Caponord Initial Maintenance

When I bought my Caponord, I knew that I would have some work cut out for me if I wanted to eliminate some common and well documented issues with the electrical and fuel systems. I've done tons of reading at the AF1Racing forums and armed myself with the necessary parts and information before I began.

The Caponord (and Futura) was built using crimped electrical connections that can develop corrosion inside of them. The corrosion increases resistance, and resistance causes heat. In this case, the connections can get hot enough to melt the connectors or even start a fire.

Here are some pictures shared by other Caponord owners, of what I'm working to avoid...

This Caponord was extensively worked on by its owner in Europe, however he had not yet gotten to one of the connectors, and the result was a disaster.

After disassembling all of the bodywork on my bike, I got to work. There is a connector under the fuel tank that was very difficult to get to, but it's the one that cause the bike above to burn up so it was worth the effort. I decided to eliminate this connection and simply solder the wires together with heat shrink over them. They should never give me a problem, and if I ever need to replace the stator, I'll just cut and re-solder these wires.

Near the rectifier there are two connectors that are also known to be problems. For the time being I elected to keep these connectors in place so that I can easily replace the rectifier when I find a good deal on a MOSFET rectifier from a 2007 or newer CBR1000RR. So, I took these connectors apart, pulled each terminal and wire out, and soldered each of them. They were then re-installed in the connectors, and loaded up with dielectric grease to keep water out.

With the common electrical issues addressed I moved on to the fuel injection system. The Caponord was built using plastic quick fuel connectors between the fuel pump and the throttle bodies. These plastic connectors become brittle when exposed to ethanol and they break very easily. AF1Racing sells replacement metal connectors so I went about installing a set. I cut out the plastic connectors, and installed the metal connectors using metal fuel injection hose clamps from Napa.

After installing a new battery, I powered up the bike, let the fuel pump pressurize the system, and ensured there were no leaks. I started the bike and triple checked that all connectors remained dry and I couldn't smell any fuel. Once confident that everything was good, I spent a couple of hours carefully replacing the body panels and hardware, making sure I don't scratch the pristine paint on any of the parts.

I took this opportunity to change the oil and filter and flush the clutch and brake fluids with new Bel Ray DOT 4. There were no surprises and it feels good to have the vital fluids replaced. I'll replace the coolant soon as well.

A voltage check was next to make sure that my electrical system was running well. My readings were:

• Ignition off: 13.44 volts
• Idle: 13.97 volts
• 4000 RPM: 13.33 volts

From what I've gathered, these are normal reading for a Caponord. Those that have fitted the MOSFET rectifier get slightly higher are more stable readings, but more importantly they have a rectifier that runs barely warm while I have a rectifier that would burn your skin if you held onto it long enough.

I test ride around the block showed the bike to be running great - just as it had been before I tore into it. But now I feel confident that most of the known problems have been addressed before I even start riding it.

Next up will be a center stand and a new set of Metzler Tourance tires to replace the good looking, but 9 year old original tires on the bike..