v2paul
New Member
Hi, my name is Paul and I joined this forum about a year ago. Here is my belated intro:
I purchased my '15 Gen2 ES w/23k, funny, about a year ago after watching my friends Jeff and Hal tour the west on their Super Teneres for a number of years. At the time, I was riding my Ducati 900SS within the confines of California (fun in the twisties), but wanted to expand my range so I could ride with the guys. The Tenere was a no brainer based on the recommendations from these guys, but I was a little hesitant to step up an additional 200 lbs! As they were preparing for a trip to Colorado, I felt the time was right and began looking. Came across a Gen1 that looked pretty nice, but as I dove deeper into understanding the differences, I realized the Gen2 was worth the extra cost, especially the cruise control. It just so happened that a Gen2 came up in my area that had everything I wanted including more narrow Givi luggage (lane splitting in CA is still legal!). It was weird riding it initially, but once you get rolling, you don't notice the weight at all, very nice ride. Sold!
I've been having fun with this bike ever since. I've done trips to southern Cal, Park City, and a 5k solo trip to Austin for MotoGP. The bike did not skip a beat throughout. I did learn of the bike's limitations in deeper sand at Joshua Tree resulting in a simple tipover. Yikes, the bike is heavy! Maintenance has been easy, although I did get a first hand understanding of how much of a pain the valve cover gasket was to put back on. Luckily, valves were in spec so I won't have to pull the cams until next time. Overall, my impressions after ~10k miles is the bike is fantastic for what I wanted in a 90/10 adventure bike. I look forward to many years of long distance riding with excellent reliability on my side.
As purchased:
with added farkles:
I purchased my '15 Gen2 ES w/23k, funny, about a year ago after watching my friends Jeff and Hal tour the west on their Super Teneres for a number of years. At the time, I was riding my Ducati 900SS within the confines of California (fun in the twisties), but wanted to expand my range so I could ride with the guys. The Tenere was a no brainer based on the recommendations from these guys, but I was a little hesitant to step up an additional 200 lbs! As they were preparing for a trip to Colorado, I felt the time was right and began looking. Came across a Gen1 that looked pretty nice, but as I dove deeper into understanding the differences, I realized the Gen2 was worth the extra cost, especially the cruise control. It just so happened that a Gen2 came up in my area that had everything I wanted including more narrow Givi luggage (lane splitting in CA is still legal!). It was weird riding it initially, but once you get rolling, you don't notice the weight at all, very nice ride. Sold!
I've been having fun with this bike ever since. I've done trips to southern Cal, Park City, and a 5k solo trip to Austin for MotoGP. The bike did not skip a beat throughout. I did learn of the bike's limitations in deeper sand at Joshua Tree resulting in a simple tipover. Yikes, the bike is heavy! Maintenance has been easy, although I did get a first hand understanding of how much of a pain the valve cover gasket was to put back on. Luckily, valves were in spec so I won't have to pull the cams until next time. Overall, my impressions after ~10k miles is the bike is fantastic for what I wanted in a 90/10 adventure bike. I look forward to many years of long distance riding with excellent reliability on my side.
As purchased:
with added farkles: