scottoiler | Moto-Abruzzo

08/06/202008/06/2020

The Scottoiler is dead, long live the Scottoiler!

Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid Scottoiler I posted about this thing in 2012 and planned for it’s replacement in 2013.

Like it or not though, it is now a rather pants 2020 …. and I have finally replaced the ageing and somewhat cantankerous Scottoiler VSystem and HCR (High Capacity Reservoir). With a total of 19 years, four bikes and somewhere in the region of 360,000 miles under its belt it was definitely time to replace it. To be fair, the last 5,000 or so of those miles it has only been along for the ride as I had finally turned it off sometime late last year due to it functioning in ‘all or nothing’ mode and ‘all’ really was quite a bit of oil to go sloshing around the back wheel! The RMV (Reservoir Metering Valve) had been refurbished back around 2013-14 and back then, the diaphragm was already getting a little stiff. I guess like my old joints, one day it just stopped flexing at all.

In the big scheme of things, this package has only cost a couple of pennies a day and given sterling trouble-free service for 99% of its days, so there is only one clear viable replacement in my books – another VSystem and HCR. I did look at the very 2020’s techie ESystem but frankly, I couldn’t justify the 2.5x price and having to fiddle with yet more wires and mount yet another ‘control box’ on the handlebars somewhere. No, the VSystem works well and will simply be a plug-in replacement and that suits me just fine. Total cost for both parts in the UK came to £127.96 and that is not a huge hike in price over almost 20 years.

Put it another way. A DID 525ZVMX chain costs £100-£110 ish to replace and by my rough calculation the Scottoiler has saved me the cost of at least three chains, probably more during its time on my bikes. So not only has it long since paid for itself, it has also saved me a tidy sum in sprockets and the time and effort to replace them. I can comfortably live with that.

I’ll end with a brief explanation of how I mounted the HCR to the Caponord. Firstly though a disclaimer – Scottoiler do not list the HCR as compatible with the ETV1000. If you do decide to install one, it is entirely at your own risk. Personally, I am more than happy that the installation I have is safe, secure and allows the system to function as it was designed to. This is how I did it.

Using the template (download here) I have made a mounting bracket from 4mm thick aluminium plate. In the pictures below you will see the plate in perspex – this was the ‘sanity check’ test piece to confirm the drawing was correct before committing to cutting metal. This piece is mounted by two M6x20 countersunk screws, washers and nyloc nuts through the existing ‘number plate’ mounting holes in the mudguard. The HCR is mounted to this bracket by two M6x30 cap head screws, washers and nyloc nuts and a third M6x30 through the pannier frame/mudguard.

On the Rally-Raid or any Capo with the Givi pannier rack the rear brace attaches to the mudguard and provides the 4mm standoff for the HCR bottom mount to bolt through (M6x? cap head, washer and nyloc nut) – if you don’t have this bar, then you need to provide a spacer between the mudguard and HCR – a couple of M6 penny washers will work fine. You will need to fit the RMV to the HCR before fitting the whole assembly to the mudguard as there is not enough room once the HCR is fitted on its own. After that, just follow the instructions provided by Scottoiler regarding filling, mounting the feeder pipe and attaching the RMV to the vacuum system. The only additional thing I did, was drill the mudguard so I could feed the oil/vacuum pipes through to the subframe rails and hide them out of the way.

28/06/201426/05/2016

Ruba-dub-dub …… one Capo to scrub!

As we fast approach the fun and games of ACIM, I figured it was time to reintroduce the Capo to two things frequently lacking in its life ……. washing and polishing. Yes, the hose pipe, chamois leather and Salvol autosol have been dragged out, dusted off and liberally applied to said Capo. My how she twinkles now, well as much as matt paint can ever twinkle that is!

Unfortunately for the Capo, there has been one cleaning job on the list that I’ve been putting off, and I have to admit that the list was written several years ago – the rear wheel refurb! After a couple of cold ones, I finally mustered up the courage to tackle the gunked on grease, the lashings of welded road crud and the inevitable rusty nipples. It nearly had the better of me once or twice, but tenacity and sheer bloody-mindedness (plus a couple more cold ones!) saw the job through to the bitter end. And here’s the finished article, not too shabby if I do say so myself ….. and that chain/sprocket have now got a whopping 38,730 miles on them!!!

Before it all went back together, the Scottoiler dual-injector was checked over as were all the bearings, seals and cush-drive rubbers – and of course it would have been remiss of me to have not taken the front sprocket cover off and give it a Mk1 eyeball check – looks OK for now, but I’ll get one on order! 😉

23/05/201328/11/2017

Scottoiler – 12 years on

Yes it was 12 years ago I bought the Scottoiler ‘Touring’ package and a twin-feeder as an upgrade. It was all fitted to my lovely Kawasaki ZRX1200, then a year later swapped to a Triumph Trophy 1200 where it did several years sterling service. Later it spent a couple of years on the shelf before being dusted off and fitted to a Blackbird. Then in 2008 it went onto the Caponord where it worked faultlessly until earlier this year.

I noticed a steady decline in the amount of oil being fed to the chain and adjusting the RMV (Reservoir Metering Valve) made no difference. The fault turned out to be a clogged twin-feed. I tried blowing it out and using vacuum to suck out the blockage, but nothing worked. In the end I bought a new one and cut the old one open to try and find the culprit. It turns out that inside lives a piece of foam that acts like a reservoir and this had broken down into mush and was blocking every passageway.

The new one only took a few minutes to replace and oil flow was restored. I’ve worked out that this kit has well over 220,000 miles under its belt and that equates to a purchase/running cost of about £1.65 per 1,000 miles. In truth though it is starting to show its age, the flow rate seems to be less adjustable that it once was which I’m putting down to the rubber diaphragm hardening with time. Before winter I’ll replace the RMV completely (about £42) and hope this one lasts another 12 years!