2016 V7ii thrust bearing update

[CapitalGoose]

Hey ladies and gents,

It's been a few years since I posted anything, so please forgive me. Last I was here, I was having trouble with my clutch cable. Or so I thought. It turns out many of you were correct in that it was a thrust bearing that was missing, which eventually caused my engine to grenade. Unfortunately, it happened at around 7.5k miles, so well out of warranty. The dealer here in the D.C. area, where I bought the bike, was reluctant to help initially. However, one of the mechanics encouraged the service manager to put in a warranty claim with Aprilia anyway. Luckily for me, he took that advice and I was sent a new engine from Italy. I did have to pay a pretty penny for install, but hey whatever, at least I got my bike back.

After riding around on my "new" bike for a while, I did the first service, oil, filter, valves, etc. Bike ran fine. My lovely wife got me a new set of Agostini cans for my birthday. They are fantastic! I'm not chasing HP or performance figures, I just wanted a bit throatier exhaust note. After install, the bike runs smoothly once its warmed up and I've enjoyed some nice long rides this spring. I find that it now takes quite a bit longer for the TB's to get up to temp. But once she's running smoothly from cold, we're good to go. However, if I stop for gas, food, etc., she does not want to warm up properly no matter how long I idle. Throttle surges and hunting even at speed after riding for a while. But again, as long as I don't stop mid-ride, I'm ok. I know, weird right?

Anyway, I'm hoping to install a Beetle map (thanks for the advice Mark) in the near future to smooth out the surging. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Thanks again for all the advice and recommendations, fellas. Stay safe in these crazy times and rubber side down!

[Tom H]

Glad to hear they took care of you with a new engine!!

Tom

[sib]

Unfortunately, it happened at around 7.5k miles, so well out of warranty.

I'm glad your V7II is back on the road.  As far as I am aware, the warranty is based only on time, 24 months after sold.
Most V7IIs have come with ECU software version 4533V796, which was released on 9/18/2015 and is reported to be OK but not perfect.  An earlier version, 4533V795, was widely reported as quite problematic.  I was greatly fortunate to have version 4533V740 on my V7II from the factory when I bought it in May 2015.  It's nearly perfect, no flat spots, no cold starting issues, no backfiring or burbling on deceleration, in fact, no issues of any kind in any weather.  It works just as well with Agostini mufflers (db killers installed) as with the OEM mufflers.  I haven't read or heard any information about this software version, but I hypothesize that it might be a pre-US-production map that is tuned for performance but not for meeting EPA requirements (don't tell anyone).  I've put over 32,000 mi on the bike and I thoroughly enjoy riding it every time.