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Driving report Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS

The new travel enduro from Aprilia

With the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS, the Italians want to secure a share of the steadily growing segment of travel enduro bikes. Is the hope justified? A first test.

Welcome to the future: especially for them AT.Aprilia has developed software for the iPhone prilia Caponord 1200 ABS, which transmits interesting data such as speed, average consumption or inclination via Bluetooth. At the end of the stage, the driver can see and save all data in an overview on the mobile phone display. At the meeting point, you could theoretically compare the driving data of the last lap while drinking alcohol-free pils. And if someone falls, excuses like "gravel" no longer count. Incorrectly braked, excessive lean angle, accelerated too early with traction control switched off: everything reproducible. Beautiful new world.

Driving report Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS

The new travel enduro from Aprilia

The driver is also an electric rider

Welcome to it. And welcome to Sardinia, the island where the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS is presented. The first plan is 160 winding kilometers through the Sardinian hinterland. The technicians explain their latest creation in advance. The question quickly arises as to whether you have landed in the wrong film or perhaps even at the Cebit computer fair. Because the driver of a new Caponord in the Travel-Pack version is also an electric rider. Almost everything works electrically or electronically: accelerate with the cable? Forget it! Ride by wire. There is an electronic cruise control, a semi-passive chassis that is electronically controlled, traction control, ABS, as well as automatic level control and three selectable driving modes. Just to describe the technical possibilities and finesse of these systems in detail would go beyond the scope of this driving report.

So let’s just sit up and drive off. The streets are partly still damp, the cloud cover is thick and the temperatures are bearable. Before we start, we have to vote. The traction control, which is not linked to ABS or other systems, is set to the most sensitive level three (recommended when it rains). Level one is reserved for athletic use, level two should be the ideal setting in dry everyday life. Just set the running gear of the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS to “one person without luggage”, and off you go. Hiring sounds a bit excessive for this job. It’s just two keystrokes.

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Potent, bassy, ​​hearty

It sounds robust, the 1200. Potent, bassy, ​​hearty. He is already in the mood. And especially when driving. The water-cooled 90-degree V2 is based on the drive already known from the Dorsoduro. It has been domesticated for use in the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS: Throttle valves with a smaller diameter and two instead of one injection nozzle should help the drive achieve more torque in lower and medium speeds and save fuel. The Dorsoduro was known as a drunkard. Ten liters per 100 kilometers were not uncommon. At 840 millimeters, the seat height is comparatively low and the ergonomics are great for average Europeans. In the first few meters, the Italian demands a lot of emphasis when turning. The Dunlop Qualifier II, which is not exactly known as a handling hero, has to get up to operating temperature first. But even then, the fully fueled 247 kilograms (factory specification) heavy travel pack version does not mutate into a ballerina. The Caponord runs precisely, but by far not as light-footed as the new BMW GS 1200, in whose territory the Italians want to poach their travel enduro.

It goes up into the mountains where dry roads await. Level three of the traction control (ATC) works perfectly even under difficult conditions with constantly changing surfaces. The Conti-ABS also works well, the brakes are strong but not biting. However, when you know how easy it can be to operate the clutch (KTM Adventure 1190), you wonder why it has to be so extremely difficult here on the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS.

Aprilia

Slope-friendly: The Caponord also likes it sporty.

Dry roads. Now you can continue driving with ATC in stage two. Bend in, bend, pull in the gas. Sardinia’s hinterland is one roller coaster that will chisel a smile on your face. The engine is fun. However, driving at low revs is not its forte: the case rumbles and jolts below 2500 rpm. The guttural sound from the airbox, on the other hand, is awesome. It thunders, it thunders, it knocks greedily. The soul of this V2 comes closest to the Suzuki TL 1000 drives. He pushes almost evenly and easily controllable over the entire speed range. In touring mode, the heart of the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS gently implements gas commands and still has its full power with 125 hp. To be on the safe side, this can optionally be reduced to 100 hp for driving in the rain using the rain fashion. Whereas driving in sport mode is only recommended for the racetrack or for gross motor skills. Here, the engine hangs much harder and more spontaneously on the gas, which generates stronger load change behavior. So: ATC two, touring mode, one person without luggage – everything chosen correctly, let’s go.

