Quite a few questions, but does anybody know how interchangeable Piaggio engines are?

I'm pondering a project.

I have an Aprilia SR 125 Motard, which is effectively a rebadged Piaggio Typhoon. They are identical in all but the stickers and tyres, as far as I can see. I also think the Vespa uses the same engine.

I want a bit more speed. I have a full A licence, so am not doing anything illegal here. I also want to keep it stealthy, I don't want it to make a lot of noise or look any different to the standard 125 than is absolutely necessary.

I've looked at big bore kits etc, but seems to me I'd be spending half a grand to get another 5 bhp. I realise that's a significant change, but I wondered if there was a better way.

I know that Piaggio do have a couple of bigger engines, so I'm wondering if I can just buy a crashed 250 or 300 model, and stick the engine in mine.

I'm not a complete moron with mechanical stuff, and have a well equipped garage - I haven't actually done a project like this before, but so long as I don't have to rebuild the engine or get into a lot of cutting and welding, I'm probably OK. A bit of fettling is alright.

So, is there a reasonably simple 'yeah, the engine from a ??? will fit', or should I just stop dreaming and get an Xmax?

I quite like the idea of having something that looks like a 125, but will take off like a scalded cat when I'm feeling adventurous.

Cheers!

 

Errm I could be way wrong, but the bigger ones are all EFI I think.
Look in the project section, there are a couple of similar builds there.
For a crashed bike check out motorhogs website, they do REALLY cheap writeoffs

 

Your 125 is air cooled, all the 250 cc up will be water cooled so you'll need to fit the rads, plpework etc, not easy to put rads in where they were never designed to be !

 

I see. Didn’t think of that. The Aprilia has a bit of space behind the fairing, so although I suspect you’ve identified the fatal flaw, I’ll do some poking around.

Thanks.

 

cheers. I’ll take a look.

I’m not to worried about the fuel system chsnge, as long as it sould physically fit. It might be an interesting challenge!