kmac
Kelly kmac
I just back from a 78 hour road trip that included about every cool thing in Arizona and some great stuff in Utah. Hikes, views, and tons of wildlife and scenery, but that is another thread.
This is a commentary on the Super Tenere and it manners, performance and handling on a trip than involved about everything other than soft sand.
When I left, I took rolling, winding back country So Cal roads.....fairly high speed and pushing the front end in hard on a pretty laden down bike...handling= check, excellent. It sticks well goes where pointed and requires very little forcing anywhere. Mild input will push it right into submission. I even tried playing with almost NO bar input....just pushing my hips into the seat left and right and the bike would comply willingly. Quite impressive. I knew this going in since I had a couple thousand miles already on it, but this trip was going to be a lot of stuff all back to back.
Next up, fairly straight blowing sand desert roads...stability=check. Moves around some, but felt good overall. I did hit one wild spot that pulled my stomach up into my throat a bit, but I think it would have been worse on any lesser bike. I was on a very fast sweeping uphill right hander. I was at about 80/85 mph as I crested the top of the rise right at mid corner, The road drops suddenly to off camber falling away at the lightest bike weight. Suddenly, the hill to my right abruptly ends and the wind is blowing about 30 mph from my right now pounds the right side of me....so road falling away to my left, wind slamming me and pushing me left and bike light...stayed right in the throttle and laid to the right a bit and she sucked right back on line...stomach went back where it belonged and heart rate resumed normal bpm after a few moments. Stable, YES.
Next up, interstate. Let it be known I am not an interstate mile eater and never have been. I never bonded with my R1100RT because that seemed to be what it liked and it just wasn't me. All of the wind protection and lazy handling bored me to death so the RT went away. I did not expect the S10 to be impressive here but was just hoping for sufficient to get me to my next destination. 150 miles later on I-10 from Chirracco summit, through Blythe and Quartzite and I find myself saying WOW this bike is actually really comfy, smooth, and quite nice on the highway. A bit windier and busy than the RT but that actually kept me from being as bored and helped me keep my speed at more reasonable pace...still above posted, but better.
Long hiway miles= CHECK, surprisingly good.
Now to the scenic but fairly straight north western Az deserts, relaxing, smooth, uncrowded and almost distracting causing the mind to wander. Bike was solid and reassuring with NO worries on reliability leaving me stuck in the middle of no where with no phone reception, and no passersby to offer help, so relaxing, confidence and reassuring reliability= CHECK. Top marks, A+
Next up, road closures and 20 miles of WAY back country abandoned and desolate dirt roads as detours, wrong turns, and some "oh THAT is where I am at" moments. Again, relaxed and easy. The road had fresh snow on the sides and was a bit sloppy in spots so the stock Metzlers were not overly confidence inspiring when the going got slimey but most of it was gravel and there were vehicle track in a lot of it so the gravel provided fair traction without being loose wallowy. In the sections that were greasy mud or thicker loose gravel and steering input was sketchy again, using weighting of the pegs and hip weight on the seat corrected that and the bike was still controllable...albeit different that solid ground it was just a minor adjustment and stay focused no problem. It was sloppy enough that there was 1.5" of mud piled up on the front of my skid plate. VERY nice and actually fun in the end, one more facet of a great adventure ride. Off tar handling on a big heavy beast with full hard boxes, tank bag, and a large dry bag strapped on the back...Check, as good as everywhere else.
Next, another detour again for some kind of mud slide, or wash out. Traffic is parked and there is no feasible way around according to my atlas that is not ridiculous....hmm, I saw a cattle grate and jeep trail back a little bit that looked to in the general direction I needed to skirt the road issue....double back and have a look, definitely NOT a road, but looked passable. More of a rarely used 2 track farm trail or cattle path, off I go with the intent of getting through, or ok with turning around. Woods, stream crossing, soft meadows, 4-5 miles later and I hit a fence and a washout....I can see the road I was on, and I am past the road work, but how do I get back onto it. I park and walk around a bit a see firm spot I think I can pass. If I were on a KTM, no issue, but on the beast I know I need a clear plan and perfect execution or I will be thumbing it...or worse hoping I can get through to 911. I walk through the line twice as it drops off a 2' ridge, into the gully, slight left in some soft stream bed stuff, step up over 2 smallish boulders and onto the shoulder of the road.....breathe, focus....brrrraaapppp. On towards Bryce where I get pictures of the pinnacled peaks with some dashing of snow like a powdered sugar donut. Pics in another thread later. Bikes aggressive off road attack abilities {better if I had some knobs} within reason and planning= CHECK. A-
After a loop back down and through Zion which coincidentally was the last day you can ride up through the scenic drive before they start the mandatory bus rides. I was not planning on a Narrows hike or anything, but I figured when will I ever get to drive up that road again, I am here now, take a putt.
