Maintenance

[irix]

Hey.. I'm nearing the 4600 or 4800 interval (don't have my manual here at work), and I was wondering what needs to be done for this service. I changed my oil at 2800, and will be doing it every 2k miles or so. I used fully synthetic Motul 15w-50. I was wondering if I should just go ahead and change it again, with filter, or if I really have to adjust the valves and all that. If I remember correctly that was on the maintenance chart for the service around that many miles. It seems excessive to me.. a friend has a Falco with 30k+ miles, and the valves still haven't needed adjusting. The bike is running great, and is super smooth. No issues.. and nothing *feels* odd. Any advice would be wonderful.

Thanks!

[sgendler]

Don't arbitrarily adjust the valves, just check them. If they are out of tolerance (and they won't be unless you are incredibly unlucky) leave them alone. If they are, take them to a shop and have them adjusted.

[K DOCDDS]

I am in your exact same situation on all counts. I was also wondering if my bike actually needed the ($$$) shop service, or just an oil change and once-over by me. To my knowledge most Aprilias rarely need valve adjustments.....but...

What are we to do?


Kurt

[ed apriliaforum com]

the valves were supposed to be checked at 600, then not til 10K. Fork oil is supposed to be changed at the 4.5K service

Checking them is VERY important....

true, most do not need adjusting, but what if yours does??? a too tight valve is VERY bad......it can burn up the motor

Checking them is very easy....adjusting them is a whole other project maybe best left to pros or very mechanically inclined people.

[apriliarsvr]

Well said Ed. It amazes me hearing people talk about not checking because everyone else said it didn't need it or they don't hear them ticking or its too expensive. I'll take a ticking, clacking and overall noisy valve any day over a too tight one and whats a couple hundred dollars for miles of trouble free operation.

Chuck B
Arizona
00 Aprilia Mille "R" - Stage 1
99 K1200LTC

[angrybobr1]

I had it in my mind that is was AT 9350 miles to check the valves and commenced the tear-down last night. Its the heat of the summer in Phoenix and this is the down time. I now have 8800 miles and figured why not.

Coulda gotten another 1200 miles! Oh well, the rubber is shagged and I'm in the mood for some maintenance as well as adding the fuel pressure reg, evo eprom, evo amp & wires.

Time will tell as to the performance change, but I'm also going back from the evo race box to stock to try and fix the flat spot at 5-6.5k rpm.

[irix]

Is there any documentation out there on changing the fork oil, as well as the stock level? I've looked in the fork manual available in the tech section above, and didn't see anything really. I also have the manual in pdf that was posted here not too long ago at home... I just can't get to it now, and finding resources once at home is tough since I'm on dialup now :( .

Thanks.

[ed apriliaforum com]

stock Showa fork oil level is 118mm +/- 2mm....this is for Falcos, Milles, and Futuras

stock Ohlins level is 85mm

remember oil level (actually air level) is measured fully compressed with no springs or spacers inside, and the most important thing is that the cartridge is fully bled. Spend extrea time making absolutely sure the cartridge is bled. You measure from the top down, so a bigger number has less oil, and a small number has more oil.

Race-tech recommends all the way to 80mm (more oil) on the Showa forks......I generally do not add that much oil......I set the oil level to 90-105mm....depending on rider......each leg MUST be identical.

Oil level really only affects the last 1/3 of the travel (helps with bottoming out).

Just dont use less oil than 118mm or you may not have any damping (ask buck000 about his Futura forks).....the dealer left him over 25mm low on oil and the front had zero damping like a pogo stick......we fixed it

[irix]

derr... sounds kinda complicated.. are there any good sites out there for this sort of thing? I have Ohlins forks...

[irdave]

Ed.
Ninety to 105? I've added an extra cm to 110 with 10wt oil with stock internals... Are you guys running those levels with the stock internals or just the race-tech stuff? And if stock, what oil wt are you using?

Thanks.
dave.

[ed apriliaforum com]

if you have never done it before, take it to a pro.....there is tons you could mess up, and you need several special tools

To save a few bucks, remove the forks completely from the bike, and drop them off at the dealer or ship them out.

[ed apriliaforum com]

for both stock and Race-tech internals....

we have only run 5W oil so far

[irdave]

Hhhmmm.
Thanks Ed. Gives me something to think about.
dave.

[irix]

Yeah, sounds kinda out of my league. Anyone know of a place near Denver that could get this sort of job done quickly? I don't mind paying if it's done fast.

[irdave]

Denver?
For the whole service or just changing the fork oil? Hell, it's only the short service, no valves. Give me a call. We can do it here in the garage.

dave.
(970) 222-9597
dago2@comcast.net

[irix]

All I need help with is the fork oil, I think. I can do the oil change myself.. Where bouts are you located? 970 is north and east, isn't it?

[irdave]

Fort Collins.

dave.

[irix]

Okay, I've got someone helping now.. is the procedure a lot different between the Showa's and Ohlins forks? The 5w Ohlins oil available in the store is what should be used (2L of it), correct?

Thanks!