Why bother?

[the_toe_cutter]

Seems theres a random increase in reports of varied forms of electricial melt downs:WTF: Hopefully not inbuilt obsolescence at play here lol:eek:

I wouldnt blame anyone for thinking, 'shag this i need a varadero in my life' (actually id mount panniers to my arse and crawl before owning a vara!) just kiddin Chris hehe. So no blame at all, especially for those who rely on it for basic transport or work.

In light of and despite this, i thought i might start a thread that was somehat more positive. So why bother lads and lasses?
What does your capo do for you, in essence Why do you bother!?
Me? I love mine, comfort, usability, handling, relatively unique and a slice of genuine charm when shes on song, in short she lights my fire!

I might add, i dont know any other site that is as helpful, friendlly or instructive as here, makes ownership possible for me and without it id have had to sell mine long ago.

[chrisonord]

mine stops my tools from going rusty or gathering dust :ripass:
Chris

[JohnG.]

mine stops my tools from going rusty or gathering dust :ripass:
Chris

Here,everything goes 'rusty' including my body if I dont get out and work on the bike ;)

Seriously,looking at others breeds,over the past 5.5-ish years of ownership there's been nothing

out of the ordinary that's well documented in the stickys here.
Electrical meltdowns seem to be mostly with US bikes AFAIK...??
Certainly,we've had no major motor/rear drive teardowns other breeds suffer...
In short,my Capo was cheaper than a V-strom,looks better & classier,has 'teased' me with a few little dramas
but has mostly gone from service to service needing very little...and love that growl on full song :devilbat:
Oh,and get a kick outa people cornering me to ask about it...well sometimes ;)

[RLB454]

I was delivering flyers to some local cycle shops for our 4th annual Vintage Motorcycle Show coming up, and rolled into the parking lot of the Harley/BMW/KTM dealership to give them a couple flyers. I parked in the lot with a boat load of Harleys and a couple of BMW GS's, nobody really gave me a second look, I may have even gotten a snarl or two from the v twin tractor owners. Anyways, after coming back out of the shop, there was my mighty Capo standing there in all of its glorious red brilliance waiting for me (and every one knows that the red ones are the fastest) amongst all of those no character, dime a dozen, tractor technology, poser machines. Strapped on my helmet, threw a leg over her, put the spark to that wonderful Rotax 990, and rode out of the lot with a big ol grin on my face.

Sure these Capo's might have a few issues, what bike doesnt, but man every time I pull away on it, the smile on my face makes it easy to overlook any issues that I may have had, or might experience in the future. She will be in my stable for a long long time. Oh, not to mention all the compliments I get on it.

[dadsafrantic]

there is no bike to trade over to for me.

[Capoandrew]

Back to TTC's point, a Caponord or almost any Italian bike is like an Italian woman. They are a bit of maintenance, but highly worth it for the ride. (You can interpret that any way you want!!)

Seriously, I would never say the Capo is perfect. In fact at times I look at it in the garage with a kind of why the hell do I ride such an ugly duckling. However, when I remember a few rides scratching with friends on their Jap bikes, I always have a grin. More characater, glorious grunt, a sound that is music in the ears and good handling. What more could you want?

If we didn't have a few little niggles, then where would the joy of solving them be?

[Matt fe2o3]

All my issues with the Capo thus far are fairly zero. The capo did not tip over by itself... I have proactively gone with the herd on fuel and electrics. I screwed a few things up myself too. Part of learning.

The forum itself is stellar, which is of course made up of the membership and their capacity to share information.

I'm quite grounded with the capo and really enjoy the community as a sounding board.

Cheers.

[Playtime]

despite all the issues/upgrades thus far am very happy with my Capo
as said already this forum & members are very helpful
I put up about 900 kms Friday & Saturday all around the Antrim/Donegal coast without a glich
my only concern at mo is wind noise/buffeting even with a give touring screen and laminar lip added
going to get a loan of a different laminar lip to try but just cant wait till august euro trip over alps/stelvio pass

[Stanleybobly]

why bother?
I just bought Rally Raid next to the Red Capo.

Engine is über reliable
a few things.........relays, connectors, regulator, are shit.
but changing them is dead easy....

did you guys ever drove a BMW 1200GS?
that thing has far more electronical failures.....

[caponord]

I agree a 100%, the ETV is a royal pain in the crack, Im at it again, rear suspension reconditioned, chain, sprocket and cush drive,
Rear suspension has been done by a workshop in Adelaide, ( abolute champion ) the rest i do....... the guys that know me here, know the amount of stuff i did.
BUT, i love to sit and ride the beast, and absolut blast, plus the attention is amazing... sometimes i think, if i had a chance, what would be the replacement? still dont know. ( Dont really care ) i fix it until the screws wear out... hahaha

[Capoandrew]

welcome back Alby!!! Good to see you back on the forum!

[GH_services]

i bought mine as it was cheap and an easy fix - i still have it because its comfy and reliable.
would i sell it? yes, and i only havent because i dont need to and havent bothered to advertise it.

why would i sell it - dont need it any more, since i have changed jobs i dont need it - i have my GSXR750 and Z1000 nitrous special to get to work on.

still, even though i have a garage full of bikes to use - i do always use the capo for the mundane, day to day riding - it does bring a smile to my face even on those mundane rides

[blumeeni]

Listen you could spend 11.5k on a R1200GS German piece of shit like I did in 2006 I owned it for one year before I'd had enough and part x'd it.
I'm coming up to 5yrs of owning capos and to date mine has been 300% more reliable the the Bavarian crap I had.
One thing has gone wrong a weeping oil pressure switch changed under warranty.
take a peak in on the GS forum at all the faults they have and at what expence to put them right, no cheap fixes like on the Capo.

