2018 Aprilia RS4 50 Euro 4 Upgrade Project

[Berkeley]

Well crossing the road the other week ( on a pedestrian crossing with crossing attendant on it) and seeing a van wipe out a motorcyclist 2 meters away from me because either he wasn't paying attention or didnt see her brake lights (as was a low profile scooter). I decided to get this to make the braking more visible .

Its 120 euros but worth it... In France it alerts the emergency services and elsewhere a person of your choice when you crash go down.. so good it you are riding alone on back roads that have little traffic.
its from Cosmo.

Will keep you posted how it works.

[toratora]

The blinkers on the older bikes had flipped connectors to ensure that the correct blinker was connected to the correct side. This is the only thing I can think of off hand to explain what's going on.

I would try to set up a parallel system. This reminds me of Hane's (Haa-Nay) bike in race mode where she had extra mirrors, pipes, and blinkers—you know for safety.

For a bit of custom modification I decided to fit 2 sets of LED sequential indicators to the rear. I jointed both from the right together and both from the left together but something strange happened
...
Could this just be wiring which I'm sure it not or is there some kind of resistance imbalance in the system causing this, or simply you cannot fit two pairs on the rear for some other reason? Maybe a different relay is needed?? If anyone has any ideas on this then would be good to hear thanks

[toratora]

Well crossing the road the other week ( on a pedestrian crossing with crossing attendant on it) and seeing a van wipe out a motorcyclist 2 meters away from me because either he wasn't paying attention or didnt see her brake lights (as was a low profile scooter). I decided to get this to make the braking more visible .

Its 120 euros but worth it... In France it alerts the emergency services and elsewhere a person of your choice when you crash go down.. so good it you are riding alone on back roads that have little traffic.
its from Cosmo.

I've considered writing an app for the iPhone that would do something like this since it has some functions in the OS to accommodate it—where the phone makes a call to a number based on a series of events. It will be interesting to hear what you think about this product.

What I do to deal with these situations is at intersections pull off to the left or right of the lane, and always to the front. If there's a car there I put it between me and anyone else coming from behind. I also will pull into the section between the stop line and the pedestrian crossing, and if there isn't one then I will go into the pedestrian crossing a little bit. Anything to create a buffer zone between me and what's coming up from behind.

[toratora]

MetraKit SP

Hey,

I saw the PM. Not really sure that I understand it. But it sounds like you want to know what kit to get for this bike, and for this purpose I'm going to say go with the MetraKit SP. It's a fantastic kit, you wont have to do any mods to the bottom end. You can just bolt it right on.

It's single ring (which is good—better than two), it's aluminum (which is good—better than iron), and again you can just bolt it right on. Power delivery is very nice with this kit, and it should nicely complement the JollyMoto pipe that you've already bought.

Polini CP/Malossi 21 intake

To go with this you will also want to upgrade the intake side of the bike. You will probably want to keep the auto luber, which in this case you'll be fine. The Polini CP offers a port to which you can connect the luber. You'll also need an intake.

To make things simple I say get the Malossi reed/intake kit. It's a nicely matched setup to go with what you have—I'm running them on a number of bikes.

Polini CP Float bowl/adapter

For carb size I'm going to suggest getting a 19mm. It will make it easier to tune, get better milage, and most importantly be easier to ride. Get the cable choke version, which will connect nicely to the cables already on the bike.

Additionally, get the float bowl upgrade with the main jet quick access port. And the air box adapter ring. I think this is the correct one, but you should take photos of the coupler connecting the back of the current setup to verify.

Polini CP/PWK main jets, and CP Pilot jets

You'll also need jets. According to Treats the Polini CP 19 comes with a 90 main jet, and 40 pilot/idle jet. So the Polini main jet 80-98 jet set should give you enough range to tune the bike. Do not cheap out on jets. Cheap ass jets will make your bike run like crap. I've made this mistake in the past, because they were the only jets available. Now I always just make sure to use good high quality jets. Your entire experience flows through this tiny little part, so make sure it's a good one!

Polini CP Needles

You probably wont need pilot jets, but if you do Polini has a nice kit for the CP. Same goes for needles. The 22/1.4 is stock, and the 22/1.2 would provide a richer mix. Apparently there are only two needles available for the CP. I haven't had the need to mess with them, but you may find that you need to do so with your setup.

I'm sure you'll see and hear about lots of other options, because well there are a lot of options, and opinions. From my many years of doing this, and the requirements for this bike I don't think there is a more effective setup than what I've outlined above. It is a solid set up that wont require any mods to the cases, can just bolt on, will deliver decent power, and be easy to ride. Sure you could get Vforce reeds, and whatever, but that stuff wont just bolt on, and really there wouldn't be any noticeable difference so why bother. Just get what works well together, and be happy.

[kaldis12]

What Tora wrote here is pretty muchly true. In my experience I would remove the oil pump. Not worth having it. Just a risk. I would say the opposite what Tora wrote, vforce reeds really make a difference BUT on bigger cylinders its waay more noticable than on a 70-80cc. On 90-100 you can really feel the difference.

