Adventure Bikes 2013 | Tests

[talreli]

Forth place ahh ! :-[ Doesn't reliability and price point count these days..... ::022::

Adventure Bikes 2013 | Tests | Motorcyclenews.com

 

[Duconce]

Not to mention the fastest and best handling came in second

 

[BaldKnob]

Nothing but the latest and greatest for these guys will do. They don't "live" with these machines for any significant length of time so all the electrical doodads, buttons and HP make the honeymoon last until they have to give the machine back. Cycle World seems to like the S10 and gives high praise for what it is and what the machine is capable of.

 

[autoteach]

I did notice that about CW. Made me feel like there are some intelligent magazine writers out there.

 

[tomatocity]

Just My Opinion...
I know nothing about the KTM Adventure 1190 but it looks and sounds good. Excluding the price I would have to agree with the review. I justify this with proposing riding the four fully OEM loaded bikes off the showroom floor and and taking a mixed media day and night riding 20,000 mile trip. The riders would be 190 lbs, 6', and 32" inseam. I think the only things the Super Tenere would win at would be price and dependability (maybe). The GS and KTM are all new and the Explorer is renew so the dependability guess would be based on past history. The Yamaha is killing them on price (USA) but is missing many of the electronics of the other three Adventure bikes. That is a big part of the price difference. Other than the KTM, I have sat on the other three bikes and the GS and Explorer are much more comfortable. Considering ergonomics and vibration the stock Tenere would have me hurting by the end of the first day. Don't know about the KTM but the GS and Explorer are way ahead Super Tenere in lighting and suspension. Horsepower: 100, 126, 135, 150 (crank). The KTM does have a chain 8( All of the other three bikes have to be at least $4,000 more than the Super Tenere. I won't be selling my Super Tenere anytime soon but Yamaha needs to rethink 2014 to stay competitive.

The one thing I took offense to was the comment about posh dealerships with referring to that Yamaha does not have posh dealerships. I can't remember riding my Super Tenere in the dealership or seeing others riding in their dealerships.

 

[coastie]

Re: Adventure Bikes 2013 | Tests

I love my tenere, but I think the review was spot on. These are toys and HP, and wizbang gadgets are going to win out every time.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Rasher]

UK Pricing kills Tenere dead, reviews are often biased by price, rather than the bike itself and leaving the punter to decide if it is worth it, which would be more sensible as often punters find deals.

I got almost 25% of my S10 because it was a few months old with 149 miles on the clock, and at one point Yamaha sold a load with 20% off list, at which point they are great value.

I would also say the electronics are good on the Yamaha, OK no electronic suspension or cruise control, but not all the others have both these options, and when they do the price goes even higher.

The suspension is not "Better" just because it is adjusted electronically, it is the same "built as cheap as possible rubbish" that goes on most production bikes, and possibly built to an even lower spec to try and peg the price down. I hated the old GS models electronic suspension, sure it had 3 settings:-

* Comfort (Bouncy and Wallowy Mush)
* Normal (Still a bit Wallowy, yet slightly harsh at the same time)
* Sport (Wallow now gone, but very harsh)

I fitted Wilburs to my bike and it was far better, probably rode bumps as well as the BMW electro rubbish did on the "comfort" setting, whilst providing handling that exceeded that of the Electronic suspensions "Sport". It was also far better two-up where the Electro offering obviously did not have the range of adjustment required.

The points about testers not looking much past BHP and raw performance is true, and the Yamaha probably does come last when your just flogging the crap out of the bike in a way no normal owner would do very often, or sustain for very long, so on 1% of your saddle time the bike is the worst, but in a lot of normal use scenario's it scores much better, maybe not being the best at anything, but overall being pretty damn good.

Although having said all that I will follow MCN's recomendations and ask if I can ride the new GS around my local dealers showroom at the weekend Maybe go on a long tour from the sales desk to the coffee area, which involves negotiating part of the car sales floor - quite an adventure.

