2014 Aprilia SR50 Ditech Gianelli Reverse

[pinkscoot]

Yesterday I did a long needed fix. The air compressor for the injector draws air from the case and puts it in with the injector. A lot of the SR50 guys on the Aprilia forum put air cleaners on. They use the Cobalt mini one and block the drain and remove the filters. They seem to get the moisture out. So I went about doing it and was really surprised at how much moisture it got in a short time. Here is a picture:



But it still idles rough when started but once warm it smooths out.

I also added the last piece of plastic to the front and topped off the 2T oil.



I will all get a cleaning tomorrow.

[pinkscoot]

This scoot is making me nuts. It was a hard start the other morning and then idled and rode really rough. Once its warm its great, a bat outta hell. It still needs some CVT tuning but all in all is doing really well. I took it for a nice ride and checked the filter when I got back:



I'm wondering if I need to open it up and clean out the piston and head. I'll see if it just burns off.

[pinkscoot]

So my water trap was leaking so the scoot was hard to start. I pulled the bleeder out of the bottom and just filled the hole with JB filler and it was much happier. I also pulled the plug and indexed it to get better ignition. This plug is a bitch to get out I had to drop the belly pan and pull the floor board to get to it. I need to find a better way. It was also all black for some reason. I'll try and get a new plug at $14 each and see what it looks like.

[chaoticfury]

Jesus H Christ pinkscoot!
This is making me nuts just reading it! You'll figure it out tho.
I followed this whole thread last night and this morning. Obviously I'm not much for partying but i must thank you for providing me with New Years entertainment.
You've done this textbook it seems to me. This is exactly how Brent recommends. You're bike looks SAF too btw. Keep up the excellent work. I especially liked how you found this for 300. Just a beautiful story ❤️

[pinkscoot]

Thank you Chaotic. It is a great riding scooter and when it's good it is a joy. The Piaggio platform is great to work on they are well made and there are lots of parts out there. Once I get it running well I may pull the cylinder again and do some port work on it to get it that much faster.

[pinkscoot]

I decided to take it out today to see if it would throw the errors again and it behaved. It does run like crap and idles pretty rough. I think the problem may be the Yasuni C16. It may just be too much. In my research I haven't seen one used on the SR50 with fuel injection. Maybe I'll just go back to the Gianelli and see if that solves it. The throttle body should be here soon, the seller seems to have taken the week off, I ordered it a week ago and it still hasn't shipped. Meanwhile I'll just ride it rough.

[pinkscoot]

I went ahead and put the Gianelli exhaust back on because it ran better with it. It started up and revved nice. I While I had the plastics off I tightened all of the air connections and tested with soapy water. The trap had a slight leak so I checked the o-ring and tightened it until it went away. I took it for a ride and it threw more TPS errors. I'm waiting for the flabby one to make it's journey here. It went from IL to TX and who knows from there. The postal service is just doing the best they can.

[pinkscoot]

The new Throttle body showed up this week and last night I pulled the old one off and compared the two. I set them down and got ready to put the new one on. I promptly picked up the old one and installed it. What an idiot. I got the same errors and was pissed. I tested it and got the same resistance as the old one. I took what I thought was the old one and tested it and it was perfect like when I unpacked it. It then dawned on me what I did, I quite while I was ahead. Today I removed the old one again and put it in the spare parts bin and went in the house and got the new one, I wasn't going to do that again. I installed it and did the TPS reset and turned it on and I still had errors. Damn, I started to take it apart again to check the wiring and be sure I had continuity back to the ECU. The first thing out was the battery, that's when I discovered that the screws were not tight, not loose, just not tight. I pulled it out and put it on the charger while I pulled the 20 screws and 16 Allen head screws to get the back plastics off so I could pull the floorboard. I unplugged the temperature sensor and then the ECU and the Malossi piggyback ECU. Continuity was all good. I reconnected everything and put the battery back in and turned it on, voilà now errors. Started it up and revved it and all was good. As I put it back together I tested it each step of the way. I took it for a ride and no problem.

