Very slow? Is it crank seals? Please help!

[ellis]

Hi,

Just got an Aprilia RX50 2006 (am6 engine), it has been sat for a while with the previous owner. It had a new piston, rings and cylinder head just before I got it.

However the speed is very slow and there seems to be problems in the gears .

I can pull away in first gear, but the revs go stupidly high. When I work through the other gears, after about half throttle it does nothing and provides no power. I couldn't even get to 25mph. It sort of 'splutters'.

I've been told this may be because it needs new crank seals, is this the case?

Any help appreciated, many thanks.

[chrism15]

spluttering can mean over fueling, too big of a jet

what colour is spark plug?

or it could be losing compression, do you have a compression tester? - you can by one between £15 and £20 and that will tell you what condition the piston, rings, barrel, seals are and if they are leaking

[ellis]

spluttering can mean over fueling, too big of a jet

what colour is spark plug?

or it could be losing compression, do you have a compression tester? - you can by one between £15 and £20 and that will tell you what condition the piston, rings, barrel, seals are and if they are leaking

The spark plug is white (I think?!) I put a new one in today!

And I don't but could this cause the loss of power in the gears? Thanks

[EJD]

The spark plug is white (I think?!) I put a new one in today!

And I don't but could this cause the loss of power in the gears? Thanks

I had/have a similar issue.
By colour of the spark plug we mean the electro rod bit that faces into the cylinder.
Is it really black and oily or is it clean or is orange/brown?
You want a brown colour but not to dark or oily.

I got told by ALOT of people that my seals were damaged but a guy a Adrenaline Pedstop and a few others online reckon you would loose almost all compression with faulty seals.
All I need to do Is lower my jet from 80 to 75ish (I run a doppler exhaust and 50cc performance kit)

As for the sluggish ness, try a few of these things:

. Check clutch is FULLY dis-engaged when in gear
. Check the plug isn't to black (too rich) (lower jet)
. Check Carb, Jets, Reeds and ports are all clear of debris
. Check petrol tank filter isn't blocked (maybe not enough petrol coming through)
. Check your getting a good spark from the plug cap. (stick a screw driver half way in, turn engine over (on battery) and see if you get a constant spark.)
. Check oil levels, battery power (charge battery) Maybe even change gearbox oil

All of these things are a must before you spend HOURS taking apart your whole entire engine block to replace the seals.
At least I did and it ended up not being seals but a faulty after market cylinder head and wrong jetting and too much oil.

[chrism15]

WHITE? fuck

mate do not run it till you have upjetted it!!! itl be running lean as fuck and your VERY lucky you dont have a hole in your piston i mean seriously coz white is VERY VERY lean

do you have a pod/cone/foam/k+n style filter on? becuase you need to upjet ALOT for them and if you have one fitted but not upjetted then thats why its running lean

your crank bearings and the crank itself will have some serious blue/purple marks from heating up from not enough fuel

spark plug should be a coffee brown colour...

[EJD]

WHITE? fuck

mate do not run it till you have upjetted it!!! itl be running lean as fuck and your VERY lucky you dont have a hole in your piston i mean seriously coz white is VERY VERY lean

do you have a pod/cone/foam/k+n style filter on? becuase you need to upjet ALOT for them and if you have one fitted but not upjetted then thats why its running lean

your crank bearings and the crank itself will have some serious blue/purple marks from heating up from not enough fuel

spark plug should be a coffee brown colour...

You sure he doesnt mean the actually outer plug colour, like the one on my rs50
Most plugs have a white or blue outer shell but ALL are like a silver colour on the electrode.

[chrism15]

no he said the spark plug is white which means VERY lean, they dont have a white or blue out shell they just have a pure metal electrode which after a quick run should be all coloured

[ellis]

I had/have a similar issue.
By colour of the spark plug we mean the electro rod bit that faces into the cylinder.
Is it really black and oily or is it clean or is orange/brown?
You want a brown colour but not to dark or oily.

I got told by ALOT of people that my seals were damaged but a guy a Adrenaline Pedstop and a few others online reckon you would loose almost all compression with faulty seals.
All I need to do Is lower my jet from 80 to 75ish (I run a doppler exhaust and 50cc performance kit)

As for the sluggish ness, try a few of these things:

. Check clutch is FULLY dis-engaged when in gear
. Check the plug isn't to black (too rich) (lower jet)
. Check Carb, Jets, Reeds and ports are all clear of debris
. Check petrol tank filter isn't blocked (maybe not enough petrol coming through)
. Check your getting a good spark from the plug cap. (stick a screw driver half way in, turn engine over (on battery) and see if you get a constant spark.)
. Check oil levels, battery power (charge battery) Maybe even change gearbox oil

All of these things are a must before you spend HOURS taking apart your whole entire engine block to replace the seals.
At least I did and it ended up not being seals but a faulty after market cylinder head and wrong jetting and too much oil.

Thanks for all the suggestions. As I'm a bit of a noob I didn't know what he meant by the spark plug colour! (It's brand new).

Also the battery is quite flat, and I'm not sure whether there is debri blocking the fuel and the carb and jets.

I know next to nothing about mechanics so I really don't know whether the jetting is wrong or there is too much oil.

I took it to a mechanic today and he didn't really know 100%. But I left the bike with them and they are going to clean the carbs etc. so hopefully that fixes it.

However if they come back with some stupid price I will force myself to learn the basics so I can check over myself and if the problem is severe then look into getting the engine repaired by a specialist, like here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aprilia-RS...ht_2658wt_1163

Thanks for the help, I may need some more in the future

[EJD]

no he said the spark plug is white which means VERY lean, they dont have a white or blue out shell they just have a pure metal electrode which after a quick run should be all coloured

White outer shell: http://www.adrenalin-pedstop.co.uk/u...91d4baef38.jpg
Not the metal part, lol.

Why would he say "white" Clean, Orange, Brown, Black but WHITE? Doesn't make sense.

[ellis]

Sorry guys as I'm a noob I thought it was the upper bit! The spark plug was brand new on today. I don't know how to check whether crap is stuck in the fuel tank or in the carbs and what not.

I took it to a garage today and the guy didn't really know too much but he said that they'll do all the basics like cleaning carbs etc. but if that doesn't work I will be needing more help as I want to teach myself this stuff to save money in the future.

Thank you both for helping me out, I'll keep you posted on what the result is.

Thanks

[chrism15]

not that part, wtf? why wud i ask the colour of that, its irrelavent

whats the colour of the electrode if that makes it clearer (the tip end inside the cylinder head...)
after a quick run tell us the colour of the spark plug tip

[EJD]

not that part, wtf? why wud i ask the colour of that, its irrelavent

whats the colour of the electrode if that makes it clearer (the tip end inside the cylinder head...)
after a quick run tell us the colour of the spark plug tip

HAHAH, What DID I SAY!?!?!!?!?!?



@ellis thats pretty much what I did. Came across an issue and tried my best to do it all my self without paying a garage.
I guess in a good way you learn your way round your bike and can help others too

[EJD]

Oh btw, What number does it say on your spark?
You need either ****9***** (something like that) or *****10*****

[ellis]

Sorry I have next to no knowledge on this!

When I next give it a run out I'll let you know that.

But yeah, about half throttle is gears 2, 3, 4 and 5 there's no power, so I cant get above 25.

Hopefully the mechanic does some basics to it and that's that, but if not then I'll have to try every other solution.

[ellis]

Oh btw, What number does it say on your spark?
You need either ****9***** (something like that) or *****10*****

I think it may be an 8, I'm not sure. And I'll try and watch some tutorials to learn the basics. Cheers