[b4turbo]

As above, the Aprilia Caponord ETV 1000.

I hankering with the idea of trading the BMW R1100RT for a 2002 one on DD at the minute.
What are they like to drive and more to the point, to own and maintain. Is there a year / model to avoid ?

Is there much weather protection on it when compared to the RT because in fairness, tis hard to beat it in the rain when you're moving.
Can parts be got handy enough ?

The online reviews are all fine but if any of you people have / had one, I'd like to hear the war stories ...

Now its only an idea at the moment, not going to splash out just yet as funds are very tight blah blah blah ... Thanks Mr. Cowen and Co ..


B4T

[Larry]

A friend of mine has the Rally Raid version, absolutely brilliant bike, I've been on the back of it at silly mph (I'm too short to reach the ground myself), over bumps, humps and never noticed any of them. I've also been on the back in the snow, but thats a whole other story.

I've never heard anyone complain about them, parts can sometimes be tricky to get, but if you know where to look, they are easily got.

The Rotax 990 engine is absolutely brilliant, its been the stable engine for Aprilia since 1998 when the first dropped it into the original RSV. It has buckets of torque and plenty of power. Some of them have an airbox restriction in them which cuts the power to 88BHP, but this is easily removed and makes a massive difference to the power on tap.

The only bad thing I've ever heard about the Caponard is that its a little top heavy.

Best advice I can give is to contact the seller, see about a test ride, and see where it goes from there. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

For the best advice, reviews etc, you could do worse than have a look at the Aprilia Forum, lots of good advice and you'll soon see what the regular problems are.

[PaulB]

Hi
I never had one but I spent a good while looking for one a few years ago and couldnt find one so ended up buying a Varadero. I did have a Falco which shares the same engine as the falco, rotax make the engine so it is reliable, valve clearences should be done every 9k miles but they never needed adjusting on my falco. Clutch slave cylinders can leak due to a rubber seal, its simple and cheap fix if you get that problem.
I couldnt see a 2002 on dd, but did see an 07 and 03. The 03 is overpriced, the thing to remember with the Capo is if you go to trade one in most garages will either say no or give you sfa, this means that prices are very low, if you are buying one from a garage bargan hard because the will probably want to shift it because Aprilia dont have the best name in Ireland. I was actually getting more for my Falco if I traded it in england.
SO, Id say go for it but make sure the price is good 4.5k is a fair price for a 2007 Capo. 3850 is miles off for an 03.

Cheers
P

[b4turbo]

Thanks lads, keep em coming ...

The 2002 is on as Caponard I think, look for Aprilia and its on the 2-4th page me thinks ...

Just looking at the mo, I have the bug a bit ..

[PaulB]

They are a lovely bike, all capos on donedeal are the same version, there was an upgrade around 2004, nothing major so I wouldnt worry about it.
As I said if you are trading your bmw in against the capo bargan like a mad thing, the bm would be easy sell on and the aprilia is not as easy to shift so you are in a strong position.

[bikernut101]

I had one the same as the one on DD for about 2 years. Brilliant bike apart from the coils kept breaking down. They have 4 of them under the seat(2 for each cylinder). 3 off them went wrong on mine 2002 model so I always kept a spare with me as I didnt trust it. The best thing was that the car coils from renault & peugeot were the same so cheap enough compared with €180 for genuine Aprilia.
Apart from that better than the Varadero and massive tank range.

BN

This post has been edited by bikernut101: 22 September 2010 - 12:50 PM

[FatFergie]

b4turbo, on 22 September 2010 - 10:48 AM, said:

I hankering with the idea of trading the BMW R1100RT for a 2002 one on DD at the minute.

What are they like to drive and more to the point, to own and maintain.

1. Does your wife know (she will soon)?

2. Anything is better than what you've got.

Seriously, I've always liked them and think they'd be a great two up bike. I think you should buy it just so that I can have a go.

[b4turbo]

FatFergie, on 24 September 2010 - 03:36 PM, said:

1. Does your wife know (she will soon)?

2. Anything is better than what you've got.

Seriously, I've always liked them and think they'd be a great two up bike. I think you should buy it just so that I can have a go.

