HT lead | Moto-Abruzzo

30/10/201628/04/2019

Murphy’s law working as well as ever!

Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid and RST Futura Sagem or JCI Ignition coils Yes I put my hand up …… it was all my own fault! I just had to go and mention the Sagem coils in the last post. A real tweak on the nose of Murphy’s Law if ever there was one!

The other day I had to pop along to the shops and being a lovely warm sunny day it was definitely a job for the Capo, besides I had the Innovv K1 camera system fitted and this would be an ideal time to try it out. The first sign that something was amiss with the Capo was a slight hesitation, a stumble just off idle. That and a slight misfire occasionally – more a sensation through the seat than anything else.

arc Once back in the barn I had a look at the Innovv DV recorder – No stored video, nothing! What the hell? Then the penny dropped ….. The Innovv worked fine with the engine off, but fire it up and it had a complete meltdown and either turned off or froze. It looks like some serious interference at work. With the seats off, I realised there was a faint intermittent ‘tick, tick, tick’ to be heard over the exhausts from the battery/coil area but I couldn’t see anything. So I waited until dusk and tried again – bingo! – A nice intermittent flash of HT from a rear coil to the subframe. That’ll most certainly mess things up quite nicely.

With one Sagem definitely now duff I decided to retire both remaining ones. After all, 111,000 miles isn’t too shabby! To keep all coils the same I thought I’d order three TechAutos – two as replacements to match the two already installed and one as a spare, just in case. So back indoors, fire up Flea-Bay and almost fall off my chair when I see what TechAutos are up to! Here’s a screenshot of their latest pricing for 3x coils. Hmmm……

techauto-1

…… So I fired off an email asking about availability and real-world prices – and after four days, never heard back from them. I decided that with outstanding customers service such as that, I would go elsewhere and buy Renault V6 coils! In fact for the last realistic price I recall seeing for three TechAutos coils I can buy six Renault coils. Now the old girl will get a nice new full set of coils and HT leads plus a new set of Iridium plugs ….. hopefully that’ll keep her happy for a few thousand miles!

11/06/2012

Snap-crackle-pop ….. no, not the Capo!

Well I have to say it’s been quite a stressful few weeks ….. a Capo coil failed just before I left for the UK, but as it fed a side-sparkplug the bike ran OK and so it had to languish at the airport while I wandered off to rainier latitudes in search of parts and a little work. The stay in the UK was pretty uneventful, quite nice actually, except for a Sunday morning psychopath using a 40 ton articulated lorry as weapon. Very unnerving.

Time flew by as it always does and I’m soon back at Pescara airport uncovering the Capo in the dark, will it start? Of course it does bless it, and we enjoy a nice moonlit ride home. Jeez the Capo feels BIG after riding a Honda Hornet 600 for a couple of weeks!

The next morning a new coil was fitted (more here) and shortly after, while basking in the warm glow of a job well done, my computer decides to crash! Total meltdown … it’s thrown its metaphorical electronic toys out of the pram, 360Gb of digital mush. Bugger!!!

So now I’m relegated to a teeny-weeny 9″ screen on the notebook and a overwhelming desire get more than one podgy finger at a time over the miniature keyboard. As a part of the Capo’s tool kit it’s the business, as a day-to-day work tool it sucks big time …… sorry Asus.

Now my heart is well and truly sinking as I take stock of all the stuff that’s possibly lost.

01/08/201101/08/2011

RecReg takes poll position

Ok folks, with over 80 votes on the poll – ‘What part(s) have you had fail on your Caponord’ – I’ve decided to close it and publish a new one. So firstly a big thank you to each and everyone of you that took the time to participate, I really appreciate it. Click on the image to get a better view of the list.

Well the data certainly mirrors the perception I get from hanging around the AF1 forum … no big surprise then what the top 5 causes of vanishing bank balances and roadside tears are;

•RecReg • Coils&leads • fuel connects • wheel bearings • instrument panel •

I was surprised that the clutch slave cylinder seal and starter solenoid didn’t appear to score very high … maybe they are not so prone to fail as I’d thought. Mind you, I still carry spares in the tool kit just in case! Other items listed include a couple of the ‘Y’ coolant hose, a couple of rear shock failures – including the nitrogen unit on the RR shock (gulp!) and a head gasket! In fact that’s the only engine failure listed …. that Rotax engine is most definitely bullet-proof , especially in the de-tuned Capo version.

So all in all, we can quite rightly blame the Italian electrics for most of our woes, or can we? The RecReg is made in Japan, the coils in France, the brown connectors in ……. well do I need to go on? Ok, the Italians connected them all together with a less than perfect wiring loom, but hey, it’s what gives the Capo character right?

So on to the next poll ….. are you a weekend-wonder or a four seasons mile-muncher, does your Capo spend more time on the center stand than wearing out its tyres? Go on, let us know what mileage your Capo has racked up over the years!