And on third-order country roads. On which the semi-active chassis of the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS with its Sachs suspension elements has to show what it can do. A computer, which is fed with data such as the compression speed of the fork and shock absorber, as well as braking activity and gas commands, calculates the appropriate suspension damping in milliseconds. If you brake hard at the front, the deep immersion of the fork is reduced by closing the damping. In contrast to Ducati, for example, the movement data in the spring elements is not recorded by acceleration sensors. At Aprilia, a pressure sensor works in the fork, while the spring deflection is recorded in degrees by a linear potentiometer. To put it in a nutshell: The advantages of the complex electronics are not quite apparent compared to a good conventional chassis without electronics, and little of it can be felt when driving. The automatic level control in Auto-Set mode, on the other hand, works extremely well. While with the systems from BMW or Ducati you select the setting at the push of a button before setting off, the ADD (Aprilia Dynamic Damping) recognizes the load status in auto-set mode even while driving and adapts the shock absorber base as well as the damping at. The system always keeps the machine at an optimal, balanced suspension level.

How do you imagine that? So simple that the rest of the setting options are actually completely superfluous. As in the automatic setting of a digital camera, you can’t go wrong here either.

Simply put your luggage roll and your girlfriend on the back, and the suspension will be adjusted automatically. If you lose one or the other en route, the chassis of the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS also adapts to the changed load condition. The system reacts so sensitively, even the fill level of the 24-liter tank is taken into account. OK then. Because if you believe the consumption display in the iPhone, the V2 still approves 7.3 liters per 100 kilometers when driving quickly.

However, the advantages of the semi-active chassis are reserved for the Travel Pack version, for which Aprilia charges 16 190 euros in Germany. The basic version of the Aprilia Caponord 1200 ABS, without the electronic chassis, main stand, case system and cruise control, only has ABS and traction control and costs 13,790 euros. 450 machines are available for Germany, which the importer intends to sell this year. Let’s hope it works.

Technical specifications

Aprilia

Semi-active chassis: within milliseconds, the fork damping is adjusted to different driving conditions.

engine
Water-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 90-degree V-engine, two overhead, chain-driven camshafts, four valves per cylinder, bucket tappets, wet sump lubrication, injection, Ø 52 mm, regulated catalytic converter, 690 W alternator, 12 V battery, hydraulically operated multi-disc Oil bath clutch, six-speed gearbox, chain.
Bore x stroke 106.0 x 67.8 mm
Cubic capacity 1197 cm³
Compression ratio 12.0: 1
rated capacity 92.0 kW (125 PS) at 8000 rpm
Max. Torque 115 Nm at 6800 rpm

landing gear
Steel tubular frame, upside-down fork, Ø 43 mm, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping (Travel Pack: mechanically adjustable spring base, electronically adjustable rebound and compression damping), two-arm swing arm made of aluminum, spring strut, directly hinged, adjustable spring base and rebound damping (Travel Pack: electronically adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping), double disc brake at the front, Ø 320 mm, four-piston fixed calipers, disc brake at the rear, Ø 240 mm , single-piston floating caliper, ABS, traction control.
Cast aluminum wheels 3.50 x 17; 6.00 x 17
Tires 120/70 ZR 17; 180/55 ZR 17

Dimensions + weights
Wheelbase 1555 mm, steering head angle 66.0 degrees, caster 125 mm, spring travel f / h 167/150 mm, seat height 840 mm, ready-to-drive weight 251 (Travel Pack: 265) kg, tank capacity / reserve 24.0 / 5.0 liters.

Two year guarantee
Service intervals every 10000 km
Colors red, silver, white
price 13,790 euros (Travel Pack: 16,190 euros)

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