TT Polini Upgrade

Since upgrading the Bats Proven Performance Package from the Rose TP kit to the 85 Maxi kit we haven't addressed our outdated carb setup so we ordered a Polini setup to try. I love the packaging on the Polini parts and I can only imagine what it would be like to visit a motorcycle shop with a whole Polini aisle full of these parts! For the BPPP we are going with the Polini CP 21mm carb, Polini 360 intake kit, cable choke kit, and jet kits for main and pilot.

First up was inspecting the carb to see how beautifully made it is, changing the main jet, and documenting the beginning settings. The Polini jet kits come in these sweet little cases and have a nice selection to use for tuning.

Installing Cable choke kit.

Old solid intake next to Polini 360 intake.

All mounted up

Just like the lever choke on the previous Dellorto 21mm setup, I wanted to have the choke in the original location. The most elegant and simple solution was to machine the included bracket to fit behind a clutch cover case bolt just below the OEM Choke decal. I am trying to create a synergy between the best and rarest of the OEM Aprilia with the best and thought out performance upgrades. What do you think?

TT work

With all these "big" bike projects taking up my time these days, it's been hard to find time for my Ultimate Aprilia RS50 build TT. I've been gathering parts for the next wave of upgrades on TT and finally got around to starting some of the projects today. 

First up was figuring out the wiring for a Domino start/stop switch to replace the stock controls which are integrated into the stock throttle assembly. This is necessary for the next upgrade which will be a Domino quick turn throttle. Since TT has only 1800 original miles and the wiring is in pristine condition, I don't want to hack and splice into the OEM wiring. In order to accomplish this I intend to utilize an old set of OEM controls and cannibalize the plugs so I can solder them onto the Domino wiring which will plug into the stock harness. Step one was reviewing the Aprilia RS50 wiring diagram and inspecting the Domino switches to figure out how to splice this all together. Next step was labeling and taping together each wire that need to be soldered together. With this figured out, next will be splicing this together on my work bench in the next couple days, then hopefully testing on the bike soon after that. 

Harnesses joined 

Labeled to make splicing easier at the work bench

With the wiring needing to make a trip to my workshop, I decided to start another one of my long awaited projects, the RS250 forks. If you've read about this build you know that I have a custom Aprilia RS125 front end already on TT which is nice as it greatly improved my front brake setup, however it had no adjustability. Lucky for me we recently acquired three Aprilia RS250's and one of them came with a spare MK1 front end which appeared similar in dimensions to the RS125 and has some adjustments available. I managed to swap the RS125 to the RS250 pretty easily and the RS125 wheel even uses the same size axel! 

A few things to work thru on this upgrade are the RS125 caliper no longer lines up, there is an extra caliper mount, and the RS125 fender doesn't fit. Next up will be test fitting an RS250 caliper and fender to see if they will mount up with the RS125 wheel and slightly narrower configuration of the forks. 

RS125 fork (left) RS250 fork (right)

RS250 on the left, RS125 on the right.

RS250 left, RS125 right.

RS250 forks in place

RS125 wheel installed on RS250 forks

Extra caliper mount on RS250 forks