Is how they start the summing up in ride magazineIt's hard to find reason TO consider the Yamaha Super Tenere
Then again it was up against the GS, four bikes, four riders, two GS owners and zero Yamaha owners, I dunno why they did not just ask the CEO and Marketing Director of BMW Motorrad to write the f*** review.
In fairness they can only review the bike as delivered and I am sure the riders views that the Tenere loses out to the KTM / GS and Explorer on the road is probably spot on, the old GS was a more sprightly road performer and I have ridden the Triumph and it is really a sportsbike in adventure clothing, and I dare say the KTM is an awesome road rocket - which is what the UK press love, however....
... as always the test was based on a race, how quickly the bike could get from A-B with the rider going as fast as possible, so the Yamaha was a bit less composed and got left behind, but probably at a pace way beyond what 90% of owners looking for one of these bikes would ever attain - if your not so sure consider that they averaged 34 mpg on the Yamaha - that is UK MPG not your short measure US gallons - or around 7.5m to the litre for whoever understands those measures. Ask yourself how often you drop your S10 below 35 (UK) mpg on pavement :question:
Again what does not help is the Yamaha sitting at £12,000, the Triumph boasts an extra cylinder, cruise control and an extra 25 BHP at £11,100, for a mere £500 more you get the (I must say rather appealing) KTM, OK I do not need another 40BHP or want a chain drive, but it is a hell of a lot of bike for the money and has an exotic appeal, yet.....Of course the GS won, despite being the most expensive (£13,800) with all the electronic suspension.
If the Yamaha was listed at £10,995 it would probably do much better as at least it would be the cheapest, in reality it is, few people in the UK buy them new, dealers can only sell ex-demo's with a huge discount (£9.5k - £10k) and at the end of each year Yamaha are stuck with a load, put them all on pre-reg plates and sell them off for just over £10k - why don't they just price them like that in the first place.
Seeing as you can get an S10 for around £10k, fit an Ohlins / rework forks and get a Flash which will give a bike as good as any of the others for £11.5k