Why not have Aprilia address this de-restriction issue?

[fcaprilia]

It seems like we have a lot of information and misinformation available to us regarding de-restriction. On one hand you hear things about how Aprilia voids the engine warranty if the restrictor is removed and then on the other hand you have Speedinos (second largest dealer in US for Aprilia sales) in Fort Collins who sells ALL their brand new Aprilia bikes de-restricted. If Aprilia does not recommend de-restriction then why are their dealers doing it from the word go? This is very disturbing. Up until yesterday morning, I thought my bike was stock as I have not performed any mods (and mind you very happy with the performance). I called Speedinos to buy a scooter for my wife and asked the mechanic about de-restriction on Futura and he told me that my bike was already de-restricted 8o . It seems to me that Aprilia needs to address this to ALL Futura owners and have dealers take care of their customers. I will be happy to contact Aprilia and have them address this but I don't have a proper contact. If someone can post a name and a phone number of the appropriate person at Aprilia, I will chase this down.

[Ricky J]

Read through your manual- it will discuss the
warranty, what voids it, and what your respo-
nsibilities are as an owner. Nowhere will it
say pulling the restrictor's okay. Don't exp-
ect anybody at Aprilia USA to tell you other-
wise. There's no disinformation problem here,
just folks wanting reassurance that they are
100% safe in making engine mods WITHOUT doing
proper follow-ups such as EGA and dyno work.
That's bad science, right? It'd be great exp-
erimenting on a motorcycle and having the ma-
nufacturer pay for our mistakes, wouldn't it?
You have three choices here: leave it alone,
bone stock, and sleep like a baby. Modify it,
and have an expert tuner examine the results,
tuning as needed- then sleep like a baby. Or,
do something in between and maybe lose a bit
of shut-eye. It really IS that simple. Nobody
can guarantee the quality and safety of motor
work on ANY bike without proper qualification
and/or testing afterward.

[fcaprilia]

Ricky - You missed my point in the post. My BRAND NEW bike was sold to me by an authorized Aprilia Dealer de-restricted. That to me, as a customer, means it is under warranty. As far I knew, I had purchased a stock machine from the dealer. Evidently all new Aprilia bikes sold by Speedinos are de-restricted which means an average owner like me thinks that the bike is in factory condition/setup. I would have NEVER even known about de-restriction had I not been a consistent forum reader. If Aprilia disapproves of this, then they need to work with the dealer(s) and correct the situation. I suspect my dealer is NOT the only one who does this. This is the misinformation I am talking about. I had no interest in de-restricting my bike as I am perfectly happy with my "stock" bike. If it wasn't for my call to the dealer yesterday, I would have always considered my bike to be stock i.e., restricted.

Hope this explains it for you.

[Ricky J]

Sorry- I was responding to your subject title
in my post. Again, Aprilia has said that such
mods will void the warranty. If your dealer's
gone ahead and made that change without your
permission, it would appear they have assumed liability. Then again, they went and told you
about it so...it might again be on you. Those
three choices still apply! I would wager that
your dealer service types found out about the
de-restrict idea the same way as you- off the
Net- and not via official Aprilia channels.

[twinrider]

My mechanic at the " Dealer " de-restricted my bike on my first service ! Since I had " Tunes " installed already, his comment was a "little more air a little more preformance" ! So if the Aprilia trained service manager's are de-restricting I would think they know what they are doing . Now the question is: are the helping or waiting for some really good service work coming there way ? I would hope that my dealer is helping and not looking for some big bucks coming from a blown down motor, this would not be good for future business. So I agree if some of the dealers are de-restricting and some are not, Aprilia needs to straighten this out.

[Ricky J]

Can you imagine a Honda dealer yanking stuff
out of a bike before delivery, without a cus-
tomer's consent? A pretty quick way to lose a
franchise one would think! Maybe some of this
cowboy servicing is left over from the early
Mille days? It shouldn't be an "automatic" at
delivery, without the buyer's OK. If you want
to be 100% covered and safe, have the dealer
re-install it- please! Contact Aprilia USA if
you must to complain about unauthorized mods.

