more, from 12-13 to 2014 rider reviews needed please. thanks

[livharder]

hi there. i have read about all the reviews on the 2014 and i am mostly interested in 2012-13 owners going to the new 2014 cause i'm realy considering changing my 2012 for a base 2014 but i just dont want to spend money and feeling like it's the exact same bike besides the obvious upgrades. i love my 2012 but some things i realy dont like seems to have been corrected. my concerns are mostly mecanical. i will tell you what issues i would like corrected and your input on these will help me make the decision as i am not able to find a demo to test ride. first thing is the clutch basket harshness, vibration ?. then the smoothness of fueling and general smoothness of the engine ?. it's suposed to be more refined. is this fact? i have also a vibration comming from the driveshaft at above 80 mph speeds and i have read somewhere that some tweeks have been made to the driveshaft? like i said before i love the bike but dont like the low speed caracter of the engine as it knocks vibrates and as a harsh power delivery. thank you for your help

 

[Koinz]

hi there. i have read about all the reviews on the 2014 and i am mostly interested in 2012-13 owners going to the new 2014 cause i'm realy considering changing my 2012 for a base 2014 but i just dont want to spend money and feeling like it's the exact same bike besides the obvious upgrades. i love my 2012 but some things i realy dont like seems to have been corrected. my concerns are mostly mecanical. i will tell you what issues i would like corrected and your input on these will help me make the decision as i am not able to find a demo to test ride. first thing is the clutch basket harshness, vibration ?. then the smoothness of fueling and general smoothness of the engine ?. it's suposed to be more refined. is this fact? i have also a vibration comming from the driveshaft at above 80 mph speeds and i have read somewhere that some tweeks have been made to the driveshaft? like i said before i love the bike but dont like the low speed caracter of the engine as it knocks vibrates and as a harsh power delivery. thank you for your help

Start with clutch basket, it seems to be the biggest offender. The cost of adding a basket is a lot less than a 2014. If you still feel your missing out on something, you haven't invested a fortune in fuel tuning. The only thing I have done is an ecu flash and Leo Vince pipe from a engine performance perspective. The fueling on this bike is not bad at all in my opinion. Others may say otherwise though.
8)

 

[bmac]

hi there. i have read about all the reviews on the 2014 and i am mostly interested in 2012-13 owners going to the new 2014 cause i'm realy considering changing my 2012 for a base 2014 but i just dont want to spend money and feeling like it's the exact same bike besides the obvious upgrades. i love my 2012 but some things i realy dont like seems to have been corrected. my concerns are mostly mecanical. i will tell you what issues i would like corrected and your input on these will help me make the decision as i am not able to find a demo to test ride. first thing is the clutch basket harshness, vibration ?. then the smoothness of fueling and general smoothness of the engine ?. it's suposed to be more refined. is this fact? i have also a vibration comming from the driveshaft at above 80 mph speeds and i have read somewhere that some tweeks have been made to the driveshaft? like i said before i love the bike but dont like the low speed caracter of the engine as it knocks vibrates and as a harsh power delivery. thank you for your help

I was in the same boat up until this past Thursday. I really liked my 12 but did not like the level of vibration and thought it lacked power. The rest of the bike was excellent. It handles great and is comfortable enough for me to ride 8 or 9 hundred miles in a day with the only issue being numb hands at the end of the day.

I was ready to peddle the S10 and I was looking at other options including 2015 Aprilia Caponord, Ducati Multistrada S, the rumoured BMW S1000F or AX as well as the BMW GS1200 water cooled. I test rode the Muti, Capo, and the BMW. The only one that I was considering was the Capo. I just could not get past the limited dealer network and the challenges I would face if I had a problem. I kept coming back to the S10. I really like Yamaha's quality and dependability. After reading Fred's glowing review about 3 times I decided I was going to look at trading my 12 in for a 14 and if the end result was not a much improved bike I would revisit the other options.

I am on a quest for the perfect motorcycle and I will not stop until I am satisfied. The 2012 came very close but it was not quite there.

