Collapsing rear suspension RSVR
- Thread starter Chaz
- Start date
So, I ordered a pair of the uprated AF1 link plates from the US @ $59.99 + $40 shipping = $99 (£66). Pricey I thought, but probably a very worthwhile mod. Now I've had to pay import charges of £27.21 ($41.15) - almost 70% of the net value of the contents. In total, these things have cost me more that 93 quid ($141)!!!
They better be bloody worth it! :dowhat
They better be bloody worth it! :dowhat
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Also, the parcel was sent on March the 20th but I haven't received it in time for the Easter weekend when I was hoping to get the work done. Not happy 
irate
irateThat's hard to bare mate. That's probably why I've never taken the plunge to order kit from the U.S. incase this happened.
Tuono Lowering Kit, RSV1000R Lowering Kit, RSVR Lowering Kit, Tuono Lowering Link, RSV1000 Lowering Link
This happened to me as well. Full Aprilia service 18 month old, that and my fork seals went and the stator packed up. Not a good year. But all fixed now. They don't just break either. One side will snap off first and you can be driving the bike around for months before the other side breaks off. Just need to keep an eye on it thats all. If you see it cracking just replace it. That said, I didn't know about it but the Aprilia mechanics knew about it so I questioned them why weren't they checking it.
Any road this is what I fitted instead and just did away with all that checking and maintenance. Life time guarantee and made of stainless steel with replaceable bearings. Not that you should ever need to replace them on this.
I didn't bother with the adjuster bit. Just wound it right in to be as strong as possible and got my ride height how I wanted it using the spring.
There is an annoying bolt that you have to put through from the exhaust side, which you cannot get out with the exhaust on there. Well I can't do it with mine on any road. I threw my bolt away once I had got it out. It doesn't actually screw in to anything on the exhaust side so just put a normal hex bolt through from the other side and put a lock nut on the exhaust side. That way you can take the bolt off as many times as you like without having to remove the exhaust. You will need to make up a spacer from somewhere 21mm long the same thickness as the original bolt spacer. Some guy in an engineering place made me a spacer for nothing in his lunch hour. It needs to be 21mm or a bit longer so the nut clears the suspension mounting and only presses down on the spacer only. Which in turn presses down on the linkage spacer.
RSVR Factory 08
This happened to me as well. Full Aprilia service 18 month old, that and my fork seals went and the stator packed up. Not a good year. But all fixed now. They don't just break either. One side will snap off first and you can be driving the bike around for months before the other side breaks off. Just need to keep an eye on it thats all. If you see it cracking just replace it. That said, I didn't know about it but the Aprilia mechanics knew about it so I questioned them why weren't they checking it.
Any road this is what I fitted instead and just did away with all that checking and maintenance. Life time guarantee and made of stainless steel with replaceable bearings. Not that you should ever need to replace them on this.
I didn't bother with the adjuster bit. Just wound it right in to be as strong as possible and got my ride height how I wanted it using the spring.
There is an annoying bolt that you have to put through from the exhaust side, which you cannot get out with the exhaust on there. Well I can't do it with mine on any road. I threw my bolt away once I had got it out. It doesn't actually screw in to anything on the exhaust side so just put a normal hex bolt through from the other side and put a lock nut on the exhaust side. That way you can take the bolt off as many times as you like without having to remove the exhaust. You will need to make up a spacer from somewhere 21mm long the same thickness as the original bolt spacer. Some guy in an engineering place made me a spacer for nothing in his lunch hour. It needs to be 21mm or a bit longer so the nut clears the suspension mounting and only presses down on the spacer only. Which in turn presses down on the linkage spacer.
RSVR Factory 08
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That lowering link from Soupy's is not the answer. They are flawed in their design and fail spectacularly. From your post over on AF1 it looks like you already found that out.
Disaster averted
Dangerous suspension linkage - please read !!!!!!!!!
albrown001 said:
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I have over 55,000 miles on the OEM linkage on my 1999 (sold in the US as a 2000 model) RSV Mille. I inspect and re-grease all the bearings in the link plates/ dogbone yearly and have never had an issue with them. In my experience when maintained properly the OEM setup on Gen 1 bikes works well and lasts a long time.
A number of people have put grease fittings or Zerks on the linkage along with replacing the link plates on Gen 2 bikes (OEM Gen2 link plates are not as strong as those on Gen 1 bikes) to make maintenance easier. Here are some threads on the other forum on the subject.
Grease nipples in rear suspension linkage?
Grease nipples in rear suspension linkage?
DanV990 said:
Somehow i thought you would say that
I think its one of them things people are a little scared of doing themselves so leave it and forget about it, and really i was one of them until last week. Its so straight forward theres nothing to be intimidated by.