You should decide what do you want, and how much would you want to spend on it (both time and money). If you say it then whe can send you better options for what you would need. There is way stronger kits than the Metrakit but they cost more and need more time/effort to install.

[Berkeley]

Hey thanks guys.. this seems more like it..
Just a few questions.

Can the top end be changed with the engine in the bike? Or not enough clearance. Will I need to buy the mx throttle as only a 19mm carb? Or keep as is? Is there any preferred spark plug that's required? Anything else missing to buy?

Anyone know how noticeable the loss of performance would be keeping the 50cc one on as oppose to a 70cc one? I was looking for a central padock stand that could be used whilst keeping the exhaust on. Is there one on the market? As couldn't see one.

I'm thinking of keeping the oil pump as the set up now is easy. also for fueling. I don't see amaya remembering to add it each time for the pre mix before she fills up.

Cheers

[toratora]

What Tora wrote here is pretty muchly true. In my experience I would remove the oil pump. Not worth having it. Just a risk. I would say the opposite what Tora wrote, vforce reeds really make a difference BUT on bigger cylinders its waay more noticable than on a 70-80cc. On 90-100 you can really feel the difference.

You should decide what do you want, and how much would you want to spend on it(both time and money). If you say it then whe can send you better options for what you would need. There is way stronger kits than the Metrakit but they cost more and need more time/effort to install.

The problem with the V-force is that no one makes one that doesn't need to be modded to work on the Derbi engine, and even if you do the mods they are notorious for air leaks (because they are not designed for the Derbi engine).

On this setup the Malossi reeds will work quite well. I have both setups, and the difference of having the V-force is very unlikely to be noticeable on a setup like this one, thus it's not worth the time and expense. The Malossi will just bolt right in, work great, and not cause any issues—that's valuable!

As for the oil pump—in this case it should be fine to run it. There will need to be an adjustment made to it, but that's trivial. Because this is a bike for a new rider it makes sense to keep it simple. Having the 19mm carb will also keep things under control. Oil pumps work well if you don't push the engine past the ability of the oil pump.

With regards to other kits yes it's easy to get a more powerful kit, but because this is for a new rider a more powerful kit would be a bad choice. Ridablity is more important than power, and it's not like this kit doesn't produce power—it's rated at over double the stock power.

[toratora]

This entire setup as, I outlined it, is a bolt on, and can be done with the engine in the bike. It's a very friendly upgrade, and that's a big part of why these items were selected. They are both high quality, and easy to install (relative to other setups!).

The CP carb should function just fine with the stock throttle setup. The upgraded throttles that get installed with the larger carbs are not straight forward due to the cabling, and it would be even more challenging with keeping the auto luber in place. It can be done, but it's not a friendly install.

The standard plug is fine. Unlike Rin I'm not a believer in occult modifications. There are no Gun-Sparks installed on my bikes.

I don't know what you mean by the 50cc one vs. the 70cc one. Do you mean pipe? If so the one you have is fine for this set up, and well matched to the carburetor.

I use a PitBull stand. The problem with your set up though is the bobbins are only there when the axel is in place. To have a proper stand that employs bobbins you really need to have bobbins attached to the swing arm. As for pipe clearance, from the photos it looks like there is plenty.

[kaldis12]

For the differenve 50vs70 I think he meant if he doesn't mill it up. On a 70 what Tora posted its okay. It will be just right bolt on. If money doesn't matter and you can mill it up then Malossi Mhr Team would be the best. Its really reliable and has a lot of low down power.

Mx throttles are nice. They make everything easier, I recommend them much.

As for the reed, now thats true, on these small kits its propably not worth it, just on bigger ones. I had on big ones its really noticable, tried on small but thats not worth there. Malossi Vl6 reeds are pretty cheap, just bolt on and good to go. Pretty good performance too.

[Berkeley]

Hi guys,

Yes I mean going from a 50cc pipe to a 70cc pipe btw, so all good.

If there any point in upgrading the air filter? or will the stock one suffice?

For the centre paddock stand if was referring to something similar below, whereby the frame is supported so that the rear shock can be taken off easily, plus can get the front wheel off with enough clearance to change the wheel, forks etc. there are quite a few out there and with a lot of these they are bike specific so any recommendations would be good.



Having a look at the wiring diagram, i think I must had disconnected the rear light ... then tried to wire it up.. so will give it another go tonight.

As for the setup Im happy with what you guys suggest, mainly for ease, time and complications of installation. I dont want the bike to be out of use for anymore time then necessary.

From what Ive found out dong the bits ive done so far is that there always is a part missing, something not fitting, re ordering etc etc. ( no rabbit out of the hat.. tora) so better to go with this to start.

Next year I would prefer to buy an engine and take my time in building up a fully spec'd one, then theres no rush to get it done and can look around for parts and deals going.