Aprilia Caponord

The company has gone through quite an extraordinary expansion in the last 10 years or so, swallowing up famous rival names such as Moto Guzzi and Laverda, while rapidly changing its image from that of a scooter and small-bore bike maker, to a contender in the premium large motorcycle game.

Much of that image-building has been done on the back of its lively V-twin powerplant and the Caponord is the adventure version of that series - essentially a competitor to machines such as BMW's R1150GS and Suzuki's V-Strom.

Wot's this then?

The focus of the machine is the big liquid-cooled, four-valve, fuel-injected V-twin engine with twin-plug heads. It powers a substantial range of goodies, including nakeds and sports bikes in various states of tune, and has been around for quite some time. We don't have any power figures, but suspect 90-100 horses will be close to mark, in this state of tune.

There's a six-speed gearbox and wet clutch, using chain final drive.

The chassis is based on a twin-spar alloy main frame, with steel subframe. Suspension is by a conventional Marzocchi fork up front and a Sachs monoshock on the rear.

Brakes are two-piston calipers working twin discs on the front (by Brembo), plus a twin-piston caliper on a the rear disc.

In Australia, you get hard panniers as standard equipment.

Seat height is 825mm - about average for this class - fuel capacity is 25 litres and claimed dry weight is 215 kilos. Tyre sizes are 110/80-19 front and 150/70-17 rear.

Wot's it like?

Without question the highlight of the package is the engine, which gives the similarly-powered Suzuki a big run for its money so far as flexibility and pure fun is concerned. If anything, we'd give the Aprilia the edge in this department. Top speed is over the 200 mark - more than ample for this style of bike.

Steering is particularly good - possibly the most accurate in its class. It feels neutral, about medium speed and, in tandem with the well-chosen suspension rates, gives the rider a lot of confidence. That's on tar. It remains a pretty good package on dirt roads, though the road-oriented gearing can struggle in really tricky conditions.

Clutch and gearshift work well - no complaints.

Finish is generally of a high standard, though styling is a matter of taste - let's just say it has that quirky Aprilia angularity.

Perhaps what surprised us most is how strong a contender this machine is - particularly for a first attempt at a very competitive class. In general, we loved it as a ride.

Pricing is $18,799, which places it at the premium end of the dual-sport range, though it does include panniers. Our only concern is that we've seen the repair bills for two crashed Aprilias recently (including a Caponord) and have to say they were breathtaking. Great fun to ride, but don't deck it.