Further to my questions on the Suzuki TL1000, and some advice from on here among others to think about using an Aprilia Mille RSV instead, I have done a little research and the Mille would seem easier to get hold of than the TL anyway!

I'm not sure on what they are worth though, being a bike engine numpty!

I enquired via a part finder service with bike breakers in the midlands, and have prices ranging from £2500 for an engine kit to £1200 for a pair.

The latter seems good value (as soon as I have checked it is the price for the pair, but that is how its worded! ) for 2 x 2004, 4000 ish mile motors with all ancills required to run them.......

does that seem a fair price, before I get the dosh out!??

Was fascinated to be told by Coose on here that they are dry sumped as std, which gives me a lot more confidence in the idea!

Any horror stories or good notes on these engines?

It currently looks like my mini will be getting something of an italian flavour!

I would say that’s stupidly good value for the pair with everything. I paid £1200 for a complete bike (stolen recovered) stripped the whole lot rads, tanks, fuel pump, ecu the full monty. Returned the rolling chassis back to the brakers and got £350 for it! I didn’t think that was bad seeing as I had the luxury of making sure it ran and got to see what bits went where. The ecu is a known weak point so make sure you don’t get a duff one, big bucks to replace!

My eldest son had an RSV and loved it! Bags of torque and really quick. No reliablity issues.He sold it and got a more sedate 1200 Suzuki Bandit when his daughter was born. That lasted for a couple of months, but the lack of adrenalin made him go out and buy a new Fireblade.
I can't wait for him to get fed up and give me the engine! Ooops, the alarm just went off and spoiled that one.

The Mille motor was one that I considered seriously for a while. I did a small write up of it on one of my design pages...

http://www.mnrvortxr1.co.uk/designenginepgone.htm

They are dry sumped as standard and have a semi slipper design in the clutch which, against what I stated on that design page, is of great use in a BEC as it can reduce the chances of over rev whilst changing down and drivetrain wear.

I think £1200 for a pair is bloody good value too!

Just be weary that the spare parts and servicing costs are fairly nuts! I did have a look into it and compared to the Japanese OE stuff (even though that is pretty horrendous!) they are considerably more expensive...

Chris.

dont no if this any good for you just found it my local paper from monday

aprilia engine furure rst 1000 with loom , 2500 miles.2001 £500
07859339052, chris
ntdwm

I reckon the mille will be ok. sounds nice too. I had a 2001 rsv mille and it was quite a good bike, pulled well in most gears, but used to get beaten off the lights by my mates t595 triumph daytona (900cc) I foind that the relays were quite weak but you can replace them with triumph parts which are cheaper than aprilia.

Also mine was a bit grumpy idling.

bought em, pair or full kits, £1200 delivered, can't argue!

Sounds like a very good deal.

How about one engine per driven wheel, then you can use twin throttles for steering?

Been a few use them on grass, in pairs, as you are probably aware. John Whitehouse used them last year and initially liked them because of the torque (and the fact that he got 4 meetings to a set of tyres rather than 1).

At the end of the day they lacked power maybe 270 from the pair, and he switched to the more conventional tuned GSXR1000's with about 400bhp. No=one is winning with V Twins as you'll be aware. That said in the back of a road going mini they'll be great.

I would have thought that £1200 was a fair price. Best of luck with it, at least it'll sound right.

Hi Dave!

Yep, I know they won't win at big meetings, but they will (should! ) at club ones like M&L, and they should put a big grin on my face!

I looked at a lot of options, realised that against stuff like Laura Quinn's 600hp mini I stood no chance anyway, so decided to go for something quick enough for clubby stuff and grin inspiring!!!

270hp will leave me well short, but I am planning a pretty interesting car, certainly will be built carefully to the letter of the regs!!!...................................

Only worry I have now is that I have heard that the key on these bikes is chipped, and needed to work with the std ECU!...........

Will call the breakers in the morning and see wat they can tell me.

Best of luck with it Nat. If you get stuck with the electronics let me know and I'll find out what others have been doing.

engines should be delivered tonight, woohoo!!!!

ECU fix looks like being a pair of looms and ecu's from USA market bikes.

The breaker deals with a chap in USA who ships them over, and they don't have the chipped key issue

Ok, for once I'm going to sing the praises of bike engines instead of questioning them!!!! LOL!!

Got the Mille's, flipping hell they are small!!!!! I've dealt with 4 cyl bike engines a bit before, but these are a different animal altogether, the two of them take up the same space as 1 car engine!!!

They are 65kg each all up incl the dry sump gear etc.................

I can see this mini being quite light!!!!

Just need to sort the vacuum hoses, there's quite a few of them, guessing most are emissions guff that can be chucked, along with the various solonoids etc that are attached to them.

Must admit it is nice to have an engine that I can potter round the workshop carrying!

Just need a flippig bodyshell now the one I had lined up has fallen through!

They are a lovely piece of kit, and I came really close to bunging one in my Striker....