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Hi everyone,

Been doing the checking over on my falco which i bought not so long ago. Have asked for a few pointers in servicing this bike. and thanks to all those who have parted with their wisdom.

I do however have a puzzle to solve - Why is there a miniscule amount of oil in the bottom of my Falcos air box? and is this normal? Air filter seems fine and so do the rear two plugs.

I take it that you need to remove the enire airbox to get to the front cylinder to check those plugs? How is this done? I can see 4 allen head bolts in the airbox.

Plan is to do an oil change, any tips there esp filling it back up as I cant see a sight window to see the oil level just a clear pipe with oil in it.

Thanks in advance

Regards
Blackranger68

The crank breather goes into the airbox - hence the oil residue

Re changing the oil - iirc drain the oil sump and tank - and change the oil filter at the same time. I think the standard amount of oil is 3.8 litres

To check the oil level, run/ride the bike for 20 mns and then check the sight tube while holding the bike upright - ie not on the side stand

The base plate for the airbox is secured by 6 Allen keys around the velocity stack - use an airline around the front plugs to blow out any debris BEFORE removing the plugs

And, if it's like the Futura airbox, take care not misplace the little rubber O-ring which sits between the throttle bodies and underside of the airbox; causes all sorts of running problems if it's not in place

Is it common to find oil in the filter? Or is it due to too much oil?

Correct.
A little bit is common, if you overfill it with oil it will spit it out into the airbox.

Phew, i noticed that a few months ago- good to know it's normal

As has already been stated about the oil in the air box, not a problem in small quantities.
Slight correction/update on the oil drain bit.
Drain the sump at the bottom of the oil tank, (the bike is dry sump with a scavenge pump).
Then remove the filter cover, by removing the two hex bolts and, as soon as you do, more oil will flow out of here.
Just to the right of where the filter locates on the engine block there is a further drain plug with a hex head which allows you to completely drain the engine itself.
Initially I didn't know this, not a major problem, just means that a bit of old oil gets left in, but obviously much better to fully drain.

Now for a couple of critical issues -

Aprilia modified the bikes for a larger filter, you can easily tell, the old cover is just that, the new one extends things for a larger filter and is more like a cup that sticks out further.
You can use the old style filter no problem, but clearly you need to request this early short filter from your supplier.
If you want to change, you need the new extended cap off ebay or elsewhere and the new longer filter.
And finally if you go for the original short type, do not buy a Putoline unit !!!!!!
I did an oil change very recently and had two Putoline short units in my stock in the garage, so thought I would carry on with this type.
Noticed that it seemed different from the one taken out and slightly longer 2mm or so, but thought it would be OK.
Long story that I will post later, but was not OK, cover did not fully tighten up and seal, I ended up dumping oil over the brand new BT 023 rear tyre.
Pictures to come soon!

And don't do what I did, fit the short filter with the long cover. It did stay in OK, but it was only luck that it didn't come out of it's mounting.

If you need the short filters, I believe I still have two un-used up in my office.

Minor, but relevant hijack.

I was talking to Forza on the AF1 site about the merits of long and short filters and he suggested sticking with shorties. Reckons his diagnostics machine reports low oil pressure on every one of the bikes he sees that has changed to the long filter.

I'll be going back.

Falcopops wrote:Minor, but relevant hijack.

I was talking to Forza on the AF1 site about the merits of long and short filters and he suggested sticking with shorties. Reckons his diagnostics machine reports low oil pressure on every one of the bikes he sees that has changed to the long filter.

I'll be going back.

Just out of interest, where in the oil circuit is the pressure measurement being made? Before or after the filter?

When i had my engine oil changed August last year the guy replaced my long filter with a short one that he had in stock, long one didn't come up on his database so he adapted a spring to keep it inplace

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

Can anyone clarify when the longer oil filter was issued by Aprillia? My bike is one of the red ones from 2001 and I am not sure if its a long filter or short one. Does anyone know the measurements of the short filter as I have a filter ready to be installed

While on the subject of colour does anyone know the paint codes for my bike and where I could get a touch up can or bottle of paint which is a good match?

No Falcos were ever built with the longer filter. Aprilia issued a service bulletin advising people to "upgrade".

I upgraded at my last service - there seemed little point in not doing so.

mines done 29k on the small filter.........can't be much wrong with um

I've just done an oil and filter change, you can still get the Champion ones from Halford for about £6. I tend to buy 3 or 4 at a time as I do an oil change every year so I get through um