Pegaso 650

[pigafetta]

Hi Folks

I've been offered a 1996 Aprilia Pegaso 650 in exchange for an old CB900F that I'm selling. Does anybody here have any experience of them? They look quite nice but Aprilia seem to have a slightly dodgy reputation with regards to parts prices and availability etc, particularly with their smaller bikes and scoots. I'm curious though, anybody got one or had one?

Thanks,
Dave B

[themoudie]

Aye Dave,

Similar bit of kit as a BMW F650 with 5 valve motor, rather than F650's 4 valves if I remember correctly.  Tiredness addling the grey cells at present!

The Funday is a good bit of kit, but the finish and some of the production 'convenient' engineering can make them a pain to service and look after. AndyM also has had a F650 I believe, but not a Pegaso.

If it's cheap enough and in reasonable nick, give it a shot, you'll only find out by giving it a spin!  I couldn't possibly comment! 

My regards, Bill.

[Sprunghub]

I'm no expert....but if you Google the model I think you'll find starter "issues" manifest themselves very regularly & can be very expensive to fix..........say's the man with an FT500 

[Andy M]

My only dealings with Aprillia was an MOT. Very poor service and useless parts availability- 6 weeks for brake pads  (I took the bike to another test station and it passed, so there was a con going on somewhere).

The F650 has two big issues, the water pump has no bearings and so destroys the seals allowing water and oil to mix. It's easy to spot, the oil goes light brown and easy to fix, with a forty quid kit from Motorworks/Motobinns and about 2 hours. If this hasn't been caught in time the heat warps the head and it's new engine time. I don't know if the BMW kit fits the Aprillia. The second issue I know about is the VR, they cook and you loose charge. Never got to experience that one first had. Most bikes will have salt damage, the paint is very very thin and flakes off (they all do that Sir  )

Personally, I found the F650 a joy to ride but wouldn't touch one with a long pole now, the build quality is ****, neither BMW nor Aprillia were every really interested and the design was all look over function and too complex as a result. You don't need two carbs, five valves and watercooling to get 48 HP.

Andy

[pigafetta]

Thanks gents.

I seem to be getting the same sort of response off everyone I ask - style over function, poor build quality, poor and expensive parts availabilty. So, with that in mind I'm going to politely decline the offer. It's not really what was after anyway, it just happened to come up. I'm really looking for something a bit more off-roadish.

Cheers,
Dave B

[guest146]

I think the engine is the Rotax unit as used in several bikes.

Ken

[Andy M]

The UK Rotax parts dealer was very anti-F650 and I assume Aprillia as well. The 500 Rotax MZ, Armstrong, Jawa etc. used seems to be a 100% Rotax product while the 650 was something done entirely for the BMW-Aprillia project. I'm sure there are common parts, but I don't think they'll be that useful or easy to find.

Andy

[pigafetta]

Yup, the engines described as a Rotax/Aprilia unit in the 1996 bike specs. It's the 5 valve job, later models have a different engine I think. I've been advised by everyone and their dog not to touch it with a bargepole. Besides, I sold my CB9 last night so the decision is already made.

I'm going to have a big bike shaped space in my garage now - wonder how long that'll last. I've got a hankering for an XT...

Thanks all,

dave B