And FINALLY, I ride down through St. George and it is about 2-2:30 pm and I have to decide to explore the area and camp one more night and ride home Tuesday or just 4-500 mile slab it and get home....I call my wife and she says weather is rolling in and it is supposed to be ugly Monday nigh and Tuesday....bee line it home with nothing but gas stops and one quick sandwich, home at 8:30pm.
So bike assessment...I still wish it had more fuel capacity. I never ran out, but I did roll in twice on Trip F mode with the E flashing. My irritation is with the set up....I was 11 miles into Trip F one time and it only took 4.7 gallons to fill it over the top fill hole disc...why was it telling me it was that low and only took 4.7...I do not want lights flashing when I still have that much gas because you start discounting how low you actually are and keep going...then you run out. I feel like the bike actually does not take all 6 gallons or can not use all 6 gallons so that is a false number and something needs to be done.
Other than that, the bike is A++
Spectacular and is still impressing. I will say it was NO fun in the huge winds on I15 on the way home. The storm my wife described was rolling in and the head winds were 30-40 mph constant with swirling gusts....wild ride home but got here fine.
If you already own an S-10....ride it with confidence and start getting out of you comfort zones {if you do not already} and if you are S-10 curious...buy one, ride the piss out of it and use the savings on purchase price to farkle it...I am all stock except my custom boxes, seat adjusting to high front position and low rear, and skid plate and love all of it...no need for windshields, bars, yada yada....you CAN, but not necessary to ride or enjoy.
Tell me what you think... ::021:: ::022::
This is a commentary on the Super Tenere and it manners, performance and handling on a trip than involved about everything other than soft sand.
When I left, I took rolling, winding back country So Cal roads.....fairly high speed and pushing the front end in hard on a pretty laden down bike...handling= check, excellent. It sticks well goes where pointed and requires very little forcing anywhere. Mild input will push it right into submission. I even tried playing with almost NO bar input....just pushing my hips into the seat left and right and the bike would comply willingly. Quite impressive. I knew this going in since I had a couple thousand miles already on it, but this trip was going to be a lot of stuff all back to back.
Next up, fairly straight blowing sand desert roads...stability=check. Moves around some, but felt good overall. I did hit one wild spot that pulled my stomach up into my throat a bit, but I think it would have been worse on any lesser bike. I was on a very fast sweeping uphill right hander. I was at about 80/85 mph as I crested the top of the rise right at mid corner, The road drops suddenly to off camber falling away at the lightest bike weight. Suddenly, the hill to my right abruptly ends and the wind is blowing about 30 mph from my right now pounds the right side of me....so road falling away to my left, wind slamming me and pushing me left and bike light...stayed right in the throttle and laid to the right a bit and she sucked right back on line...stomach went back where it belonged and heart rate resumed normal bpm after a few moments. Stable, YES.
Next up, interstate. Let it be known I am not an interstate mile eater and never have been. I never bonded with my R1100RT because that seemed to be what it liked and it just wasn't me. All of the wind protection and lazy handling bored me to death so the RT went away. I did not expect the S10 to be impressive here but was just hoping for sufficient to get me to my next destination. 150 miles later on I-10 from Chirracco summit, through Blythe and Quartzite and I find myself saying WOW this bike is actually really comfy, smooth, and quite nice on the highway. A bit windier and busy than the RT but that actually kept me from being as bored and helped me keep my speed at more reasonable pace...still above posted, but better.
Long hiway miles= CHECK, surprisingly good.
