Return and questions.

[Oddkid]

*Oddkid bursts wildly back into the light, gazing triumphant and determined into the welcoming depths of the ridersite.*

Hello all i'm back!

I've been on a long and perilous journey where i have fought many trials, some of them are still ongoing. Now i have come seeking aid...again.

The mille is running pretty bloody rough and i have no idea why. I've mentioned it on other forums (ie covbikers) but to be fair they're none too specialised with the superior bikes over there. Broadly speaking i suspect a fuelling issue though i'll mention before hand that it is telling me its due a full service (booked in at Griff's for 6th May).

Basically the first 3 gears are fine and dandy and i can get it to about 100-110 in 3rd no problem. However i get practically nothing after that, its struggled up to around 120 mph (private roads honest) and its got no more to give. Furthermore the throttle is fine up to about 90% but round to the stop it feels like its bogging down and i theorise its either starving at the top or overfuelling and drowning (backed up by a pretty impressive backfire not long ago).

Now i've had it up to 134mph in the past when i was just getting used to it and D-Rider informs me it should go all the way to 175 full tilt in 6th gear. (I dispute that but surely it should beat 120 eitherway.)

Now it did have until recently a lovely set of staintune shotgun cans that sounded the tits but i've put the original can on to see if it sorted the fuelling out and frankly it hasn't. I'm tempted to say it feels smoother but it might just be that its far quieter. I've made no other changes to the bike since i bought it.

Does anyone have an idea what might be going on with it?

[D-Rider]

Now i've had it up to 134mph in the past when i was just getting used to it and D-Rider informs me it should go all the way to 175 full tilt in 6th gear. (I dispute that but surely it should beat 120 eitherway.)

errr ..... no he didn't .....

The bike revs to the redline in hte first 3 gears d-rider, surely it should in the others even if the peak power is earlier. Right?

Sounds like a harley? oh god no!

Firstly, there is no "red line" the dash LED will flash if you exceed the revs you set it to - anything from 6k upwards.
Aprilia specifies that you shouldn't go above 10500 revs (I set my LED to flash at 10,250)
A bit further up (can't remember whether it's 11k or 11500), you do hit the actual limiter ..... been there, done that a few times in error .....

It won't rev out in top with standard gearing as it's over geared. Should just about get there in 5th with a bit to spare.
Should certainly be very capable in 4th.

The Mille is geared (standard gearing) for the following speeds in each gear:

• 1st: 60mph
  2nd: 85mph
  3rd: 109mph
  4th: 137mph
  5th: 156mph
  6th: 175mph

Guess there is some possibility as Will suggests that it's not been de-restricted.
Whereas the Falco was only restricted by a bung in the air box and a fuel map in the ECU (wire snip to change map), the Mille had these restrictions plus a restriction in the exhaust.

It is geared for that speed but as I said, it's overgeared and won't pull it - 160 ish (plus or minus a bit) is more realistic.

[Oddkid]

Ah yeah i misread that Mr Rider, sorry to mar your reputation. Still though its not running right and i thought i'd try my luck over here where you can brainstorm with the other experts.

[D-Rider]

Yeah - no worries o-kid-of-oddness ...... good plan to let the others have a think.

[Samray]

Speaking as a simple non expert I'd start with the simple things, like shitty fuel and clogged filter. Has it stood over winter?

[Oddkid]

No i ride it all weathers daily to work.

[Aladinsaneuk]

I know it has. Full service due but - check coils/Plugs

And air filter....

[D-Rider]

Just so that people know some of the things already suggested ......

Hmmm well 9k isn't far shy of max revs anyway.
What gearing are you running - they won't pull max revs in top anyway on standard gearing.
Where are you finding places to ride at those revs in the higher gears (no, probably don't answer that) ...
Have you checked the basics? - clean plugs, clean air filter etc

I'm wondering if an offending ECU wire hasn't yet been snipped and if fuelling is right considering the after market zorst.. There's also a 'restrictor' plate in the air box (from standard) on the Falcos.. Not a lot of difference with set up as far as I can tell. Slight size differences, but that's about it.

Is this a recent thing?

I thought it was only the us bikes that were restricted in that way. Us machines were restricted to about 86 bhp I think I read. I know there's no bung in the airbox and I'm fairly confident it was doing the same thing with the rediculous staintune pipes on aswell. I'm not sure about the ecu. Even if that is part of the problem, it doesn't explain why it bogs down when the throttles open fully.

Dunno for sure about Milles but all Falcos were built with the restrictions in place and were usually removed at PDI or following the running-in service. Some slipped through the net and remain restricted.
Different air box restrictor plates were used for different markets -France and USA getting some of the greater restrictions.
I expect the same is true for Milles.

Have you done any searching on the Mille-dominated forums?

• AF1
  RSVzone
  Aprilia Performance
  RSVR.net

BTW earlier you said it was losing power as though it was hitting a limiter, above you say it's bogging down ...... so which of these is it actually doing?

[Kwackerz]

As a complete tangentially challenged point.. How tight is your chain?

[D-Rider]

As a complete tangentially challenged point.. How tight is your chain?

I like your thinking Batman ..... but a snippet of info from the thread on CovBikers (not mentioned here so far) suggests it's not chain slip as it would not be struggling to rev-out if that were the case ...

I've posted in the workshop a lot recently.

I'm having trouble with the Mille. Through gears 1-3 I've got nO problem (other than it not wheelieing off the power) however through 4-6 it struggles to get past 9k revs. By struggle I mean it doesn't, it's like it hits a limiter or something. Also I think it's not fueling right at the top. If the throttle is 90% open it's fine but at 100% it feels like it's bogging down.

Much confusion, has anyone got an idea why it's doing this?

[Kwackerz]

..and a too tight chain would? Stopping there as I cant fully decide but id say would bog it down in higher gears...?

[Oddkid]

Chain doesn't seem over tight to me, it's got the usual inch and a half or so slack. I'll keep my eye on it incase there's tight spots or something. I have heard that ideal gearing is non standard 15-46 isn't it?

[D-Rider]

Chain doesn't seem over tight to me, it's got the usual inch and a half or so slack. I'll keep my eye on it incase there's tight spots or something. I have heard that ideal gearing is non standard 15-46 isn't it?

Not sure what the Mille boys like to run but that sounds awfully low to me.
The Falcos are lower geared in standard trim than the Milles in standard trim and we tend to go to 15/41 or 16/43. Some have gone a bit further but 15/46 seems much too far.
It would give the following theoretical max speeds in the various gears (which don't look too bad but I think it would feel it was screaming its nuts off at motorway speeds)
1st.....51
2nd....73
3rd.....93
4th....117
5th....133
top....150

"Ideal" is also dependent on what you want to do with it.

[Oddkid]

Ah I might have meant 15/41

[Dalemac]

too tight valves?

Dale