FourWheelForum  

Go Back   FourWheelForum > Motorcycles & Streetbikes! > Aprilia Mille RSVR - 1st Generation

Reply
Thread Tools
  #1  
Unread 10-02-2009, 06:54 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default How To Change Aprilia Mille RSVR & RSV Oil & Filter

SORRY FOR THE DELAY (holidays and riding motorcycles have been keepin me busy) !! Oil Change Pictures Now Here - Have a nice day.

Hey everyone I've finally got around to changing my Aprilia's oil again. I have always meant to post pictures for everyone and I made sure to take a few last night. It's pretty simple but of course the first time can be intimidating because of the dry sump system. It's nothing to worry about, anyone can do it.

Ok let's get started. Just make sure to take off your side panels and bellypan and put them out of your reach somewhere safe so you won't kick them around.
  1. Have your oil, oil filter and a new oil filter cover seal on hand.
  2. Get out your Allen wrench set (or at least the 5mm and 6mm) and some throw away rags.
  3. Grab a shallow pan and have a big flat piece of cardboard just in case.
  4. And a 10mm closed end wrench.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Unread 10-02-2009, 06:59 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

The Aprilia Mille has bodywork that completely covers the whole engine and bottom of the bike. The best thing to do it take the side panels and belly pan off the motorcycle and then go ride it around to warm the oil up. Make sure and put all the bolts and loose fittings that might come off in a Zip Lock bag so you don't lose them. More oil will drain out faster with warm oil than hot of course. It's much more comfortable to take the bodywork off of a cold Aprila than a hot one! So when you come back from a short ride on your naked Mille you can just pull up and drop the oil quickly.

No matter what I'm working on the first thing I do when changing the oil is CLEAN all the dirt or whatever from around the oil plug and the oil filter cover. The inside of the engine is the cleanest area on your whole bike so keep it that way. Dirt will mess up any sealing surface or bolt threads when you put things back together so grab some WD-40 and hose the surrounding areas off. You can also dilute some degreaser in a spray bottle and soak the grime and then brush it off and rinse with water. It only takes a couple minutes.

Reply With Quote
  #3  
Unread 10-02-2009, 07:03 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

Now the easy part. Setup your oil catch pan on top of a flat piece of cardboard. Cardboard was invented to catch oil. It works great to catch splashes and it's much nicer to put your knees on compared to concrete. Take the 10mm closed end wrench and remove the oil reservoir plug.



The amount of oil that came out nearly filled this cut up coffee container 2 times. So keep the plug in hand to put back in if you don't have a large enough oil container to catch it in. I used this plastic coffee container to roughly measure how much oil came out. And it pours oil quite nicely into my oil recycling can.

Reply With Quote
  #4  
Unread 10-02-2009, 07:12 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

Once the oil slows to a drip put the plug back in and TIGHTEN IT. Do not put the oil plug in with your hand and continue on with your work as most everyone will forget to come back to tighten the plug! Never put a plug back in an engine without tightening it fully . Now slide your pan over to the oil filter cover and remove the bolts. The cover should pop loose pretty easily and a small amount of oil will come out. You will probably have to wiggle the filter loose with something to get the rubber seal inside to come loose and let the filter drop out.



6mm ready for the drain bolt:


Here is what mine looked like... a little dirty from a little oil that was leaking from the oil filter cover ring that was reused the last couple of oil changes. Just order a couple new ones so you have them when you are ready to change your oil. They are a couple bucks but your engine costs much more.

The smaller 5mm for the filter cover allen bolts:


Reply With Quote
  #5  
Unread 10-02-2009, 07:19 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

The first time I changed my oil when I got my Aprilia I didn't change out the filter cover seal. The previous mechanic probably used it a couple times because it should last a couple changes. I found that it was letting just a tiny amount of oil by at the end of the oils run. They are like 5 bucks so make sure and order one up so you don't have to worry about it. Replacing it is a no brainer. I also replaced the seal on my shifter shaft. It was leaking as well so I just popped in a new one and no more leaking, amazing.

The oil was pretty black this time... my clutch is a gonner anyway so I let the oil go a little longer before changing:




I pre soaked my oil filter in a baggy to ensure that the oil starts circulating as fast as possible when it starts up. The oil doesn't just fall through the filter so fast either. I filled up the filter with oil and it soaked up quite a bit of it before letting some through. Just slap it in the Rotax engine and put the cover on quickly.

And here is a shot of my filter being soaked in a zip-lock. The ol Repsol Synthetic works awesome for me. Don't get caught up in the great oil debate. Just pick a type of oil and stick with it. Odds are your bike will be crashed or stolen WAY before you wear your engine out. I've never seen any street driven motorcycle engine fail from the engine oil giving up. But I HAVE seen engine seize up or get damaged from the owner letting them run low on oil.

Reply With Quote
  #6  
Unread 10-02-2009, 07:23 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

That's it, all done. Just wipe everything down with a rag and rinse it off with some WD-40 or something. Now, of course, comes filling up the engine properly. The oil level goes up when the engine warms and circulates the oil. So don't just fill up the oil to the top line in the sight tube and take off. This is what any normal motorcycle shop would do and that's why I would never take my bike to a shop - ESPECIALLY an Aprilia! Now there are some great shops like the guys at AF1 Racing but good shops are extremely rare!