Now to the scenic but fairly straight north western Az deserts, relaxing, smooth, uncrowded and almost distracting causing the mind to wander. Bike was solid and reassuring with NO worries on reliability leaving me stuck in the middle of no where with no phone reception, and no passersby to offer help, so relaxing, confidence and reassuring reliability= CHECK. Top marks, A+
Next up, road closures and 20 miles of WAY back country abandoned and desolate dirt roads as detours, wrong turns, and some "oh THAT is where I am at" moments. Again, relaxed and easy. The road had fresh snow on the sides and was a bit sloppy in spots so the stock Metzlers were not overly confidence inspiring when the going got slimey but most of it was gravel and there were vehicle track in a lot of it so the gravel provided fair traction without being loose wallowy. In the sections that were greasy mud or thicker loose gravel and steering input was sketchy again, using weighting of the pegs and hip weight on the seat corrected that and the bike was still controllable...albeit different that solid ground it was just a minor adjustment and stay focused no problem. It was sloppy enough that there was 1.5" of mud piled up on the front of my skid plate. VERY nice and actually fun in the end, one more facet of a great adventure ride. Off tar handling on a big heavy beast with full hard boxes, tank bag, and a large dry bag strapped on the back...Check, as good as everywhere else.
Next, another detour again for some kind of mud slide, or wash out. Traffic is parked and there is no feasible way around according to my atlas that is not ridiculous....hmm, I saw a cattle grate and jeep trail back a little bit that looked to in the general direction I needed to skirt the road issue....double back and have a look, definitely NOT a road, but looked passable. More of a rarely used 2 track farm trail or cattle path, off I go with the intent of getting through, or ok with turning around. Woods, stream crossing, soft meadows, 4-5 miles later and I hit a fence and a washout....I can see the road I was on, and I am past the road work, but how do I get back onto it. I park and walk around a bit a see firm spot I think I can pass. If I were on a KTM, no issue, but on the beast I know I need a clear plan and perfect execution or I will be thumbing it...or worse hoping I can get through to 911. I walk through the line twice as it drops off a 2' ridge, into the gully, slight left in some soft stream bed stuff, step up over 2 smallish boulders and onto the shoulder of the road.....breathe, focus....brrrraaapppp. On towards Bryce where I get pictures of the pinnacled peaks with some dashing of snow like a powdered sugar donut. Pics in another thread later. Bikes aggressive off road attack abilities {better if I had some knobs} within reason and planning= CHECK. A-
After a loop back down and through Zion which coincidentally was the last day you can ride up through the scenic drive before they start the mandatory bus rides. I was not planning on a Narrows hike or anything, but I figured when will I ever get to drive up that road again, I am here now, take a putt.
And FINALLY, I ride down through St. George and it is about 2-2:30 pm and I have to decide to explore the area and camp one more night and ride home Tuesday or just 4-500 mile slab it and get home....I call my wife and she says weather is rolling in and it is supposed to be ugly Monday nigh and Tuesday....bee line it home with nothing but gas stops and one quick sandwich, home at 8:30pm.
So bike assessment...I still wish it had more fuel capacity. I never ran out, but I did roll in twice on Trip F mode with the E flashing. My irritation is with the set up....I was 11 miles into Trip F one time and it only took 4.7 gallons to fill it over the top fill hole disc...why was it telling me it was that low and only took 4.7...I do not want lights flashing when I still have that much gas because you start discounting how low you actually are and keep going...then you run out. I feel like the bike actually does not take all 6 gallons or can not use all 6 gallons so that is a false number and something needs to be done.
Other than that, the bike is A++
Spectacular and is still impressing. I will say it was NO fun in the huge winds on I15 on the way home. The storm my wife described was rolling in and the head winds were 30-40 mph constant with swirling gusts....wild ride home but got here fine.
If you already own an S-10....ride it with confidence and start getting out of you comfort zones {if you do not already} and if you are S-10 curious...buy one, ride the piss out of it and use the savings on purchase price to farkle it...I am all stock except my custom boxes, seat adjusting to high front position and low rear, and skid plate and love all of it...no need for windshields, bars, yada yada....you CAN, but not necessary to ride or enjoy.
Tell me what you think... ::021:: ::022::
