revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Beancounter wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2024 4:29 pm

MyLittleStudPony wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2024 7:07 pm I had an Aprilia Caponord 1000 which pretty much went wrong all the time. I got rid of it.

Was it a 1st gen or 2nd gen out of interest?

I've had a 2nd gen late-2007 model since March 2019, been utterly reliable since I got it until a month ago when the reg/rec failed (causing the bike to die in the Blackwall Tunnel), the dash failed due to a worn out capacitor and now one of the rear ignition coils has failed. I think/hope I've just been unlucky to have all three happen at the same time.

Ignition coils from a Fiat (or possibly a Renault)are a direct replacement. My mate fitted them to his 2007 Capo. Will find out the part number if you are interested.

Bought a 1995 Harley 1200 Sportster as it has all the right parts on it. Edelbrock heads, Andrews cam, Mukini carb, K& N airfilter and Edelbrock inlet manifold, S&S exhaust system Lockhart oil cooler, two spare custom seats. Yellow paintwork was immaculate, and it looked good.

My God, was it nasty to ride. Far too much power for the standard, and ineffective front brake, chassis and suspension to cope with. Plus the bolt upright riding position was not good for my back. Think i did about 400 miles on it in yotal begore calling it a day and moving it on.



Had it for a few weeks before señling it

Another one was a F800S. Probably the most dangerous bike i've ever owned.It was cut out at random, more often than not t was as you opened the throttle to pull away but it would also do it was you changed own and opened the throttle again. Nearly got me killed a few times on roundabouts and at junctions.

I replaced everything that was known as a cause, from hoses to idle actuator control valves, but after one very near miss I decided it had to go and I sold it. It was so worrying that I listed it on eBay with an intermittent fault of it cutting out as I couldn't with all conscious sell it on without declaring it.

I have two:

Guzzi MkII Lemon. You could hear it corroding if you stood next to it.

Z250/2. Hated it with a passion. Actually kicked it over & set it on fire in the middle of Cambridge one day. Some fucking hero appeared with an extinguisher & *saved* it. A while later it snapped the crank in half & I sold it for scrap.

Probably the Buell Ulysses... It could be great fun when running but was plagued with electrical issues and stranded me a few times. A little too much character for me.
Here's my only pic at Lake Vyrnwy.

Dodgy69 wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 6:12 pm Probably the Buell Ulysses... It could be great fun when running but was plagued with electrical issues and stranded me a few times. A little too much character for me.
Here's my only pic at Lake Vyrnwy.

Interesting bike in many ways but as with Harleys, too much 'character'

Buckaroo wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:30 pm

Dodgy69 wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 6:12 pm Probably the Buell Ulysses... It could be great fun when running but was plagued with electrical issues and stranded me a few times. A little too much character for me.
Here's my only pic at Lake Vyrnwy.

Interesting bike in many ways but as with Harleys, too much 'character'

Thats the weird thing. Harleys have that reputation, yet they are probably the bikes that achieve the biggest mileages. Loads of yank Harleys have over 2 and 300,000 miles on them! I suppose it could have been higher...

Not sure i've ever had a bad bike, the closest would be the Ducati 1098 i bought and only rode once as it wouldn't start consistently. I think we only had it in the garage for 7 days... So i'm not sure that really counts in the context above. But it's the closest i've got.

Taipan wrote: Thu Oct 03, 2024 8:05 am

Buckaroo wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:30 pm

Dodgy69 wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 6:12 pm Probably the Buell Ulysses... It could be great fun when running but was plagued with electrical issues and stranded me a few times. A little too much character for me.
Here's my only pic at Lake Vyrnwy.

Interesting bike in many ways but as with Harleys, too much 'character'

Thats the weird thing. Harleys have that reputation, yet they are probably the bikes that achieve the biggest mileages. Loads of yank Harleys have over 2 and 300,000 miles on them! I suppose it could have been higher...

Yes, I was unlucky I guess. As was my daughter. Mine had fueling issues, as in it would start and rev to the limiter without warning, brakes would bind, odd idiot lights would appear / disappear. All in the first year. It had to go !

Buckaroo wrote: Thu Oct 03, 2024 10:02 am Yes, I was unlucky I guess. As was my daughter. Mine had fueling issues, as in it would start and rev to the limiter without warning, brakes would bind, odd idiot lights would appear / disappear. All in the first year. It had to go !