It still doesn't idle perfectly and has a little stumble in the acceleration. But it's as good as it gets for now. Time to tune the ECU.

[pinkscoot]

So I have this stumble from 8-9k RPM. I tried lightening the weights so that I would have the power when the belt was getting to max capacity and it didn't change things. I thoughtback on what have I done since it last ran well. I pulled the V-13 reed block and went to stock with out the coffee bean in it. nothing still there. Next change is I'll go back to the stock clutch and see if that was the culprit. Once I find it I'll start putting things back and see what works.

[pinkscoot]

So for 5 months I've been poking at this. A little here a little there. I took out the Cobalt air dryer and put in a $4 Harbor Freight on and it helped a lot. but the stumble was still there. I then pulled the Delta clutch and put red clutch springs on the lightest settings and the wheel spun at idle and it was a mess. I pulled it to go to a stiffer setting and found one spring loose. Thats what happens when you do work when you're tired. I put it up one setting and it was too much so back to the lowest setting. That was just what it needed, no stumble through the range takes off like a scalded cat. It's a little tough riding in traffic feathering the throttle but once it's moving it feels good. My next move will be to go a step stiffer on the Contra spring. I'm thinking of putting the C-16 on it but its revving out at 9200rpm so I'll need to lighten the rollers. I'll play with it this weekend to see what works.

[pinkscoot]

Work has been a killer and I have gotten so little time off I would just rest all day. I finally got a few days off and started tuning again. I put the red springs on the lightest setting and changed the contra spring. Put in a new Malossi torque driver on the steeper grooves and It was great, no gurgle no popping just pure power all the way through. I hit 50+ indicated and it was great. The lesson here is that sometimes what seems to be a carb issue is really the CVT not tuned in right. You're either moving before you have power or you're up in the power before you moved.

That was the good news, more ECU errors. I figured that the Ebay throttle body was bad. I went and ordered a brand new one from AF1, 2weeks later it arrived and I had a work break. I installed it and still had the errors. Pulled it apart again and tested continuity and at the wires were all good. Tested for a short and all was good. I then plugged the connector directly into the ECu bypassing the Malossi piggy back module and no errors. I found the problem. I went in to see if I could get another and how much. Thats when it hit me, I need to look at those connectors. Next day I put on the jewelers loop and check wire by wire and I see it. The wire that is related to the error message is loose. I get a pick and push on it and it clicked in. It came from the factory that way. Itested it and it was solid. I reconnect every thing and bingo no errors. I took it for a ride and wow its back and great. Rode it for about 20 miles and no problems. It's hitting 53 indicated on a slight uphill run that's my testing road. It accelerates to 40 quick and gets to 50 a little slower.

This is now my favorite scooter to go have fun on. Now I'll add back the reed block and see what I get. Next is the C16 exhaust again and see how that goes. The belt is still a little small so I'll put the slightly larger one on again to see what it does for my speed. But today is boat day, time to explore what I have and what it needs. The best thing about it is no engine needed to have fun in it.

[oldgeek]

Figuring out stuff like that will drive you nutser! Good work.

[pinkscoot]

It's been a while since I have had this scoot on the lift. My plan was to put the Malossi v13 reed block back in and put a Yasuni C16 0n. I did the reed block first and took it for a ride. All was pretty much the same. I have been getting some popping and slight hesitation when I ride and it was still there. I soon discovered why. When I took the Giannelli exhaust off the flange weld was completely broken. That would explain a lot. I went to put the Yasuni on and it wouldn't fit with the center stand on. I could swear I had it on before so I don't know whats different. Maybe it will work on the ET2, they do have different cylinders.

I got out the HF flux mig and welded the flange on, not my best weld but it got the job done. The Gianelli went on easily and I got it back together, a few cranks and it came to life. tomorrow I'll get the rest of the plastics on and take it for a ride.