Bats Race Aprilia Revitalization Update

With little time for wrenching these days, getting the Bats 8 hour bike ready for track duty again is going to take some time with only 30 minutes here and there to wrench. Even with limited time I decided to spare a few seconds for pictures documenting the refurbishment and give unique insight into how a two stroke preservationist maintains and restores an Aprilia RS50 in the spirit of its original design. If you recall I made a list of things that needed attention to properly prepare the bike to go back on track since it has sat in storage since last April when the Bats raced it in the 8 hour M1GP race. Many of the items on the list were parts replacement due to damage from the low sides that occurred during the 8 hour race from last April.

Note: Orange Silicone Applied to Banjo Bolt for Tech Inspection

First up this time around was to replace the bent rear brake lever with a brand new factory Aprilia lever. I even sprung for a brand new rubber piece so it would look good as new. I also bled the rear brake to make sure it works as well as it looks! Why spend so much time on the rear brake you may ask? Well Jon, who raced with the bats on this very bike last year and was a 125cc west coast champ, explained to us how he stayed on the gas around the corner to stay on the pipe and used the rear brake simultaneously to steer the bike. This concept is something I will give a try when I get this bike back on the track.


Next up was the rear shock hardware that was not factory correct, we used the hardware from my street RS50 for the race last year that has since be reinstalled onto my street bike in preparation for a trip north up highway 1. As you may or may not know, every brand new factory original part is available to be ordered from your local Aprilia dealer for the RS50 making it really easy to restore with the right parts! Here is the new hardware (with part numbers) and everything mounted up to the doppler rear shock!

I also found time to install a brand new factory original, Domino brand, clutch lever before having to call it a day. Nothing like replacing with brand new factory pieces, especially when they are made by the company that actually supplies parts for MotoGP!

Domino: "Here we go Here we go as the tune starts to bloom"

That's it for now!