Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128108
The 998cc 60-degree Y-twin has many similari ties to the rest of the motors in the Aprilia model range, but was extensively revamped for the unique demands of the Caponord. where you 've just been, and look fo r- band, thanks t o th e silky response of the Sagem EFI , wh ich a llow s y o u to damental concept upward , with on ly ward to where you're going. Aprilia 's policy of tailoring eac h model in its twin -c ylinder range speci f ically to its target market from t he fun the basic outline of the 50 -degree V - meander al o ng in traffic at 40 mph in top gear pull ing a scant 2200 rp m upward - but then w h e n the road is notice ab le vibration at t hi s k ind o f cru is ing/eng ine s peed , t h a n k s pre sumably to the th ick footrest ru b bers, as well a s the rubber-mo unted hand leb ars. The only t ime you notice the tw in A VDC co unterbalanc ers a r en 't get a buzz in th e bu tt that w ill remin d you th at y ou h ave no business revving w h at is su c h a smooth and flexi b le engine anything near t hat hig h. That' s b ec a u se the C apo n ord has w h at is effectively a 700 0 -rpm power The ETVIOOO Caponord is a benchmark bike-In more ways than one - not only as Aprilia's first V-tw in dual sporter. but also as the first volume production motorcycle of the modem era to be conce ived and developed in... Switzedandl That's right, Aprilia 's entry into what in Italy they succinctly term the 'moto totale' market segment is the product of the compa ny 's Swiss-based design team headed by "progettlsta" Alberto Alberti . the former Cagiva development engineer responsible for the Ducati -engined Elefant desert racer which Edi Orioli used to win the Paris-Dakar a decade ago, as well as its street-legal spin-offs and . before joining Aprilia three years ago to head up the Capono rd proj ect. the twin cylinder desert racers and street enduros created by Yamaha's Italian subsidiary, Belgarda's BYRD operation . Once again you get the feelin g that Ap rilia boss Ivano 6egglo has hired the best m an for a specific R&D job - an impression rein forced when Alberti explains in detail the Caponord's technical makeup. First of all , wh at was Aprili a's objective in developing the bike: go or show? To create a genuine multi -purpose motorcycle. or one styled like another member of the wan -a-bee p. D clo ne cult. but with strictl y tarm ac tendencies? "Our aim was to fashion a go-an ywh ere gran tur ismo. which is practi cal in use but also fun to ride, with a low seat height and compacted mass," says Alberti. "We intended the bike to excel at two distinct but complementary functions one on long journeys, where we need to provide comfort and good aerodyn amic protection, with t he cha nc e to carry a passenger and lug gage without compromising performance. and the other in solo use, perhaps main ly at weekends as a leisure instrument, on all ki nds of roads and on every type of surface . We und erstand th at off- road use fo r our av erage custo mer will be restricted to maybe just 5· I 0 percent of rid ing time, but we felt it important that the Caponord should be a tru e 'moto polyval ente' - a go-anyw here bik e - and that' s reflected, for example. in the tires we chose for it - the Metzeler Tourance radials. or their Pirelli Skorpion equivalents. These have excellent off-road performance but. unlike any of our competitors, the Caponord wears V-rated tire s good for up to 250 kph [155 mph] . whereas the Honda Varadero and BMW R1150GS which we chose as our principal targ ets to try to beat - the Honda ma inl y for its protection and practicality, the BMW for its stability and handling - only use Hrated rubber with a max im um safe speed of 210 k ph [130 mph]. The Caponord will comfo rtably exceed that speed limi t on a long run, yet it's a bik e you should be able to enjoy riding along a dirt road or twi sty mounta in pass." Th ese tires are mo unted on wire wheels whose forged rim s - mad e in Germany by Behr to Aprilia's own patented design (as distin ct from BMW's) - have been specially devel oped to accept the tubeless tires whi ch Ap rilia holds to be