Last week I spent some time making sure Persephone (my 16 Aprilia Capo Rally) could handle some rough stuff! Turns out, she did fine! Mostly washboard gravel roads, but I did get into some almost 4WD tracks. Not super difficult, but a lot more rough than gravel roads. Anyway, had one issue. When I got back to base camp, noticed that my brake lights were on. UH OH! I started going through the system, starting with the rear brake, thinking gravel or damage would be most likely. Got to the front brake and found that the switch had fallen out of its mount (see picture #1) Easy fix, blew out the dust, popped it back in (see picture #2) When I got home, I popped it out, cleaned everything up, and re-installed with a very small dab of silicone glue. I figure it will just be enough to hold in place, but not permanently affix in case of failure at a later date.
Persephone? Fan of the Beachcombers? Haven't had this problem mate, and I've had the Capo in places that it really shouldn't be....
Persephone was the daughter of Demiter who went down to Hades and ate a pomegranate and ended up marrying the boss.
Beachcombers? Had to look that one up! I was surprised I did not find any issues with this on Aprilia or MG forums (I would think this would be a common part). The mounting seems to be not as firm as one would think. Could be the posts on my switch are too compressed and don't engage well, not sure. Just thought I would put it out there, I had a few minutes of panic! First thought was that my splices to put an accessory brake light on were the culprit, funny how the brain always looks to blame itself first!
Yup! Homer describes her as the formidable, venerable majestic princess of the underworld, who carries into effect the curses of men upon the souls of the dead. Persephone was married to Hades, the god-king of the underworld. The myth of her abduction represents her function as the personification of vegetation, which shoots forth in spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest; hence, she is also associated with spring as well as the fertility of vegetation. Seemed a fitting name for my wonderfully quirky green machine! Also fits with the re-birth of my personal motorcycling life, after selling my Harley to try to save the marriage, subsequent devastating divorce, blah blah blah. Went WAY off the HD reservation with the Aprilia!
I'll have to check out my switch, see how firm the mounting is. Auxiliary brake lights? More info please. As for Persephone, I assumed that not everybody has read the Iliad. I named one of my yachts Persephone and everyone naturally thought of the Beachcombers, I got tired of correcting them and appearing to be a smartarse. :) Then there was the people who looked at the name and said "Percy Phone?"
Tell me more about the gravel and dirt capability of the Capo; I have been eyeing a '16 Rally at a local dealer. I'm a bit intimidated with the thought of being behind a big fairing and fuel tank going down a muddy track.
Funny you should ask that, went up some single track last weekend after a bit of rain and of course what goes up must come down, got deflected off a rock and ended up in a rut with a very muddy bottom going down a steep hill with a closed gate at the bottom. Hadn't turned off abs so immideately accelerated with zero braking power, inevitable flapping legs and front wheel turned and sliding. Had enough sense to get off the brakes and get up on the pegs, straightened up and got my shit back together. Crappy worn tires didn't help, but the bike did work well enough to get me into the place I was and back out with only that sad lack of skill on my behalf as a negative. Yes it's heavy, and large, low clearance and high gearing but it will do as advertised and take you off the tar.