My new SR50

[William the Third]

My SR50 was delivered today. I had bought a bike hauler that attaches to the trailer hitch for the truck because it was on sale. I really had no use for it because I wouldn't trust my bikes on it, so I figured I would buy a scooter. I bought it from Xtreme Power Sports in McHenry MD. I've put about 15 miles on it so far. It will do 45mph with me on a flat and I saw 53mph downhill. Saddly, I've already had to take it apart due to a crack in the oil tank!

[muchacho]

You should have taken it back to the dealer. Warranty covers that.

[Ciudale]

Thats something crazy they haven't yet fixed that issue...
Check the forum, many people have solved the problem in a "custom" way, better than replacing it with exactly the same cheap tank.

[William the Third]

You should have taken it back to the dealer. Warranty covers that.

True, but the dealer I bought it from is 400+ miles away and the nearest good dealer is 1.5hrs away. I used to work for the local aprilia dealer so I didn't mind pulling it apart. This is the first of the new body style I have pulled apart. Do the old SR's and the new SR's use the same oil tank? I don't remember hearing anything about this back in the day, but not too many SR's came in to the dealer back then, so I didn't really follow them too closely. It was mostly cheap chinese junk scooters/atvs/dirtbikes that I had to deal with.

Thats something crazy they haven't yet fixed that issue...
Check the forum, many people have solved the problem in a "custom" way, better than replacing it with exactly the same cheap tank.

I've got a couple of ideas on how to repair it, but I figure I'll try a new tank first.

[muchacho]

Since you have done most of the work, the dealer can ship the part to you. Other dealers on this forum have successfully achieved this.

[SilverSurfer]

I've got a couple of ideas on how to repair it, but I figure I'll try a new tank first.

whether you get a new tank or not (and since the new body style, they don't use the same oil tank, the old one was in the rear of the scooter) I'd recommend reinforcing that area where it cracked. That's where they ALL crack.

[William the Third]

Since you have done most of the work, the dealer can ship the part to you. Other dealers on this forum have successfully achieved this.

That's what they are doing. I called them up after I found out what it was and the told me they'd mail out a new tank to me.

whether you get a new tank or not (and since the new body style, they don't use the same oil tank, the old one was in the rear of the scooter) I'd recommend reinforcing that area where it cracked. That's where they ALL crack.

I planned on it. What I was planning on was wrapping thin rubber around the neck and using a hose clamp. If I can find a completely smooth clamp of the same diameter I'll omit the rubber.

[THE MAX]

Is it just bad constuction or is the sensor diameter to big for the hole ?

[SilverSurfer]

I planned on it. What I was planning on was wrapping thin rubber around the neck and using a hose clamp. If I can find a completely smooth clamp of the same diameter I'll omit the rubber.

I wrapped mine with fiberglass cloth and some kind of resin or plastic glue (I forget now...). So far, so good.

[aprilia5rS0]

hey enigma nice scoot.
i saw that auction online. i was just curious, how much did u pay for shipping?
thanks

[William the Third]

Is it just bad constuction or is the sensor diameter to big for the hole ?

The hole is too small. You want the hole to be a bit smaller so it will compress the rubber to give a good seal, but aprilia (or whoever designed/makes the tank) made it a bit too small. The rubber wanting to expand deforms the plastic till it finally gives at the weak top and a tear forms down the side.

I wrapped mine with fiberglass cloth and some kind of resin or plastic glue (I forget now...). So far, so good.

I saw that while reading though the forums. I've been reading though the forum here to catch up on things. I am sort of glad this happened in a way as I have read many people have problems with Motul 600 which is what I was using. Well sort of, I mixed the Motul 600 with what was in there from the dealer (AMSOIL full syn). So I had about 20% Motul and about 80% AMSOIL. Since most people seem to like the AGIP City 2T Semi-Syn I bought a case of it from the american AGIP website. I'll use the Motul/AMSOIL mix in the RS250, it's not too picky about oil.

I like the idea of a hose clamp because it is quick and easy to intsall/remove.

hey enigma nice scoot.
i saw that auction online. i was just curious, how much did u pay for shipping?
thanks

Funny thing is I lost the auction (I bid up to the buy it now price thinking who would go over the buy it now price when they could have just went ahead and bought it at that price), but within minutes of the auction ending I called up and bought a scooter from them for the buy it now price. I see they are selling them on ebay now for even less ($2200 vs $2300). As I recall the reserve was around $2100, but there is pretty much no chance of getting that (as I learned) unless you call them on the phone and they are willing to sell it for that.

Anyway, I paid $450 for shipping. I was hoping to save on the shipping because my grandmother was moving down from Baltimore MD to here. If I had to go up there again I was going to pick up the scooter myself, but ended up not going up again. Then I was going to have them ship it to Baltimore and have it shipped down with her stuff, but the ebay winner picked the black one (I let him have first choice), so I figured I'd just wait till they got another black one in. The red is nice, but I like the black more. I would have liked yellow (looks good, plus more visible, thought people would probably still not see me), but we don't seem to get those stateside.

Edit: I Delt with Allen at Xtreme, he was a great guy and I have nothing but good stuff to say about them. I was familiar with them from this forum (I remember the first post I read about them where someone had good stuff to say, but couldn't find their website to tell others and I found it and posted it for him), so I knew they were good to deal with.