 

[illustratedman]

Would'nt take much notice of what MCN says about anything, they are a bit of a joke here in the uk. Their report results tend to be based around who's paid for the most advertising in their paper that week. The s10 tends to get marked down in the uk due to it costing roughly the same as the bmw, yamaha's pricing in the uk is way to high across it's whole range of bikes. I know which bike i'd rather be on doing a trip to remote areas with little infrastructure where reliability is paramount and not having to rely on electronics to get me where i want to be, these writers dont seem to get it, what is wrong with a 'basic' bike. The offroad location where they test the bikes is BMW's off road school run by simon pavey who's business relies on BMW. As for adventure testing, you'd struggle to get more than 50 miles from a major city in the uk and 20 from a large town with virtually nowhere you could go offroad. The mentality of these tests is based on road performance essentialy, it wasnt long ago MCN were testing these sort of bikes on a track...
Bear in mind texas is 1/3 larger than the entire uk and we have a population of 62.5 million people, you try and have an 'adventure' here :

 

[Poohbear]

Would'nt take much notice of what MCN says about anything, they are a bit of a joke here in the uk. Their report results tend to be based around who's paid for the most advertising in their paper that week. The s10 tends to get marked down in the uk due to it costing roughly the same as the bmw, yamaha's pricing in the uk is way to high across it's whole range of bikes. I know which bike i'd rather be on doing a trip to remote areas with little infrastructure where reliability is paramount and not having to rely on electronics to get me where i want to be, these writers dont seem to get it, what is wrong with a 'basic' bike. The offroad location where they test the bikes is BMW's off road school run by simon pavey who's business relies on BMW. As for adventure testing, you'd struggle to get more than 50 miles from a major city in the uk and 20 from a large town with virtually nowhere you could go offroad. The mentality of these tests is based on road performance essentialy, it wasnt long ago MCN were testing these sort of bikes on a track...
Bear in mind texas is 1/3 larger than the entire uk and we have a population of 62.5 million people, you try and have an 'adventure' here :

+1

It's not even worth discussing the content of any report (or anything at all really) in MCN because nobody in the UK has any respect for it at all. No self-respecting biker would hand over the money for it. As my fellow countryman says the MCN reports are all based on which company has paid them most for advertising. They're not even subtle about it, you will often find that BMW comes out top in a test (which they pretty much do in every test) the same week as BMW have the front page and a double page spread. Well what a surprise!

 

[offcamber]

The only test I rely on comes from the seat of my pants..

 

[greg the pole]

for all you UK guys. I agree with you about MCN. they are def. biased, and after the road portion of the bikes ability. The last generation bmw traction control was crap (s1000rr, and the GS were known to cut the power very abruptly, apparently the new race version s1000rr is much better, but only $25 CDN here).

I subscribe to Bike UK, and on their last mag installment, they had a long review of the GS. all went well, except the little 4 paragraph blurb ( and two small pictures) of the GS breaking off the steering stop off the frame, after it went into a violent shake. Apparently two other journos had the same thing happen. They concluded that if this head shake issue is resloved, it will be a 5 out 5 bike. ??? ???

really if I was in the market for another bike....I may consider the triumph (I don't have any previous triumph ownership experience though), but the rest of them. KTM is chain driven, and probably maint. intensive. Bmw still has questionable reliablity, and a safety aspect that I would question. the yamaha does have it's problems (spokes, touchy throttle on some) but these are things that any of these bikes may suffer once an owner starts using the bike on a reg. basis.

Keep in mind that Yamaha came out in 2010. three years in the bike industry (sport bike anyways) is a long time. In a year or two the ST may get redesigned, and it will be the most advance whizbang of a bike, with reliable bits to go with it, and hopefully a better european price. (No complaints in NA. Still about $10 grand cheaper than a GS!)

wait and see, maybe the new three cylinder will go in, might have to trade up.

 

[markjenn]

(No complaints in NA. Still about $10 grand cheaper than a GS!)

Sorry to be the price police again, but the US list price difference between comparably-equipped S10 and the new LC GS is about $3.5K in favor of the Yamaha, not $10K.

- Mark

 

[snakebitten]

I said to myself I wasn't gonna reply. But I just can't sit quiet.

I have a KTM. They are seriously capable machines. And "FUN" is their first name.

