After 2 Triumph Tigers and a R1200GSAdventure, here comes the Super Ténéré

[Frenchfries]

Guys, I realized I didn't introduced myself (at least at the right place) .
I just got on Nov 15 2013 a magnificent White 2013 Super Ténéré. This bike is pushing out the '09 R1200GS Adventure I was riding for 33,000miles. Prior to that I had a 955i Tiger and a 885 Tiger Triumph. I have been riding for nearly 40 years in Europe and the USA.
In order to make everybody jealous, I paid $14,172 OTD. And I didn't have to sleep with the sales guy... (Yes, at Fun Bike Center, San Diego)
I live in San Diego, and I managed to put over 1200 miles in 4 weeks on the S10. I have to say that the bike is really great. The front-end is not as great as the BMW's telelever, but otherwise this bike is better in any aspect than the BMW. The engine is really a pleasure to use. The T mode is giving a personality very similar to the GSA, but the S mode is really powerful. I even thought too brutal in very twisty roads. I have my doubts regarding the need to reflash the ECU.
I have seen many post of new owners from South California lately. Probably some gathering would be a great idea...

BTW, where to get a Gen2 reflash in San Diego? I read a less than happy post about a shop here. What are the alternative?

This forum is the first one I felt keen to join and to post. ::012::
Phil

 

[GrahamD]

Congrats,

Two nice Big Piggies. ::008::

::003::
Graham from Oz

 

[hANNAbONE]

...we've been waiting...

 

[greg the pole]

welcome.

Talk to Nick at stoltech about some new front springs for your weight.
A good quality 10W oil, and the front end is sorted.

 

[terrysig]

interesting that you would own both? Are your plans to keep them both?

welcome to the forum and looking forward to hearing if your comparisons.

 

[clint64]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new bike.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Welcome to the nut house This forum is full of info, if you have any questions just let us know. Have a great time on your new scooter!!!

 

[rotortech71]

Ship your ECU to AF1 Racing in Texas for the flash. In most people's opinions here, it's the best way to go, by far.

 

[tubebender]

Hi from Oceanside.


Maybe a New Years day ride is in order.

 

[Frenchfries]

interesting that you would own both? Are your plans to keep them both?

welcome to the forum and looking forward to hearing if your comparisons.

Thank you for all the welcome messages.
I am not planning to keep both bikes, although both are fully paid off, and my wife asked me if I wanted to.
The one thing I really miss with the R1200GSA Adventure is the 8.7 Gallon gas tank. It is so cool not to worry about refueling before 340 miles. You have no idea how your pals get closer to you when we haven't seen a gas station for 200 miles, and we are in the middle of nowhere ::013::

This being said, my GS has started to make a noise while idling. I didn't like that. I went to the dealership to get it fixed. A bearing inside the transmission had lost its flange, damaging the transmission and forcing to the replacement of the clutch assembly: $2,700 !!!!
I realized that the apparent robustness and mechanical simplicity of the BMW design was just a plain lie. To give you an idea: to do an oil change, the skid plate has to be removed. It takes 4 (four) different tools to remove 4 nuts! To change the clutch, you need to part the bike in half, and have a bunch of specific tools, hence the $2,000 bill. Enough!

Frankly, the Super Ténéré did not appeal too much to me at first. The reviews were less than ecstatic, and the BMW always had the upper hand in comparos. Bad engine, too heavy,...
But I went browsing the internet and found forums like this one. And the feedback from the real users was way different. And NO HORROR story, except one guy in South Africa with bad vibrations.
I took my check book, and got a S10 without even test riding it. So glad I did it! The engine qualified by the press as tame and without personality has a lot of low end torque. Where the BMW starts only to be vaguely alive, around 4,000 RPM, the S10 has given you a big push since 2,500 RPM, and its able to start without complaint from idle. The 270 degree crankshaft is responsible to give this feeling that I would describe as Ducati-like or like a (very) big single. I wonder if the journalists had a bike similar to mine. Maybe the 2013 US model is different from the machine they tested. I don't know.
I also checked the blueprint of the S10 engine: NO CHAIN inside, except the timing chain, which is on the side, easy to replace. Frankly, what a neat design!
I think the biggest issue with this bike, is the lack of marketing muscle from Yamaha on this very model. Maybe are they too shy to fight directly with BMW? We should see more Yamaha on the remote roads around the world, but the BMW myth is die-hard.

The fact that I did 1200 miles on it in a month during winter time (not very relevant in SoCal) speaks volume, as I have many other means of transportation (Toyota Tundra, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Versa, Mercedes GL450, R1200GS,and a DRZ400S). And the S10 brings a big smile on my face every time.
Phil

 

[barkingllizard]

congrats, with a simple hello, Frenchfries.....

 

[RED CAT]

Don't forget. Your tank is only as big as the smallest tank in the group. ::001::

 

[snakebitten]

Welcome to the dark side. (according to the press and many GS'rs)

Glad to hear you like it so much already. I assure you that it is a much much better machine after you put 4-6000 miles on it. And it's understandable to think you don't need or desire the flash. I thought the same. For 22,000 miles. Then circumstances were I could get it flashed in less than 30 minutes. Hardly any effort required. So I did it.

You couldn't get me to ever own an un-flashed Tenere again.

And finally, as previously mentioned.......the OEM front end is nowhere near it's potential. At the very least, take that silly dual rate spring out of it. Put the appropriate single rate in and you might change your opinion of the comparison on the telalever.

Go one step further and have the valving's addressed, and I would be willing to guarantee the result.

Anyways, nothing new to be said. This forum has addressed all things Tenere.

Except catastrophic failure.
It's unheard of. Which is amazing. Some of these folks try to break them.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Welcome from metro Seattle Phil. Tons of great information here and no shortage of ways to spend your hard earned $$$!

Enjoy the new ride, you won't be disappointed.

--G

 

[GrahamD]

Congrats,

Two nice Big Piggies. ::008::

::003::
Graham from Oz

OK I take that back. One nice piggy and one bad piggy. ;D

The engine qualified by the press as tame and without personality has a lot of low end torque. Where the BMW starts only to be vaguely alive, around 4,000 RPM, the S10 has given you a big push since 2,500 RPM, and its able to start without complaint from idle. The 270 degree crankshaft is responsible to give this feeling that I would describe as Ducati-like or like a (very) big single. I wonder if the journalists had a bike similar to mine.

Frankly wouldn't make any difference.

YAMAHA made a giant dirt bike, Most of the testers just ride them on the road. What gets points is generally...

Has it got more sports bike characteristics than the next one and how much "stuff" comes with it.

So something that is basically a GIANT dirt bike is already behind the eight ball.

It is not designed to win anything either, apart from reliability contests.

Oh and I don't know what the hell is up at BMW, but I spent 5 years waiting for the company to lift its game regards QA and manufacturing Quality. They're getting worse. They were a bit better than Harley a few years ago, Now the traditional butt of jokes has lost it's crown to BMW.

A few in the press have tried to bring this point up subtly but for some reason this is seen as bad form and bias, so they just usually say good things and pop out the occasional statistic in the news section.

Any way I hope yours is one of the 95% of YAMAHA products with no issues.

Looks like you got one of the 30% of BMW's with problems.

 

[squarebore]

Pity you got a white one as I heard they made them a little slower. Btw, the blue ones are fastest. Welcome

 

[snakebitten]

Graham,
You often make way too much sense.