Mileage poll closed, luggage poll open!

Firstly a big thank you to everyone who voted on the mileage of their Caponord. However, not many surprises really ……. 100 owners voted their Capo mileage, 63% have covered between 10 and 40,000 miles with the greatest percentage (25%) in the 30-40,000 mile range. At the bottom end, 8% have barely seen the first service and must be riding the shiniest Capo’s of all, while at the other end we have 4% with over 90,000 miles and and 3% with 100K+ miles.

If the 100K+ owners ever read this, drop me a line would you I’d love to do a post on your high mileage bikes. So now onward to a new poll …… What luggage do you use? …. from bin liners to gold plated titanium panniers hand rolled by presidential candidates, your call!

Current cool tool

Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid - Maplin N48CY current testerA quick post about a snazzy and useful little tool for the tool box and at £9.99 its not going to break the bank either. The Maplin N48CY current meter will measure up to 20 amps (double most multimeters) and has contacts that simulate a fuse …… simply unplug the fuse from the circuit to be tested, plug the tester in, switch on and activate the circuit – voila, a nice crisp display of the current that flows through the fuse & circuit. I’ve recently run through the Capo fuse block and you can see the table of recorded values here.

How to make 21 days fly by!

Abbey Motorcyle Instructors - Milton ParkI’m finally back home for a rest. Oh, did I forget to say I was going back to blighty for a few weeks? Well it was three weeks of fog, frost, rain, sunshine and snow! To be fair, the last two weeks settled down to some semblance of normality after mid-morning. While I shivered and cursed the fog and way-to-fast traffic, Jan held the fort in Abruzzo. She did brilliantly and had a fine time in vastly better weather!

On this trip I was primarily tasked by AMI with training Alan, the new instructor. Alan has an impeccable riding CV, having served for many years in the London Motorcycle Paramedic unit and being responsible for rider training. Would he cope well though with the initial learner end of the spectrum?

Well on my last day I was proud as punch to present him with his first DSA qualification, the ‘Down-Trained’ certificate, which allows him to teach CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) and work with post-CBT learner 125cc riders. It’s just the first rung on the long ladder to DAS qualification as he well knows, but his determination, skill and knowledge have set a firm foundation on which to progress. Good luck Alan, your card was well earned and I hope to work with you later in the year, and thanks Jim for the work!

Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid AS7 AutoswitchOn a Capo note, I finally managed to bring back an AS7 Autoswitch for the fog lights. You can read more about fitting and operation here – it works brilliantly!

I also briefly met ‘Training Man’ and his partner (Paul & Anna) from the AF1 Aprilia forum at a local bike café. His Capo was the only bike in the car park – until our motley group of school bikes turned up! Nice to meet you, maybe see you at Bristol Italian Day next year …….

So it’s back home to nature running wild as spring sets in. Time then to refuel the strimmers, saws and tractor and get stuck in to sorting the land out ……. but first, one little ride out on the Capo, Jan won’t notice!