[William the Third]

Well my scooter is back together. I ended up not doing any reinforcing, the new tank I got was much better built and I don't believe it will crack. In the old tank the hole was off center (due to a bad molding I guess) leaving a part of the wall with a thickness of about 1mm. The new tank has the hole centered and is over twice as thick. My new tank was built 12/2005 where as the original was built 5/2007.

The bodywork was quite the pain in the ass to reinstall for some reason. It came off easy, but the front piece didn't want to go back on as easy. I'm not sure if it was temperature related (mid 50's F outside) or what. The left side lined up much easier (it was the side in the sun) than the right. I found an extra metal screw tab in the belly pan (I removed it to wash out the oil with some s100 and hot water in the shower). I have no idea where it came from as every I marked what screw came from what hole and was able to match everything up, so I wasn't missing one. I can only guess one fell off at the factory and they just replaced it and left the other in the belly.

I put about 50 miles playing around on it today. I only got passed a few times. Few roads are faster than 45mph around here, so I can atleast do near the speed limit most of the time. Only a few cutouts while going up hill, the worst of which were when starting up on a hill (damn light). Only seems to happen when you get down to the Mid 20's, thankfully I can keep my speed up to 30+ on most hills. I climbed up Ox Creek Rd, a somewhat steep road leading to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I never got below 25mph (except for the one cutout where I dropped to 22mph for a second). After I got to the top I stopped and an RC51 passed me so I turned around to chase him down. Took a little while because I first had to climb up a small hill before I could start back down. I caught up with him and stayed with him in the tight stuff, once we got to the faster stuff he pulled quickly away. At first I tried to keep up but I looked down and saw 56mph and backed off. He got stuck behind some cars and I caught up again. When we got to the end of the road together I think he was a bit surprised. I waved to him and we went opposite ways. I've got to say, a scooter really can be as much fun as a motorcycle.

EDIT: When I added the scooter to my sig I called it "My babe magnet" as a joke. The scooter does attract the ladies. Sadly, so far only preteens (this probably doesn't say good things about scooters). When doing break in rides around the neighborhood two 10~13 year old girls seemed to be interested. Even standing in the road as a road block at one point. Another time was while stopped a girl about 13~15 said hello and complemented my hat (I still have a santa hat tapped to my helmet from the toy run last christmas). I can only hope that as the miles add up the age of the girls will too.

[TiminIndy]

Nice scoot. Wanna trade seats for a brand new red one? (I got the Diablo Black w/ red seat)


Gonna get a pipe for it?


If you want to sell a couple liters of that AGIP, let me know.

I think you'll get about 2500 miles a liter.

[Switchbak]

True, but the dealer I bought it from is 400+ miles away and the nearest good dealer is 1.5hrs away. I used to work for the local aprilia dealer so I didn't mind pulling it apart. This is the first of the new body style I have pulled apart. Do the old SR's and the new SR's use the same oil tank? I don't remember hearing anything about this back in the day, but not too many SR's came in to the dealer back then, so I didn't really follow them too closely. It was mostly cheap chinese junk scooters/atvs/dirtbikes that I had to deal with.


I've got a couple of ideas on how to repair it, but I figure I'll try a new tank first.

I have 8,000 on my 2007 scoot and I bought it from Swannanoa. If I ever need it serviced I figured I'd take it to Greenville Aprilia. Swannanoa has the new software if you develop WOT choking. I would hesitate them doing mechanical work. Get yourself a performance pipe.

[William the Third]

I took it out for another good ride today. Not too many cutouts at WOT, it seems to be getting better. Part of the problem probably is I primed the oil pump (while still attached to the engine) after installing the new tank just to be safe (there was plenty of oil in the line, it never was drained but I just wanted to be sure it was pumping fine) but forgot to turn the bike off before starting it. I was only doing a heat cycle and noticed it was a bit more smoky and figured it was the new oil but on doing a quick little rev noticed it was quite smoky and realized my mistake so I probably slightly fouled the plug and injector. A little injector cleaner and a good clean of the plug should fix things up.

Nice scoot. Wanna trade seats for a brand new red one? (I got the Diablo Black w/ red seat)

I like the black, and I'd be worried the red might fade to pink and even attract more preteen girls.

Gonna get a pipe for it?

It's on the list along with a top box.

If you want to sell a couple liters of that AGIP, let me know.

I think you'll get about 2500 miles a liter.

I'll let you know if I do.

I have 8,000 on my 2007 scoot and I bought it from Swannanoa. If I ever need it serviced I figured I'd take it to Greenville Aprilia. Swannanoa has the new software if you develop WOT choking. I would hesitate them doing mechanical work. Get yourself a performance pipe.

Good to meet somebody else from Asheville. Yeah I used to work down in Swannanoa. I know and am friend with the guys down there (excluding the upper management cough cough). In fact Gray and Mickey both rent from us not too far from there on the river.

I should have the newest software, the guys at Xtreme are on the ball. I'm not sure if there is a way to check it without the gameboy, so I am not sure if I do.

We should meet up some time for a ride or something. I'd also like to hear what the aftermarket pipes for the SR50 sound like. Thats one thing I do like about the stock pipe, it's not obnoxiously loud (like I'm one to talk with the pipes on my mille).