[PaulZX9R]

I am having a few problems following this thread.

fcaprilia wrote
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>On one hand you hear things about how Aprilia voids the engine warranty if the restrictor is removed and then on the other hand you have Speedinos ... who sells ALL their brand new Aprilia bikes de-restricted [/quote]There has been one <strong>unconfirmed</strong> report where the bikes owner derestricted his own bike. In your case, the Dealer did the work, not an untrained stranger.

Ricky J responded with some excellent points ...
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr> Read through your manual- it will discuss the
warranty, what voids it, and what your respo-
nsibilities are as an owner. Nowhere will it
say pulling the restrictor's okay. [/quote] But missed the obvious fact that the manual says anything done by the dealer is OK!

fcaprilia is still worried...
<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>As far I knew, I had purchased a stock machine from the dealer.[/quote]Yes you did<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Evidently all new Aprilia bikes sold by Speedinos are de-restricted which means an average owner like me thinks that the bike is in factory condition/setup.[/quote]The fact that the dealer does to all bikes s what makes them stock!<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>I would have NEVER even known about de-restriction had I not been a consistent forum reader[/quote]Nor would you have cared.

In conclusion, if a Dealer does it, it is OK, if you do it, it might or might not be OK.

There is no mis-information, no confusion, Honda dealers say the same thing as do Ford or Dawoo dealers. The dealers work is warranted, yours isn't!

[bmw2aprilia]

Don't worry; go for it. it be worth it and there is no risk. Here's proof. Rode my silver '02 from Dallas to LA on business last summer. Got my 4750 mile service and derestricted while there. Hauled-ass back to Dallas after the service in summer heat thru the south west desert. THEN went back to LA from Dallas 2 weeks ago. Got my 10k service at the same shop that did the derestriction at 4750 mi. Result is after 5k + real fast kiles, plugs were a perfect chocolate brown (saw them myself) As part of the 10k service, also had South Bay Triumph Aprilia in Lomita CA connect the official Aprilia hand-held ECU computer to make any necessary adjustments. Had a VERY slight lean condition at the very bottom-end just off idle. After the Aprilia ECU, and 10k service which included a throttle body sync, the bike is running better than any bike I have ever ridden. Great intake sound to. Go for it, there be no downsides. Don't believe me, ask the techs at South Bay Triupmph/Aprilia at 310-784-7694

[fcaprilia]

Paul - you are spot on. I am going to ride it "as is". I am very happy with the setup (knock on wood). I spent some time with a friend of mine who is an expert in engine technology (especially fuel injection systems) and he educated me about the setup. His conclusion was that whoever is claiming that de-restriction caused their valves to fry did something else i.e., did other mods without understanding the implicaitons.

Cheers.

[VikNWill]

Define "derestriced."

The term has been pased aroung for ages. I believe it to means the small(er) diameter plastic baffle has been removed from the airbox.

Many dealers claim the bike is already "deristriced," but what they mean is full output - horespower -whatever; as opposed to less hp versions (presumably for certain countries). I think we've established that there is no real difference in the motor or tuning for various countries, but the belief still persists. (I did not by my bike from these guys ...surprise!)

I sugest actually checking. Don't trust the dealer, mechanic, or yer mother.

Just take the lid off the air box an LOOK.

There are photos around here (before and after) of a "derestricted" airbox.

It might not clear up the multitude of questions we have regarding this topic...but at least we'll all be speakin' the same language.

Best of luck...ride safe!
Will

[biggums]

Folks its a EPA issue or a political issue for the company (Aprilia and their dealers). They do these restrictions so we can get these bikes into the country on epa standards. The wire is easily cut and we now own a monster machine that would probably never pass air standards.

They can't actively promote these de-restrictions but the unspoken word is "just do it" and enjoy the real machine.

Dave
01 Yellow Falco

[hg6996]

In Austria (as in Australia) all Futuras are delivered without Restrictor in place. In Germany they have the restrictor in place. A guy from an other forum wanted to remove the restrictor and went to his shop. The (austrian) dealer told him that all austrian Aprilias come without restrictor.
As there is no such thing like a second map, it seems there is no danger by simply removing it. :)

[Dan]

...is I took the restrictor out of mine 10k miles ago.

[gasslhaza]

hg6996,

1st; can you plz post a link to this forum?!

2nd; who was the dealer? GINZINGER?

3rd; I´ll check this on friday and report here asap!

Michael
blue´03