I had a modest amount of camping gear on my AT (tent, sleeping bag and some clothes) and the heavy items were on the passenger seat to keep the weight centralized. Far from being loaded up like a pack mule but it still handled very poorly. Like Greg said, the rear shock doesn't do its job. Maybe that's been improved on the new one.My opinion is that the Honda was designed with a different mission in mind. Obviously the AT was designed for a more play in the dirt/off-road role than to be loaded up like a pack mule . The Tenere has a huge front end weight bias. Which, when it's loaded with luggage and/or a passenger, the weight is more balanced. They're both called adventure bikes, but they're built for different adventures.