2014 Super Tenere 1200 ES - the "Dark Night" journey begins (owned)

Just got back from chatting with Bob Light at Checkpoint Yamaha & test riding a 2015 Super Tenere .  They just bought two 2014s at special pricing $13,999 Canadian…the trade off was giving up the 2^nd year oem warranty that now comes with the 2015 models.  In 2014 Yamaha did a number of useful updates:

http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/2014-super-tenere-gets-major-updates-but-is-it-enough/

I want my next bike to be an all-road tourer with good wind management, long distance comfort & fuel range, lighter than my current 2009 BMW K1300GT but with some of the amenities the BMW has like shaft drive, cruise control, electronic suspension, adjustable seat, tire pressure monitoring, on board multi-function display, heated grips & seats, easy windscreen height adjustment & luggage.

The price on the 2014 at Checkpoint is very good, but sans luggage or other accessories, which makes selling my 6 yr old bike for a new one with many similar features & capabilities for almost = dollars an enticing option.  A comparably equipped BMW R1200GS or Adventure starts in the low $20s, the KTM & Ducati slightly lower pricing but chain drive, the Guzzi Stelvio is too heavy, the V-Strom 1000 too fugly with poor wind management…want to like the Aprilia Capanord & new Rally, quite certain it has the motor character I want with very broad power & sweet sounding exhaust but again chain drive & no one will let you test ride it.  

So after reviewing all offerings from the last few years matched up to my wish list the candidates are limited regardless of price with many requiring a compromise somewhere.  The Super Tenere, while not an adrenalin inducing bike to ride, is a remarkably capable, well balanced & a comfortable bike with a good power band & more than enough speed to satisfy…while the motor is superlative for a parallel twin (very little vibration, good low down torque with broad power band) & thanks to the 2014 engine tweaks even has a pleasant enough, but oem subdued guttural aura to the exhaust now…the 270 & 540 degree firing order does its best to emulate a v-twin…..Bob says it sounds pretty good with an aftermarket pipe…it’s much the same as what BMW did with the <2010 vs >2010 boxer motor….it’s not a Ducati or KTM v-twin or waterboxeer that urges you to twist the throttle though.   It is the Lexus SUV of the group…..a bike that you appreciate for what it doesn’t draw your attention to…it seems to be a bike that coddles you in competence while you rack up mile after mile.  In contrast to the K1300GT that is all about massive controlled power that is most endearing when you let the dogs out, the Yamy feels relaxed more zen like as if wanting to relax your soul not stir it..it reminds me of the Goldwing & I loved racking up the miles on that bike.  It has a very tall 6^th gear….120 kph = 4k rpm & seems very content in the 2k to 3500 rpm range.  

It is a bit of a sleeper because it has comparable on & off road manners as the GS & KTM, just not as much power & not quite as adept at the tight technical stuff because of the added weight…but for fire roads & non technical dirt track it’s as good as it needs to be for the weight class & better than some….on road handling was good, very predictable, leaned over intuitively & held a good line, steering was linear & quicker than the V-Strom 1000, not quite as quick as the new BMW or KTM.  This bike has a similar electronic suspension as the K1300GT (not the newer semi-active systems) with 4 preload, 3 damping + 7 fine tuning damping settings in each of the 3 groups.  I rode with “1 rider” preload & “std” damping which provided a very well controlled & plush ride…small & large bump characteristics were very good.  “Soft” damping combined with the long travel suspension (7.5”) was very smooth.  Far less dive than the V-Strom 1000 under hard braking.  Traction control has 3 settings & drive mode 2…providing noticeable differences between std & touring…throttle response & pick up are much faster in std with touring providing a very good compromise that most riders would likely prefer, particularly at slow speeds where bumps can translate to the right hand with the ride by wire throttle.  The cruise control is very accurate.  I have 3 critiques of the digital dash…it’s highly reflective when the sun is over your shoulder rendering it hard to see, the TFT display could use more contrast as I felt my polarized sun glasses diminished readability a little & the most annoying was the gear indicator, which utilizes a sensor not on the shifter & thus lags the actual shift & just shows a dash when the clutch is in making neutral hard to find when at or coming to a stop.