If you aren't living with it, maintaining it, and making the compromises you are required to make with it, short term impression is heavily in its favor. It's the bike you want your brother to buy and let you ride it!

The Beemer, as I have stated ad nausea, SHOULD be the best bike in the world in this genre. I wish it was. I'd own it.

The Triumph just isn't the same mission statement for me. Stay on Tarmac, and it might be my favorite. But that's way too big of a requirement for what I use this class of bike for.

Nope, even 3 years behind on development, the current Tenere has the other 3 covered for my tastes. Too much 2-up fully loaded riding for me too ignore the Teneres advantages there. Too much pounding rocks AFTER getting to those rocks covering a fair distance across Texas. Yea, if I could push a button and turn the Tenere into the KTM, and then back to the Tenere to get home.........but you can't.

Fix the dang Beemer! It's the one who could make me swap.

But for this very moment, I would go right into my Yamaha dealer and buy the 2013 Tenere. Throw some K60's (or Karoo 3's) on it, swap the bars for Flex bars on 2" Roxy's, bash-proof it, and away we go. Totally confident I will get there, have a blast there, and get back. Adding another lifetime memory that nobody can take away.

Fix the Beemer!

 

[greg the pole]

Sorry to be the price police again, but the US list price difference between comparably-equipped S10 and the new LC GS is about $3.5K in favor of the Yamaha, not $10K.

- Mark

sorry Mark.
US vs CDN price. A Comarable GS in CDN money is $22-23. Granted a ST in canada is $17.5. Luckily Canadians can import their bikes in. Mine was $13.5 all in, imported from the states. hence the $10 K thank you very much.

 

[markjenn]

sorry Mark.
US vs CDN price. A Comarable GS in CDN money is $22-23. Granted a ST in canada is $17.5. Luckily Canadians can import their bikes in. Mine was $13.5 all in, imported from the states. hence the $10 K thank you very much.

You're cherry-picking an unusual situation and making an apples-to-oranges comparison to boot. And if you can import a S10, then you can do the same with a GS.

The fact remains that based on list prices, a GS costs about $3.5K more than a comparable S10 in the US and the Canadian pricing delta is similar (both cost more, of course). Sorry, but your $10K figure is completely bogus.

- Mark

 

[limey]

sorry Mark.
US vs CDN price. A Comarable GS in CDN money is $22-23. Granted a ST in canada is $17.5. Luckily Canadians can import their bikes in. Mine was $13.5 all in, imported from the states. hence the $10 K thank you very much.

Sorry wrong again the list price in Canada is $16,499. I paid $15,500. And the three year warranty. And supporting the local economy.

 

[tc9988]

sorry Mark.
US vs CDN price. A Comarable GS in CDN money is $22-23. Granted a ST in canada is $17.5. Luckily Canadians can import their bikes in. Mine was $13.5 all in, imported from the states. hence the $10 K thank you very much.

that is the price you paid the US dealer? Where did you buy it?

 

[Dragon997]

Sorry wrong again the list price in Canada is $16,499. I paid $15,500. And the three year warranty. And supporting the local economy.

+1

 

[greg the pole]

You're cherry-picking an unusual situation and making an apples-to-oranges comparison to boot. And if you can import a S10, then you can do the same with a GS.

The fact remains that based on list prices, a GS costs about $3.5K more than a comparable S10 in the US and the Canadian pricing delta is similar (both cost more, of course). Sorry, but your $10K figure is completely bogus.

- Mark

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. But for me the GS bought in the states was not an option, due to warranty claims etc.
So the tenere it was. Realistcally if you want to get picky, the difference for me from GS to ST was 4 grand.

 

[greg the pole]

Sorry wrong again the list price in Canada is $16,499. I paid $15,500. And the three year warranty. And supporting the local economy.

Good for you. If you read my post, I listed OTD price ($16500 plus freight, plus GST, which works out to $17500).
When I was talking to my dealer in late 2010, that's the price he told me, no more no less, and $1000 deposit for early delivery.
A day trip to montana saved me $4000. I don't know about you, but i'm supporting my wallet. The more money I keep the better off I am.

I support people that give me good service, and a good price. If I can't find it locally I go somewhere else.