Electrical System. This is the foremost worry I have about this bike. If the sophisticated electronics go bonkers, then I need some serious help. Two or three very small incidents have not helped to make this worry disappear. One day I wanted to start my bike and nothing happened. Played with all the switches on the handlebar for almost ten minutes and then everything was back to normal.  I don't know whether my heavy-duty pressure washing of the day before helped cause this. Three times on the road the EFI warning light has come on.  The first time I stopped, shut off the engine, restarted and away we went with everything back to normal. The second time shutting off the engine did not turn off the light upon restarting.  I had to restart the engine several times before it was back to normal.  The third time the EFI light came on, I just decided to keep on going. After ten minutes or so it turned off by itself again. Even after all this whining I have to say that I LOVE ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION. No more choke, no more hassles. Wow, I will only buy a new bike if it has EFI.

Ground Clearance - I love to push the limits. Especially off-road. Unfortunately the Caponord does not have a whole lot of clearance. The upside is that the exhaust pipe is lowest and usually takes the beating underneath and nothing else gets damaged. But still, an extra 10cm would be perfect.

Exposed oil cooler. -Take this bike off-road in wet conditions and you will soon see the little radiator at the bottom full of crap. I don't know how much this really matters, but it's one more thing to think about.

Exposed oil tank with sight gauge hose. - Too exposed! Don't even want to think about this hitting something in a small crash.

Windscreen. - For tall people like myself (193cm), this thing directs an air stream perfectly at the helmet and creates a whole lot of wind noise. I wear earplugs on any ride longer than 5 minutes and going faster than 80km/m.

Front fender. - I don't think there is enough space between the fender and tire to run knobby tires. I want to run Continental TKC80 tires on this bike for a trip off-road but am afraid what happens in wet conditions. the wheel might block as the dirt packs between fender and tire.

Fuel tank. - Great for normal use but it's really not big enough for some around the world adventures. This bike can use a lot of fuel when you push it.

Handlebar. - This thing flexes too much for my taste. I've been afraid it will let go sometime.

Accessories. - I hope with the US introduction and increasing number of bikes that aftermarket manufacturers start producing all those neat add-ons and performance improvement parts. Let's start with a racing exhaust system.  I hear that Al Jesse is working on the luggage design for the Caponord which is certainly good news. We need some aluminum panniers.

Aprilia accessories. - Wow! Big problem.  I waited 5 weeks for my 50 liter Aprilia topcase and 9 weeks for the topcase mounting plate.  This is clearly unacceptable.  Centerstands, tank bags and other things have caused waits just as long for other people. Very frustrating indeed.

Aprilia parts. - Not a problem for me so far. Service was always done at dealerships and the Brembo brake pads I picked up in Italy when I was there for work.

Aprilia representation. - I give this company all the credit in the world for what they have done. And their dealer network is growing. But if you're heading towards South America or Africa you might want to think twice about taking an Aprilia. I've also found that many Aprilia dealers only sell scooters and small bikes up to 125ccm or 250ccm.  It has happened more than once at an Aprilia dealer that someone asked me whether it was 50 or 125ccm when I mentioned the word Caponord.