So, that brings me to 3 days ago when I traded my 12 in for a 14ES. I told the owner of the dealership that I would not buy the bike without a test ride. He agreed to let me take it but if I knew right away that the bike was not much improved to cut the ride short and bring it back. My test ride was less than 4 miles. I knew within the first mile that the trade was getting done. If the riding position and looks were not so similar to the 12 I would have thought this was a completely different model.

The changes are subtle but numerous. The engine is quieter at idle and throughout the rev range and is DRAMATICALLY smoother. It even has a different exhaust note. I only have 250 miles on it but WOW I can hardly believe how much better it is. I used to avoid the upper rev range but not anymore. The engine seems much stronger than my 12 was. It has more power everywhere and even with almost no miles on it fuel mileage is over 50mpg and I am constantly running the rpms up and down to put some load on the engine. I am not doing anything to justify the better fuel mileage but it is still early.

I was in Daytona during bike week talking to one of Yamaha's test ride leaders. He was an experienced iron butt rider that was very candid about the bikes. He stated very clearly that Yamaha has listened to their customers and refined any concerns they had with the S10. All I can say is that I am blown away by how more refined this bike is than the old one.

I am very happy to made the upgrade to the 2014. I really like the ES model and all that it includes. The cruise control is a very welcome addition and the suspension has all the adjustability I should need.

 

[s-flow]

As most reports say, the difference is quite dramatic. Personally I perfer to say "the new engine"
instead of "the updated engine", tecnically wrong but running the -14 engine gives a very different
experience then the first generation.

The clutch basket vibrations are not noticable anymore, even though I didn't care about the -11's vibe AT THAT RPM BAND.
BUT.. Beeing very sensitive to vibrations I never completly got rid of the tingeling vibrations (high frequency buzz) from the
grips on the old bike. Now at 7500 km with the -14 i can tell it is A LOT smoother.

If I would be ridicilous I could mention that between 104 and 106 km/h in 6'th, only there, I can sense a super slight tingle in my
left long finger.. then it's worth mention I have yet not made any engine modifications that could improve fueling and smoothness
at all and I'm seriously thinking about to keep the bike stock as it is so very good as it is

At around 5700 RPM and up I would concider the vibrations to be too pronounced to cruice longer distances at, but then we talking speeds
above 150 km/h and as I mentioned, i am very sensitive to vibrations.


Good luck with your choice!

 

[Pilgrim]

I have upgraded from -13 to -14ES and I agree with all the good things said by bmac and s-flow. The 2014 ES i just a dream to drive ::001::
The upgrade from -13 to -14 was worth every penny. Fuelconsumption still amazes me. This weekend I did a 600 km drive and when I fueled up at the gasstation I did a calculation, my average at that part of the tour was 4,4 liters / 100 km (about 52 mpg). Soft touring at 80-100 km/h, but still very good numbers!!!

 

[RED CAT]

I have to agree. Huge difference. The only complaint is that Yamaha didn't add Shift on the Fly Traction Control. Other than that, its a much nicer bike than the 2012 I owned before. They even got rid of that clunk in the front end when dropping off a curb etc. Still don't know what I am doing with the ESA but all the settings are better than the stock 2012. S Mode is definitely snappier. Just love the bottom end grunt. Most times I just leave it in 6th and roll on and roll off anywhere from 2500rpm on up. Even getting used to the stealthy color.

 

[greg the pole]

Ha!
I Almost thought I would have to buy a new 2014...

luckily all is well and I'm sticking to my 2012.

I'll do an ecu flash ($125 or so from AC) plus shipping etc...
I don't have the bad vibes others talk about...not that I notice
It revs very willingly to red line, so I don't linger in the 3000rpm mode
my suspension is sorted

I'll stick with old faithful, 46 km and counting.
how about a ride on your RC?

 

[RED CAT]

Greg. I hear Blackfoot has a Demo.

 

[livharder]

wow! you guys are gona cost me a lot of money. i guess i'm going to change for the 2014. from what i read it must be close to perfect. thanks