove the cable at that end. This should give you enough free cable to disconnect it at the clutch end. Just push the cable inner in, wiggle it a bit and pull it out (might take a couple of attempts). The cable outer has a couple of o ring seals going into the clutch casing which makes it a pain to pull out, but it does just pull out. The only time it is a real problem to get the cable out is if someone has bodged the clutch cable. Unfortunatly if someone has done this then you need to remove the clutch cover, which means dropping the engine on the early AF1 I think (it is far easier on the later bikes).

I can try and take some pictures of a disassembled engine if it would help.

If you have got the engine propery seized then try filling it with diesel and leaving it to stand. This might well free it off. It is quite easy to lift the top end off the engine. 3 springs hold the exhast on and they are a total pain to remove, but after that just get the carb off and undo the 4 nuts holding the head and on.

Peter Knight should be able to help with a rebuild, but depends on the time of year (spends much of the year working on race engines)., and he can also tell you exactly which bits need changing to set the gear change the right way round (might just be the shift drum) You could also try PJ Engineering on Wolverhampton. Finding a spare 127 engine will not be easy. A 123 from a Sintesi / Futura / early RS should fit but one problem is that the water pipe from the radiator into the water pump is on a different side of the engine.

All the best

Keith
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