indispensable for a 135- m ph mo torcycle, yet sti ll perm its a new rim to be laced to the hub via the patented format's externa l ni pples, in case of dama ge caused by hitt ing an obstacle off- road - an option not possible for exam ple with the Varadero's cast wheels. The fro nt tire is a 110/80 19- dence in the ma rketplace as well as yo u c a n g et spritelier p erformance , the 9500 -rpm revlimiter , when you' ll ha s matu re d in terms of i t s large - engine respond irr esistib ly . Of c ourse . by kicking it down a couple o f g ear s, over at just over 5000 rpm. Unlike on th e RSTJOOO , t here's no 550cc single represented a big bike you 're not i n a hurry , just ea se the throttle wide o pen and feel the A prilia quite d oi ng th eir job is when you wind the 5 0-d eg ree V -t w in engine up near paid off incre asingly well , as the com- clear, y o u don't need to change gear if mph ma rk w ith th e e n gi n e tu rni ng twin eng ine shared in c o m m o n , has fe rent market segment. The Caponord pany for which u nt il four years ago a capacity product ra nge, gainin g confi the resp ect of c us t o mers in each di f - an d b e t w e en 3000 a n d 5000 r p m is a terrifyingly effecti ve piece of prod - th ere' s a rea lly ni c e sweet spot y o u en d up w ork ing in a ll d a y long . B ut uct dev elopm ent , series-produced with w hat ' s in a w ay most seductiv e ab out quality , an d so ld in a choice of three what appears to be a very h igh build the Caponord i s the r el a x ed ri di n g colors (red , sil ver and dark blue - all style that the torquey, flexi ble engine metallic, an d all combined w ith matt- entices you to adopt. This is a genuinely pleasurable bik e b lac k plastic moldings) at an extreme - to spend time on, th at helps you enjoy its competitors, that is . incher, the rear a 150/70 - 17, each mounted on wheels fitted with Brembo brakes - the front a pair of floa t ing 30 0mm rotor s with differential -diameter tw in-pot calipers, the rear a 270mm disc again with twin-piston caliper. To create Aprilia 's newest "rn oto t ot ale" (worth noting here that company owner Beggio is an ardent dirt -bike fan. which explains why for many years Aprilia's only motorcycle models built alongside the famil y firm' s original bicycle pro duction were enduros and trailies pow ered by proprietary Rotax engines). Alberti and his design team have mount ed a completely revamped version of the firm' s now established 60 -degree V-twin, dry sump-engin e - now featuring Brltishbuilt Sagem fuel injection, as on the Futura sports tourer launched alongside it at Intermot 2000 • in an aluminum beam frame which of itself sets the bik e apart from others in the tarmac trailie class. Wouldn 't a mo re conventional tub ular steel chassis have been a better bet for a m ulti -purpose bike like th is? "No , aluminum gives the best stiffness-to-weight ratio. which is im portant where you 're juggling the strength needed to carry a passenger and two people's luggage for a coup le of weeks. with the lig ht weight needed for off-road use: says A lberti . "This structure is the best of both worlds . and also allows us to concentrate the mass for ideal handling and create a very rigid pack age which optimizes high -speed stabili ty . The narro w cylinder angl e and dry -sump format of the 60 ·degree V-twin engine plays a key role in this , permitting grea ter freedom of choice in terms of positi oning it in the fram e, while also allo wing us to locate the rider 's body and the fuel load close tog ether, in order to produce a very compact design that optimizes handlin g." Th e Caponord's alum inum fram e is composed of extrud ed spars internally reinforced with box-sectio n ribbin g, welded to mag alloy steerinq-heed and swingarm-pivot castin gs, with a tw in-sided extruded alloy swingarm . Non-adju stable 50 mm Marzocchi forks, specially developed for the Aprilia on the basis of the Italian com pany's recent f'o'J{ experience and offering a cushy 175mm of travel. are matched by a SachsBoge rear shock adjustable for spring preload over a 12m m range via the knob on the left of the seat. and featuring 50click rebou nd damping adjustment, but no com pression. The head angle is a rangy 27.9 degrees, together with 125m m of tr ail and a 1560m m wheel base denoting the Caponord 's mu lti-purpose intentions. but with a contained dry weight of 473 Ibs. in spite of the complete bodywork with fixed screen, styled in-house at A prilia by Maurizio Carbonara - himself a dirt -bike rider. This was the subject of extensive wind-tunnel tests to optim ize aerodynamic protection, says Alberti - but with one unexp ect ed result. "We fo und wi th a 1. 