Buell is the only manufacturer to recall every bike they ever made, often more than once. Acquaintance had an XB that fell over & damaged the frame. As it was also the gas tank, it was a write off... They were utter turds.

Buckaroo wrote: Thu Oct 03, 2024 10:02 am

Taipan wrote: Thu Oct 03, 2024 8:05 am

Buckaroo wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:30 pm

Interesting bike in many ways but as with Harleys, too much 'character'

Thats the weird thing. Harleys have that reputation, yet they are probably the bikes that achieve the biggest mileages. Loads of yank Harleys have over 2 and 300,000 miles on them! I suppose it could have been higher...

Yes, I was unlucky I guess. As was my daughter. Mine had fueling issues, as in it would start and rev to the limiter without warning, brakes would bind, odd idiot lights would appear / disappear. All in the first year. It had to go !

Oh yes. Even the Harley owners I met, when I had one, regarded Buells as unreliable POS!

Whysub wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 1:33 pm Ignition coils from a Fiat (or possibly a Renault)are a direct replacement. My mate fitted them to his 2007 Capo. Will find out the part number if you are interested.

Thank you, any info would be greatly appreciated. I've bought three different coils which, with a little modification, will fit into the coil space but can't use them as each coil has a female connection and not a male connection. £300 plus VAT for a new coil from Fowlers (no currently in stock) so I've wrapped the broken coil in amalgamating tape to see if that works for now.

BMW G650GS

viewtopic.php?t=6618

A_morti wrote: Fri Oct 04, 2024 5:12 pm BMW G650GS

viewtopic.php?t=6618

I think we were all quite relieved too.

Beancounter wrote: Fri Oct 04, 2024 8:32 am

Whysub wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 1:33 pm Ignition coils from a Fiat (or possibly a Renault)are a direct replacement. My mate fitted them to his 2007 Capo. Will find out the part number if you are interested.

Thank you, any info would be greatly appreciated. I've bought three different coils which, with a little modification, will fit into the coil space but can't use them as each coil has a female connection and not a male connection. £300 plus VAT for a new coil from Fowlers (no currently in stock) so I've wrapped the broken coil in amalgamating tape to see if that works for now.

On it now. Waiting for his response.

Mate thinks he has a couple somewhere. He probably copied the thread here as to what to do:
https://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/sho ... tion-Coils

Spoke to my mate-he has a few and just has to dremel the brass fittings he had made to fit the coils.

He gas a 2007(?) Capo available which is suitable as a spares bike if you are interested.

Oddly the two bikes that fit the category were both vertical twins and (several) decades apart. One was a BSA and the other was a BMW800GS. The first was a reliability disaster zone and the second was incredibly boring until the alarming implementation of the ABS opened an evil eye and woke up. Seriously, any bike that even pretends to be useable off-road - if it must have ABS and you can switch it off every time you get on board - shouldn't decide the brakes are outside of the control of the rider when you hit a bit of gravel...on a slight slope in a car park. (I've had numerous bikes with ABS and they wouldn't have even twitched. No wonder the bloke I bought it off came back from a North Africa trip on it a nervous wreck!).

But that F800 engine bored me to tears as well. It might as well have had 'Singer' on it in an extravagant gold font.

Ducati 916. I never actually got round to owning one, but was sort of on the hunt for one.A friend of a friend had one and i was admiring it and mentioned I was probably going to buy one. He said they aint easy to live with around town and no way he'd commute on one. He offered me a go on his and whilst I never normally ride other peoples bikes i thought a spin round the block would be a good idea. I got to the end of the street and brought it straight back. He was right, a commuter it aint!

A mate and I used to go halfers on various shitters to get us to work in the 70s. The worst of these was an end of life Honda CB125. The little bastard holed more pistons than a stroker and used to cut out mid overtake. The poor thing was treated in a miserable fashion.

Speaking of bikes I've had a run on and didn't like,there are two BMWs on that. First up was a K1000 brick thingy,oh man it surely handled like one.
Second was one of those GS1200 ADV jobbies. I hated every turn of the wheels. A bike ugly from the inside out.

I get on with most bikes,but those two I couldn't wait to get off.