I think its one of them things people are a little scared of doing themselves so leave it and forget about it, and really i was one of them until last week. Its so straight forward theres nothing to be intimidated by.
Cool gave me some bedtime reading there
I will be sticking to oem but i like reading about alternatives
I will be sticking to oem but i like reading about alternatives
Joined Jan 2015
552 Posts | 45+
Midlands (UK)
Putoline now do aa nice size 100g tube of blue "water proof racing grease for bearings and linkages". (Just Google that on eBay). In the UK it's about £4.95 including postage.
NB: Not the Lithium based one.
Just used it on my linkage bearings and seems ideal for the job.
Joined Jan 2015
552 Posts | 45+
Midlands (UK)
With the Teflon washers also applied (sold by Spooky on Tuonozone, and probably here too) to keep water and crud out, plus waterproof grease, some riders claim regreasing isn't necessary more than once every two or three years. Which stands to reason, especially if bike is only used in fair weather.
Appreciate this thread is several years old now... so would be good get feedback from folks who have used water proof grease and Teflon washers over the past few years, as to how effective they are and how often re greasing is actually necessary??
Appreciate this thread is several years old now... so would be good get feedback from folks who have used water proof grease and Teflon washers over the past few years, as to how effective they are and how often re greasing is actually necessary??
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Hi Paul D,I also bought some plates and washers from spooky, top quality parts and top man.
I only fitted them and bearings a few months back so can't say much about wear. I used a Lucas waterproof grease which had a high melting point on because the linkage is close to the exausts
I only fitted them and bearings a few months back so can't say much about wear. I used a Lucas waterproof grease which had a high melting point on because the linkage is close to the exausts
Joined Jan 2015
552 Posts | 45+
Midlands (UK)
Fair consideration and worth the caution. The consensus is it's the rear-most dog-bone bearing that deteriorates fastest... cause being all the spray from rear tyre. Hence not exhaust heat, which would affect the front dog-bone bearing worst. May be a different story for riders frequently stuck I traffic, rather than riding in the wet.
I just bought a second hand dog bone off ebay. Its like new. I will strip the grease out of it and I am going to pack it with Lithium bearing grease as Lithium grease does not wash out or mix with water. I'm going to swap the dog bones out every now and then now and then and just service them when they are off the bike ready to fit the following year or year after depending on how the bike gets used.
Incidentally on the Soupy's links I got compensation from him for my rear link failing on me, which covered all the damages caused to the bike. I also stopped all the links of the same design that he had manufactured to be withdrawn and the are no longer made, not just Aprilia links but also the others he had also made for other bikes of the same design. I think he got off likely to be fair. Mine failed on at 80mph. I was just backing off from about 130mph and I was approaching a corner so I was going in a straight line. But still, knackered the carbon hugger, melted the tire, bent the shock absorber and if it had broke on the corner I would probably have been dead.
After it broke when I looked at it I could understand why straight away. I just assumed by his advertising that it had been properly tested. That bloke is a ****. If I'd been in America I would have driven to his state and punched his lights out and then sued the arse of him. Whats annoying is that people on the AF1 Forum had known about it for a number of years and no one in the states had done anything about it. It took me nearly 18 months to get them banned and to stop him producing them and get compensation. Took a lot of stick from a few people on the AF1 Forum too. But that only came from people that couldn't understand the importance of what Soupy had done. They saw it kind of like this UK guy causing problems for a US manufacturer, which wasn't the done thing. But who cares, people are safe now and they are not been made anymore
Incidentally on the Soupy's links I got compensation from him for my rear link failing on me, which covered all the damages caused to the bike. I also stopped all the links of the same design that he had manufactured to be withdrawn and the are no longer made, not just Aprilia links but also the others he had also made for other bikes of the same design. I think he got off likely to be fair. Mine failed on at 80mph. I was just backing off from about 130mph and I was approaching a corner so I was going in a straight line. But still, knackered the carbon hugger, melted the tire, bent the shock absorber and if it had broke on the corner I would probably have been dead.
After it broke when I looked at it I could understand why straight away. I just assumed by his advertising that it had been properly tested. That bloke is a ****. If I'd been in America I would have driven to his state and punched his lights out and then sued the arse of him. Whats annoying is that people on the AF1 Forum had known about it for a number of years and no one in the states had done anything about it. It took me nearly 18 months to get them banned and to stop him producing them and get compensation. Took a lot of stick from a few people on the AF1 Forum too. But that only came from people that couldn't understand the importance of what Soupy had done. They saw it kind of like this UK guy causing problems for a US manufacturer, which wasn't the done thing. But who cares, people are safe now and they are not been made anymore
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