You can't possibly compare my RT and your Transalp Fergie ... leagues apart ... Guess you'll be leaving it out in the rain on your next visit then !!!

No, I really like the look of that Aprilia and after driving CB750's Varadero, I have a bit of a bug to change to a Trailie for minimal money tho !!

But, as for the RT, it will have to be a serious bike to make me give up my creature comforts on the German machine.
Bout time I put her back together I suppose !! Fazer is gone now to Pacman and I'd say he's enjoying it too ..

[nab301]

b4turbo, on 22 September 2010 - 10:48 AM, said:

As above, the Aprilia Caponord ETV 1000.

B4T

Personally , if I was going for a large capacity V twin it'd have to be a 90deg , purely from an aural point of view..... (this from a deauville and boxer owner)

[Deragoth]

I had a lend of one for a week and hated it.

[FatFergie]

b4turbo, on 24 September 2010 - 07:43 PM, said:

You can't possibly compare my RT and your Transalp Fergie ... leagues apart ... Guess you'll be leaving it out in the rain on your next visit then !!!

No, I really like the look of that Aprilia and after driving CB750's Varadero, I have a bit of a bug to change to a Trailie for minimal money tho !!

You're right: no comparison . My bike isn't afraid of the rain! There's plenty of varaderos and similar about at not much money.

[Playtime]

Did you ever get the caponord ?

[b4turbo]

No Playtime,

After serious consideration, I found it very hard to find something that was as good an all-rounder as the RT (as you know).
Sure it's not the best bike out there but the BMW does all I want with the best weather protection that I've driven. The fazer 600 I had for a few months almost made me buy a Fazer 1000 and if I had spare cash, I probably would but I don't think I'm going to part with the RT.

The Aprilia does look the business tho but what swung it for me was how many people had electrical problems with italian bikes (I've still the Alfa TS in the shed, I'm sure I'll have enough italian sparks with that)

So, I took the BMW apart, fitted brand new forks (4 pieces) to it, I'm getting the plastics sprayed to hide previous owner's blemishes and I balanced the throttles.
I must take a few pics of the naked look to show the non German brigade what these look like with the covers off !!

I still get slagged about the BM from Jap owners, but it has never let me down, always starts and drives, you can drive it all day and still walk afterwards and it's pretty good on fuel.
Apart from the forks (which I knew were a bit dodgy when I bought it) all it has cost me in all seriousness is tax and insurance, a few oil filters and oil and 2 iridium plugs and 2 tyres. A cheap hobbie.

Are you considering a change or have you done it already ?

B4T

[Playtime]

ye bought a 07 at bargain price Here
beemer is for sale in Donedeals but owen from Extreme 45 collected her today for a customer to look at so fingers crossed
will be sorry to see th RT go as she has done me proud over the Alps/Pyrenees over last 2 years
was gonna keep her and get a bit of work done but couldnt resist the bargain & fancy a change but would buy another RT in a heartbeat

This post has been edited by Playtime : 29 January 2011 - 07:53 PM

[bearheadman]

Larry, on 22 September 2010 - 11:10 AM, said:

A friend of mine has the Rally Raid version, absolutely brilliant bike, I've been on the back of it at silly mph (I'm too short to reach the ground myself), over bumps, humps and never noticed any of them. I've also been on the back in the snow, but thats a whole other story.

I've never heard anyone complain about them, parts can sometimes be tricky to get, but if you know where to look, they are easily got.

The Rotax 990 engine is absolutely brilliant, its been the stable engine for Aprilia since 1998 when the first dropped it into the original RSV. It has buckets of torque and plenty of power. Some of them have an airbox restriction in them which cuts the power to 88BHP, but this is easily removed and makes a massive difference to the power on tap.

The only bad thing I've ever heard about the Caponard is that its a little top heavy.

Best advice I can give is to contact the seller, see about a test ride, and see where it goes from there. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

For the best advice, reviews etc, you could do worse than have a look at the Aprilia Forum, lots of good advice and you'll soon see what the regular problems are.

[FJReally]

i never owned one, but i did drive one
and i thought the riding position was great
you were more in the bike then sitting on top of it

once passed 20 miles an hour, the rain didn't bother
ya that much