I tested the Capo twice before I decided. 1. back roads and fun stuff and to me it is a sports bike for those of us who can't get on a real sports bike. Test 2 was traffic and dual carriageway, can it do the boring stuff. The answer was yes, but 'rain' mode made filtering less jerky.
Picked it up yesterday so biased having made the decision and new bike glow. Service intervals every 6000 miles, or annually. As I have a second bike I don't think the service intervals will be an issue for me. Costs I have yet to find out but talking to other Aprilia owners they didn't seem to think cost as an issue.
I looked at the Explorer and it is a great bike. I got my Capo for £10k, brand new, in standard trim, with panniers, main stand, and top box. The Explorer was £2k more + the saddle seemed a little higher. Both my panniers will take a full face helmet but I tink look more streamlined and the colour coding is better.
The capo is a pure road bike, but I have no intentions of going off road. I had a GSbefore and just never got on with it. The capo has more character and just feels more alive. It will have faults; there are no cubby holes, it is chain drive rather than shaft, not sure how comfortable the seat is going to be on long distance, but those aside the Capo suited what I wanted and the price was fantastic.
Hope the test goes well.