70m [5 foot 7 inc h) ri der that by squa tti ng down beh i nd th e screen, to p speed ac tua ll y decreased 1 kp h [.62 mp h) com pared to when he was sitting upright : he declares . "It seems to be related to the increased turbulence this creates - but it was a surprise, I adm it." Though obviously bearing a family resemblance to the four -cam , eight-valve. 60 -degree V-twln engine used in other ly com peti tive pr ic e . Well , terrifying fo r CN m embers of the Aprilia Bicil indric a family, t he 998c c Caponord motor has been extensively revamped to produc e an engine packag e tailored to the unique dem ands of this multi-purpos e model. "We basicall y created the diametric opposite of the RSV Mille by changing just about everything!" says Alberti - not altogether in jest. So the ETVl000 motor. while retaining the 97 x 67 .5 mm dimensions of the RSV fam ily, has a one-point lower 10.4: 1 compression ratio (1 J.4: 1 on the sports models ) via different pistons and a revised combustion cham ber, new camshafts. and an altered design of airbox, but still features dual igni · tions . with two sparkpiugs per cylinder. Th e Sagem EFI is the same sophisticated system as fitted to the RST1000 Future, but obviously comes with completely di fferent mapping replacing the Nippondenso fuel -injectlon used hitherto on the RSV1000 range. This is a m uch more sophisticated engine-management package than the Japanese system , and features differential mapping for the two cylinders. with the crankshaft-position sensor reading every ten degrees of rotation, in tum allowi ng a more precise co ntrol of the engine - and thus reduced emissions and enhanced fue l consumption , as well as a smoother throttle response. As on the Futu re, there's still a single injector per cylinder, but smaller 47mm throttle bodies (51 mm on the RSTI 000), fitted with longer 70mm intake trum pets (50mm) . all to optimize torque and further broaden the sprea d of pow er. Again as on A prilia's sports to urer, there's a bigger, heavier 48 0- watt generator fitted to the end of the crankshaft, which is not only more powerful in terms of current but also adds inert ia to the botto m end of the engine, to increase pickup and add a longer-legged feel to the motor. Th e result is an engine which deliv ers a cl aimed 98 hp at the gearbox at 8250 rpm, but with a very flat torqu e curve peaking at 6250 rpm. when there's a claimed 97 Nm/9 .88 kgm on tap . This is obtained with a specially designed stain less-steel exhaust system whose twin silencers tuc k in tight al ongside the rear subfram e . Un li k e t he com pa r able RSTI 000 Futu ra version of the same engine. this passes current Euro 1 emissions norms without employing a catalyst though one is under development for those countries which stipu late the use of this . Although the Caponord's six-speed transmission is the same as fitted to all the longer-stroke Aprilia V-twin models . the clutch uses softer springs and an altered plate design in order to obtain a softer , more progressive clutch action , says Al berti. Still retained is April ia's patented PPC pneumatic slipper clutch featured on all the Italian company 's V-t wins (as well as the equally ubiquituous AVDC dual balan ce shafts to smoo th out vibration) . but overall gearing is considerably lower than any other Aprilia V-tw ln model , at 17/ 45 compared to even the next lowest Future's 16/43. The Capon ord is a bike developed without com prom ise to meet the specific design targets Alberti set for his R&D team . Custom ers of the 4000 examples being buil t fo r the 2001 model yea r will determine if they succeeded . co U CO I e n e _ os • JUNE 1 3 ,20 01 15