Reply With Quote
  #7  
Unread 10-02-2009, 07:26 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

To fill the oil I typically fill the oil until I can see it just under the lower line in the sight tube. I know it will surely go up so as long as it's at that level I KNOW there is oil in the engine and I can ride it around to warm it up no problem. It's when there is NOT oil near the oil level indicators that you will damage the engine. It takes some real neglect to screw up an engine by running it low on oil so if you have half a brain you have nothing to worry about.

Reply With Quote
  #8  
Unread 10-02-2009, 07:37 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

Now people say you have to go warm up the engine and check the oil again. I have found this to not be enough! You need to really ride the bike for like 10 minutes and get the thing hot to get the proper level, in my experience. I filled the bike up after warming it up for a couple miles. Then I came back and put some more oil in it and then REALLY rode it. Well I checked my oil level again about 15 minutes down the road and it was over the top oil line by quite a bit! How annoying! I had to turn around and drain some of the oil out and give it another run.

So I recommend just what I said above about filling the Aprilia's engine oil. It's easy to overfill and a pain in the butt to take oil out so take your time. I also recommend checking your oil overfill tube which comes off the throttle body on the other side of the bike. It involves just taking off your right side mid-cover and checking it to make sure it's not filled with oil. Of course, the oil comes up through the intake box and drains into this oil tube if it's overfilled or you lay it over or something.

Here is what I like to see, any higher and you'll be seeing oil in the throttle body overflow hose:


THEN you can put your bodywork back on. Mission accomplished. I hope this helps some people. Keep it nice and clean and your bike will be much more fun and easier to work on. Do you ever see any dirty racebikes? Nope cause dirt and grime slows mechanics down, causes damage and premature wear. A clean bike allows you to visually determine if there are any leaks and wear they are coming from. I have residue around the engine and I can easily see that it's from the coolant hoses. It's just enough to predict that I will have to change all the coolant hoses soon. They are good looking hoses and I know they are all tight.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the extra cooling additive might be causing some of the leakage but I want to install a set of the Samco silicone hoses anyways. They are a little expensive but have you seen the prices for the REGULAR Aprilia/ Rotax hoses? They are crazy! So you might as well just buy the Samco hoses in the spiffy colors and never have to worry about the coolant hoses again. It's only money right!? :P
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Unread 01-14-2010, 11:57 PM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

I see a lot or people asking questions about synthetic oil in motorcycles so I thought I would post some of my thoughts on here just to explain my opinions some. In response to someone asking about using synthetic oil in the Aprilia Rotax 990 V60 engine:

Anyone run synthetic? The manual recommends a non-synthetic oil. Has anyone experienced clutch slippage issues?
10-40 Repsol Synthetic here. My clutch slips because it's worn out (I took it out and sanded the plates down for fun) and I have a new one on the way. The oil didn't cause any additional slippage. I'm going to run the same oil with my new clutch and I know there won't be any problems. Don't worry about it.

I'll take my chances with the full synthetic. I've run so many cars and motorcycles on synthetic and haven't had one clutch slip yet. Haven't had one engine ever give out either which is a bonus.

I've never seen an engine fail because of one or the other... it's the dummies that don't check their oil that cause that. The dealers probably don't want to take the chance of clutch slippage when you instruct them to put synthetic in it. I could see that happening to them and the customer demanding a new clutch or something dumb like that.


Reply With Quote
  #10  
Unread 01-15-2010, 12:01 AM
Smithers's Avatar
Smithers Smithers is offline
Admin
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 3,238
Send a message via AIM to Smithers Send a message via Skype™ to Smithers
Default

How about using Synthetic Blends?

Racing teams use super lightweight oils but they change the oil all the time. There is power to be had from racing oils but that's only a must if your skills dictate that you will benefit from such a method of gaining power. Synthetics don't break down as quickly so going the blend route is kinda defeating the point of gaining the benefit from synthetic. They made the blends for one reason only... because people see synthetic on a label along with a lower price and jump on it. Don't get tricked into the marketing of blends. I run synthetics because I ring my engine for all it's worth from time to time using that rev limiter and I want it to last as long as possible before I have to rebuild it.

If you just ride normal then normal oil will work without a doubt. If I had a new bike and it told me to use one type of oil then I would use that oil for warranty reasons.

Did anyone see those ads in which Valvoline was slamming Mobil 1? I was laughing pretty hard but they are sticking to the claims of 4 times better protection.

Quote:
I've heard SynPower offers four times better wear protection than Mobil 1. Can you prove it?

Yes. Valvoline and an independent lab conducted multiple Sequence IVA (Four A) Engine tests on Valvoline SynPower 5w30 and Mobil 1 5w30. The Sequence IVA is the industry standard test for determining wear performance of an engine oil and is required to meet the API SL and SM requirements. The test utilizes a 2.4 liter EFI overhead cam Nissan engine with a slider valve train design. Multiple tests were run at the Valvoline Engine Laboratory, a fully certified engine testing lab - and an independent research lab. Analysis of the test results showed that the Valvoline SynPower provided four times better wear protection than Mobil 1.
Taken from their site: http://www.valvoline.com/faqs/motor-...tic-motor-oil/

More Facts/Myths from them: http://www.valvoline.com/car-care/motor-
oil-myths/
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 07:28 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.