Spares/consumables compatibility with the 1190RX?

[theotherdave]

Brakes, sprockets, clutch, all the same. The battery is not, it's EBR's own 26650 lithum 8-cell and which is no longer available, but you can have the cells replaced or have one made. The compartment area is so small it will not fit any (adequate) off the shelf batteries and basically needs to be the size of 8 (2x4) 26650 cells shrinkwrapped. There's a place called Speedcell that will make one or replace your cells, either for $200. You can replace the cells yourself but you'll need a spotwelder for battery cells and some copper sheet you'll have to cut. I'd recommend CTEK's lithium charger.

That being said, like Cooter wrote, it is everything else you need to be prepared for. Everything on the RS fits extremely, extremely tight. If you don't put painter's tape along the bottom edge of the airbox cover when taking the tail off, you will scratch it. And even though it's only four bolts, the technique for reinstalling the tail takes some practice as the undertray's lip needs to go inside before you can fasten it down, and can only be done at a certain angle. Sometimes I get it like nothing and other times it takes a while, but I have it down pretty well nowadays. The tail needs to be removed to access the battery, fuses, coolant cap, electonics, etc.

To give you an idea how tight everything fits, you can remove the mirrors and unlock all its quarter-turn fasteners and nothing will move. It needs to be pulled apart. It is actually easier to take the side panels off while still attached to the front fairing, just remove the mirrors and undo the side's fasteners (after removing the belly pan obviosly) and slide eveything off the front. If you try to remove and reinstall just one side panel, you again will need painters tape and a lot of paitence. Even when reinstalling the frontend as a whole, it still takes some finesse to get the radiator shroud's outer lip to go back inside the side panels.

Also keep in mind the current market for the RS is, well there isn't one, so if you decide to sell it, you're probably going to have a tough time unless you want to lose good money. This may change in the years to come, but for now, it is what it is. And also keep in mind, it does not have traction control, and is the quickest superbike in the world without it. I would not recommend an RS unless you are extremely passionate about them. If you have a shop do your work, I would be very, very cautious.

That all being said, it is my favorite bike on the planet, and in my opinion, the best & most beautful bike ever made. I've had mine further apart than I ever thought I would and I've learned quite a bit along the way. So if you aren't just infatuated and really do fall in love with one, feel free to message me about absolutely anything and I will help you the best I can. If you are more casual about it, I would highly recommend an RX or SX - both absolutely amazing, beautful, world class bikes, and a lot more street and user friendly. I still love those more than any other brand's superbike. My RS and SX are going to be with me for life, and I hope to add a Midnight Black RX someday too.

Doug- Did these bikes come with any kind of manuals, or are/were service manuals available? I understand that the motors are something a good Aprilia mechanic can work on, i’m more concerned with torque values etc.. I understand about having a shop touch my bikes, I learned a long time ago that I can scratch a wheel just as well as an apprentice motorcycle mechanic, so why pay for the pleasure? I always try myself first if I think I can fix something.

Speaking of which, you mention traction control..... I successfully installed a Bazzaz TC/EFI/QS on my GSXR1000k5 and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again, but there is a better product on the market now. Diego Gubellini (electronics guy from Estrella Galicia MotoGP Honda Team) has released several versions of his GripOne piggyback TC units. The early ones were off of wheel speed only, then he started adding IMU’s (inertial measurement units, ie. Gyros and accelerometers) like my R1M has. Now, his latest and greatest uses no wheel speed pickups, only RPM and the IMU. All of these units are able to do launch control and separate anti-wheelie and TC strategies and learn sensitivity as you ride-they will allow you to rear wheel steer if desired like the modern production bikes with TC, i.e. they don’t work off of “dumb” slip target maps like my Bazzaz unit. All of that said, I don’t consider myself to be a really fast guy on a bike but I can ride hard enough to feel frame flex and get a bike to wiggle regularly. I hardly ever see electronic intervention (aside from wheelie control) on the R1M’s datalogger-you really have to screw up on a bike with a good chassis to see intervention from ABS or TC. I really like the electronic aids on the Yamaha, and they allow me to occasionally ride harder than might be otherwise prudent but the truth is I’m riding as fast as I want to now and at 46 years old with Adult Responsibilities, I’m not exactly chasing an AMA ride... I dunno, TC is cheap insurance and it saved me a highside once so maybe it’s worth putting on an RS..?

As far as market values go, I’m not too worried about purchase price since I have pretty much determined that it’s worth it to me, but I do understand trying to sell will be ...difficult... I had the same problem with the Bimota, I got laid off in a mini-recession around 9/11 here in Detroit and couldn’t give it away. I did everything I could to keep that bike, including taking a $10 an hour job slipping on frozen dog $#!+ while reading electric meters. In the end, I had to let the bank come and get their bike-an experience I’ll never repeat. I’ll be selling the Yamaha to offset this bike if I pull the trigger.

So, here is my interest in an EBR1190RS: I have wanted one since I first laid eyes on the first picture I saw. I swung a leg over Serial #6 as well as Geoff May’s bike at Mid Ohio. The stock RS feels more like a TZ250 than any bike I have ever sat on. Sometimes you just know when something is exceptionally special, and that is the feeling I get from this bike. I love the story, I love the Engineering, I love the execution, and I really want to experience the way this bike handles transitions, line change mid corner, hard braking, coming off of an apex etc. I half wouldn’t care if the thing spent it’s life in my living room... Unfortunately, $50k for a bike was out of the question for me when they came out. I wanted to support EBR but I had just bought a house and probably still wouldn’t have pulled the trigger due to the cost. I did consider an RX and SX but after the Bimota experience I couldn’t buy them-every time I “needed” a new bike, EBR was out of business again.

If you wouldn’t mind, please PM your phone number-I’d love to talk to you about your bike!

Thanks for the post!