[moto-abruzzo]

Why? Because it does exactly what I want of a bike today, tomorrow and for the foreseeable future. I like the looks, love the sound (on Quills) and the fact I can pack it like a mule on steroids and it still handles well. And let's be honest, there isn't a biker alive who doesn't like to have someone wander over for a chat about their bike ..... and the Capo is a fantastic ice breaker for an extended chin wag.

As for Aprilia as a company .... let's just say it's the last one I'll own, which is a damn shame. They make fine bikes, but suck at customer service!

Will I sell it? I have no intention nor desire to part with it, but you never know which way the financial tide of life blows .... fingers crossed it stays a while longer!

Thanks for the thread TC, a chance to reflect on the 'why' amongst the 'what the F!!!!' ;)

[brmbrm]

Better a Diamond with a flaw than a pebble without

Confucious

[Precis]

I have a gig that means occasionally, I get to ride other bikes for a week at a time. I keep the Capo(s) because they're paid for, reliable, comfortable. What I don't like, is having to remove 15 pieces of strangely shaped plastic to get at anything.
My wife, a long-time Guzzi & Ducati rider, doesn't like the fact that she's constantly changing gear on the Capo - the ratios are close together and the useable powerbands isn't that wide, below about 6000 rpm. In its favour, it's a great gearbox. She also says the hydraulic clutch has no feel to it, after the cable-clutches. But she does like the power to be able to instantly blast around mobile chicanes. She doesn't like the heat venting off the engine onto the rider in summer.
The Capo is also probably one of the best bikes ever built for a passenger.
Plus, we live on dirt roads and riding on them day after day, rain or shine, really screws up the Guzzis. With the Capo, they're more made for it.
Technically, the bikes are too bike for either of us and we should be riding something like a 650 - or under 500cc for the cheaper annual registration. It's a rare day anyone will step oiff a Caponord and say "Damn, I need more power", because they're consistently using all of what the bike has and in truth, that probably applies just as much to a 650. But right now, there are no 650s (or 500s) that meet our particular needs for durability, comfort, reliability, luggage capacity and character.
As and when there is something like that, we might consider parting with the Caponords.

[caponord]

Thank you Andrew, yes its good to be back and see we have new members on here.
To all of you Welcome to the mad house......

[BigSteve]

Listen you could spend 11.5k on a R1200GS German piece of shit like I did in 2006 I owned it for one year before I'd had enough and part x'd it.
I'm coming up to 5yrs of owning capos and to date mine has been 300% more reliable the the Bavarian crap I had.
One thing has gone wrong a weeping oil pressure switch changed under warranty.
take a peak in on the GS forum at all the faults they have and at what expence to put them right, no cheap fixes like on the Capo.

:plus: I have a friend who owned a 2008 GS1200 Adventure, it was in the dealers being fixed more than he actually rode the thing, had a new gearbox & 2 new clutches...eventually after over a year of trouble, he got a refund and replaced it with a KTM990 Adventure which he has no issues with.

As for my Capo, well after 9 years of ownership and 34,000 miles I can say it's the best bike I have ever owned. I have tried the new BMW GS1200 Adv, Ducati 1200s Multi, XT1200 & New Triumph 1200 & 800 Tigers, but none would make me change the old Capo..:D

As for the Forum, well all the words have already been said, I have made many new friends both in the UK and even met up with Matt fe2o3 in SF (USA). it rocks...:D

[Parx400]

I got the capo to be my street bikes that has some limited off road ability. I wanted something big enough for my GF to ride on the back and be able to carry our stuff for overnight. Since my dad and a few buddies have DL1000’s I planned on getting one of those. As I looked around I heard about the Caponord. I didn’t even know they were sold in the US. I did my research on the bike and decided the pros out weighted the cons (famous last words). I found a pretty well sorted 2002 capo with 28K miles for 4,800. It had Remus Ti pipes, factory top/ side cases and HB crash bars.

So far I am very happy with the bike. My idle issues have been minor and appear to be fixed. My only real complaint is the suspension. My bike has the Hyper pro springs and they are way too harsh when you push the bike super hard. My stock rear shock has the rebound maxed out and if you push the bike hard on bad roads it will fade pretty quick. I have an RR shock over at Traxxion dynamics getting valved for my weight and riding ability. When I have some down time I’m getting AK-20’s installed in the forks with the adjustable RR caps.

[waspometer]

It was cheap second hand....
It looks good...(IMHO)
Im using mine as a mechanics training course.....learning new things (and acquiring new tools) every week
Shopcraft is soul craft ....

[somersetrider44]

love mine to bits,not literally.best bike i've ridden,love it's qwerks,power,ability to handle anything i ask to do.and in the 14 months i;ve had it,only had clutch slave give up and now a coil.have tested over 20 bikes in the last few months but nothing floats my boat the way my capo does.saying all this,the days of capo ownership may be drawing to a close.but not because of anything that has or may go wrong.
i use mine everyday to instruct on,and for the majority of my work it's too much bike.like i said in another thread,i'll start new thread with update,sometime tom.

[JohnG.]

It was cheap second hand....
It looks good...(IMHO)
Im using mine as a mechanics training course.....learning new things (and acquiring new tools) every week
Shopcraft is soul craft ....

:lol: Yup,on a similiar journey,but 'dont like letting the moths out of the wallet...becoming more DIY everyday
But not quite a Burt Munro operation,yet ;)

[Picasso_ss]

I love it because it has S.P.S: IT HAS SOUL, PERSONALITY and is so SEXY. I think that this bike is better than a woman:)