Santa and his sack of Capo goodies

Ho, ho, ho ... dashboard inlay for MrB!!!!!I’ll start off by wishing you all a hearty Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year wherever you are on this wonderful globe of ours. For the Capo and I, it’s proving to be an extra special one this year, with Santa dropping off a few extra goodies for the riding-year ahead.

The dashboard has been especially good, and so merits the star prize of a new OEM quality inlay with all the new graphics in place. So as I write, the old one is on its way to Lockwood International Ltd in the UK to act as a template,  meanwhile the plastic chassis has been Finished inlay templatecleaned and preped ready for the big day. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I’m all on edge – and I’ve got to wait at least three or four more weeks yet before it’s installed!!

Probably the most needed bits are for the (very) overdue service. Yes folks, I’m hanging my head in shame as I admit that the Capo’s mileage overran a tad ……. a couple of thousand tads give-or-take! Now I’m waiting for a few packages to arrive for this truly international service to take place – Hiflo HF564 oil filters and ‘O’ rings from the UK, Hotcams valve shims from the USA, Athena air filters from Germany and 15w50 engine oil from Italy. Cosmopolitan or what!

That just leaves the parcels snuggling together under the tree …… a Shoi Neotec or a pair of socks? Slippers or a slipper clutch? Hmmm ….. roll on tomorrow!! 😉

Agip Tec 4 is dead …… long live eni i-Ride

Agip Tec 4 15w-50 Semi-synthetic oilI know, I know ….. engine oil can be the most controversial of all motorbike subjects. So you’ll at least be pleased to know this post isn’t about what oil to use, rather info on changes within Italy (Agip/eni) regarding the originally specified stuff in the handbook.

eni i-Ride PG 15w/50 Semi-synthetic oilIt seems that the original Agip Tec 4 15w-50 as specified by Aprilia is rapidly disappearing off the shelves as it has apparently been withdrawn from production. Along the way it also seems there has been a re-shuffle/re-brand with regards to Agip and eni themselves.

The bottom line appears to be a new line of ‘i-Ride’ oils offered under the eni brand. The one listed as most compatible for the Caponord is the i-Ride PG 15w-50, PG standing for ‘Piaggio Group’ …… apparently the oils were developed and approved in combination with Piaggio. Click on each pic to open the tech sheet … and you’ll see that both oils are in fact virtually identical. So that’s it, just a bit of info just in case you’re every in Italy and need a drop of oil for your bike ……..