I wasn't planning to rebuild the calipers. They weren't seized or leaking. When I pulled the brake lines, I pumped the lever and a bunch of crap came out so I thought I might as well. There might be a little junk in there.
Yeah, a little.
I've never seen anything like it. What a mess.
My ultrasonic cleaner is my new favorite thing.
I picked up a rebuild kit from a company in the UK (I seem to get a lot of stuff from the UK) and new Gafler lines. The master cylinder is a little tricky. Someone on the Aprilia forum repurposed a kit for a Honda but it wasn't a direct fit. It's a Brembo MC, I'm not sure why it's a challenge. I think I have an identical MC in my Ducati spares. I may just use that. Or run a bunch of fluid through the current one and see what comes out.
In other news, the guys on the Aprilia forum convinced me I'm crazy not to pull the crank and replace the seals so I guess I'm going to do that.
Well, this went solidly off the rails. In a good way, I guess. Everything pivot point is freshly greased and reassembled. Fresh fork oil. Cracked engine cradle fixed. Brake calipers rebuilt and new lines. Fresh chain/sprockets ready to go.
I ended up taking the engine completely apart and rebuilding with a brand new crank, trued and welded by 2-stroke legend Ed Toomey, all new seals, all new hoses, Wiseco pistons, like-new cylinders, and aftermarket powervalves. Engine is in and I'm very close to making some noise again. Once it's running, I have a Zeeltronic ECU to install.
Talking to a friend about paint, it turns out that his favorite shop for motorcycle work is 1.1 miles from my office, so I guess I know what I have to do.
I've almost precisely doubled the buy-in of $3800 and still need tires plus whatever I spend on cosmetics. I could have bought a nicer-appearing bike for less but w/o a fresh engine. Engine parts totaled about $2500.
