Well only days after receiving my black XTZ12B (not XTZ1200 as expected - must be a North American specs model) Super Ténéré from the Calgary Alberta dealer (with serial # 0000011 :exclaim
, I took my new baby for a little trip down south to attend the annual Colorado BMW rally in Paonia. After putting over 3500 miles in 8 days (including a mandatory 600 miles service in Missoula MT), I think I am in a good position to comment on the bike overall. Well she gets a big A+. As reported by others the ride is very smooth and superb, handling is crisp and phenomenal, power in Sport mode is gonna make you soil your pants, the seat very comfy (ps much better than a GSA1200 !)...as expected the bike was a big attraction at the rally as naturally it was the only ST at the site with over 700 bikes there... had many jealous and curious fellow riders approaching to check it out... my friend who owns a 2007 GSA1200 took it for a spin and after only 5 minutes on the road gave me shit to let him ride it....he told me over the Bluetooth communicator he now had to order one !! Had a few options installed prior to the trip : grey AltRider crash bar, Givi Trekker bags, GPS and a MRA vario windshield (very efficient at deflecting air and far better then stock due to the top spoiler addition). Overall I am very happy, I did however found a few things that could be improved:
:exclaim: 1. Turn Signal: the stock front signal lights are very bright...maybe too much. Let me explain, the design of the yellow plastic lenses sticks out by about an inch from the light black housing behind resulting in getting serious glare back in your face when driving at night. When either turn signal is activated, the glow of the light is again very visible to the rider and distracting. I already have a set of LED lights for the ST waiting to be installed so I am not too concern about this little problem...
:exclaim: 2. Headlights: the front headlights work really good but.....I was getting flashed a lot on the highway despite using my low beam...what the heck ??? Spoke to my friend at the rally who owns a GSA and learned that the extra load from the rear luggage at the back causes the rear end of the bike to often sink a bit raising the front end in the process, hence why my low beam light was now aiming higher then normal and now blinding oncoming traffic... oops ! bet the Yamaha engineers never thought of this....The Beamer GS have a small plastic bracket behind the headlight assembly that can be flipped up or down by the rider. It is designed to lower the light assembly angle a bit to compensate when riding with extra load...make sense, hoping Yamaha considers this little feature for next year model...
:exclaim: 3. INFO button on handle bar : you cannot access the fuel consumption data, air and cooling temp without removing your left hand from the handle bar and pressing the right button on the dashboard....very unsafe action....it should have a push button situated on the bar next to the hi-lo beam switch (like with the GS). Considering that to read your actual live fuel consumption, you need to be moving so stopping to do this is not feasible if you are interested in seeing how much fuel you burn at different speed...
4. Nothing about the bike but the large sized Givi Monokey Trekker bag (46L) is a bit too big / wide and created a lot of air resistance (= higher fuel consumption on hwy). if I had to do this over, would stick with the 35 L bags on either sides and the 46L for the top case. The symmetrical width difference is minor and I can live with that. The Givi Monokey bags are super easy to disconnect and take into a motel room if needed. The side top lid opening is handy to have to access your gear. Something to consider versus other hard metal models that are more permanently attached to the bike...if you plan to go offroad with them, the metal models (Trax, Zega etc...) are likely a better choice...for paved riding full time, Trekkers are fine and do a good job.
, I took my new baby for a little trip down south to attend the annual Colorado BMW rally in Paonia. After putting over 3500 miles in 8 days (including a mandatory 600 miles service in Missoula MT), I think I am in a good position to comment on the bike overall. Well she gets a big A+. As reported by others the ride is very smooth and superb, handling is crisp and phenomenal, power in Sport mode is gonna make you soil your pants, the seat very comfy (ps much better than a GSA1200 !)...as expected the bike was a big attraction at the rally as naturally it was the only ST at the site with over 700 bikes there... had many jealous and curious fellow riders approaching to check it out... my friend who owns a 2007 GSA1200 took it for a spin and after only 5 minutes on the road gave me shit to let him ride it....he told me over the Bluetooth communicator he now had to order one !! Had a few options installed prior to the trip : grey AltRider crash bar, Givi Trekker bags, GPS and a MRA vario windshield (very efficient at deflecting air and far better then stock due to the top spoiler addition). Overall I am very happy, I did however found a few things that could be improved::exclaim: 1. Turn Signal: the stock front signal lights are very bright...maybe too much. Let me explain, the design of the yellow plastic lenses sticks out by about an inch from the light black housing behind resulting in getting serious glare back in your face when driving at night. When either turn signal is activated, the glow of the light is again very visible to the rider and distracting. I already have a set of LED lights for the ST waiting to be installed so I am not too concern about this little problem...
:exclaim: 2. Headlights: the front headlights work really good but.....I was getting flashed a lot on the highway despite using my low beam...what the heck ??? Spoke to my friend at the rally who owns a GSA and learned that the extra load from the rear luggage at the back causes the rear end of the bike to often sink a bit raising the front end in the process, hence why my low beam light was now aiming higher then normal and now blinding oncoming traffic... oops ! bet the Yamaha engineers never thought of this....The Beamer GS have a small plastic bracket behind the headlight assembly that can be flipped up or down by the rider. It is designed to lower the light assembly angle a bit to compensate when riding with extra load...make sense, hoping Yamaha considers this little feature for next year model...
:exclaim: 3. INFO button on handle bar : you cannot access the fuel consumption data, air and cooling temp without removing your left hand from the handle bar and pressing the right button on the dashboard....very unsafe action....it should have a push button situated on the bar next to the hi-lo beam switch (like with the GS). Considering that to read your actual live fuel consumption, you need to be moving so stopping to do this is not feasible if you are interested in seeing how much fuel you burn at different speed...
4. Nothing about the bike but the large sized Givi Monokey Trekker bag (46L) is a bit too big / wide and created a lot of air resistance (= higher fuel consumption on hwy). if I had to do this over, would stick with the 35 L bags on either sides and the 46L for the top case. The symmetrical width difference is minor and I can live with that. The Givi Monokey bags are super easy to disconnect and take into a motel room if needed. The side top lid opening is handy to have to access your gear. Something to consider versus other hard metal models that are more permanently attached to the bike...if you plan to go offroad with them, the metal models (Trax, Zega etc...) are likely a better choice...for paved riding full time, Trekkers are fine and do a good job.