The seat is amongst the most comfortable oem seats I’ve ridden & height adjustable…bar position just about perfect as are the pegs, except that the very large muffler enclosure restricts moving my left foot back so that I’m on the balls of my feet…the plastic front portion could be removed, but Yamaha should have sorted this out better, also the large muffler enclosure just looks too bulky….I like to move my feet around on long rides.  Very good rider triangle when standing…foot brake was perfectly situated & the bars provided an upright natural stance…well done.  The windscreen & wind management was best of breed so far (haven’t ridden the GS Adventure which should trump it, at least for the legs) & adding the oem winglets & a larger screen would provide almost K1300GT coverage…If I was 2” shorter could live with the oem…was able to ride with face shield open at hwy speeds without too much noise.  The windscreen requires 2 hands to adjust which is a bit of a miss considering other bike systems.  Mirrors were good, NO self cancelling turn signals!!!  The oem bags have a fiddly system (plastic moving pieces that don’t provide long term confidence) for removing & mounting the bags….Bob suggested there are other bag options for similar money ($1400).  Oem & other crash bars allow for mounting hwy pegs.

 

After disassembly to get acclimated for potential on-road repair & component access, applying dialectric grease to all connectors, detailing, waxing & set up I rode for about an hour of break in running.  The Checkpoint mechanic suggested the first few rides be < 1 hour (best for the metallurgy), as little steady state as possible & lots of downhill compression run on to set the rings good.  The manual recommends to avoid prolonged >3,900 rpm for the 1^st 1k kms & avoid prolonged >4,700 rpm 1,000 to 1,600 km with the 1^st oil/filter & gear oil at 1k kms….although Bob said most wait until 1,600 km to do the oils. 

Just discovered the front led turn signals are always on as running lights…good stuff.  It is very different to ride than the K13…being much mellower & less top heavy with a real sense of mass centralization with everything between your legs…yet entertaining in a different way.  Where the K13 was mostly about an over abundance of quick revving uber-power, the Yammy is about refined, relaxed big twin power with tremendous low end torque…she’s not quick revving like the waterboxer, but builds very linear, useable, strong enough power.  She chugs without lurch thru corners at idle in the 1^st 3 gears...many times I found myself smoothly starting or rolling on in 2^nd & 3^rd gear. 

My right hand very quickly acclimated to the quicker throttle response of the Sport setting, which leaves the Touring for slicker environments…a good thing.  The seating position is naturally upright & neutral if seated in the 1^st half of the saddle or slightly canted forward if at the back….bars may have to be raised for prolonged standing riding, but seem ok with knees slightly bent.  Knee bend seems comfortable but won’t know until longer rides.  Bars are dirt bike wide, but so far comfortable….making steering input very light & easy…good steering lock, combined with the low speed motor character make u-turns easy peasy….brakes linked front to rear, but not rear to front & are easily modulated & very effective…so all good there.  The low seat position allows me to almost flat foot at stops, haven’t tried the higher position yet.  Not really missing the self-cancelling signals yet because the Yammy selector button is best of breed so far & doesn’t require moving the hand over as on the K13.

Suspension is very compliant yet well damped (“1 rider” preload, “normal” damping) that is fine tuneable + or – 3 settings for each of the soft, normal, hard settings...slightly more dive under heavy braking than the K13 (which has the anti-dive telever geometry) so very well behaved considering it has 2.5” more travel,  nowhere near the dive of  the V-strom had. The whole bike has a very planted, substantial, solid feel…not as quick steering as the waterboxer, but much quicker than the V-Strom…no falling into corners, even at walking pace…well balanced with almost 50/50 weight distribution.