New Owner of 2013 Super Matte Gray Today, Tomorrow?

[REDDOT55]

Hi Everyone, Bob from Massachusetts joining the forum and hopefully the owner's club as stated today or tomorrow. I'm currently the owner of a 2011 Triumph Sprint GT which is a fantastic bike-no complaints from me-but which for my height 6-4 would be a little cramped for my anticipated cross-country ride next summer. So unfortunately that bike gets traded in but ... I get to experience the Tenere. I found cycle-ergo.com to be very helpful and as a result was considering the FJR 1300 (the position would be similar to my current bike), the Ninja 1000, the V-Strom 1000 and lastly or firstly the Super Tenere. I sat on all but the FJR and to me the Tenere was easily the most comfortable. Primarily I'm looking for a comfortable that can go long distances and still be fun in the corners. I'm also trying to be realistic and based on my reading here and experience on the GT will be giving up some engine for some comfort but I'm confident the Tenere is more than enough bike for me. For the $1200 worth of accessories I'm getting the side panniers, bag inserts and wind deflectors and possibly the tall windshield down the road. I haven't rode in the dirt but I won't rule it out either. That's about it for now, I'll let you know what I think once I get some miles on the odometer. Lots of good information on here and I want to thank Venture and Fred Z for all their help.

 

[AVGeek]

Welcome aboard REDDOT55! I can't imagine there are too many dirt roads in Mass, but when you get out west, there are plenty of dirt roads that the Tenere was just made for!

 

[barkingllizard]

congrats, REDDOT55, with a simple hello.....

 

[coastie]

Welcome, and a heads up, many of our riders that are your hight do have to order a taller windscreen to get rid of the buffeting. Lots of options out there. V Stream makes some nice screens.

 

[evanqueen]

Bob welcome. I'm a new owner too, but have been a member since 2011. I'm 5'9" and added a taller powerbronze windscreen and a madstad bracket. It helped quite a bit.

Best Regards
Evan

 

[ride1st]

Hi Bob,

I traded my 2011 Sprint GT for a 2013 matte gray super tenere a couple of months ago. Yes you will be giving up some horsepower. I don't miss it in the least bit though. The tenere is much more comfortable and handles the crappy roads around here so much better. I am 6'3" and have been happy so far with the stock screen mounted on a Madstat mount.

 

[REDDOT55]

Turned out to be tomorrow and haven't posted for awhile until I had some impressions to share. First off out of the dealer's parking lot had some trouble with the throttle I'm supposing just as we all do with any new bike. Went pogoing happily down the road. Nice upright arms outstretched position, legs comfortable, all good. I go by the owner's manual as to RPM's, premium gasoline etc. as I figure the Yamaha engineers know what they are talking about. Have about 300 going on 400 miles on the 2013 which I intend to keep for a long time and my hand is getting smoother and so too is the throttle or a combination of both. Just this weekend had installed by the dealer the side case mounts and bags and deflectors. Based upon video on Yamaha website and reading here and talking to tech who installed them am happy with them and understand how they operate. As I said in my original post coming from a Triumph Sprint GT 1050 I knew there would be tradeoffs aren't there always and yes there have been, less kick in the pants but the power given the 4000 RPM constraint I'm operating under is still adequate, I go out on the highway and keep up a good pace, is it a drag bike off the line-probably not but neither did I ride the GT that way. Ergonomics/Comfort much better although as I said in OP I have nothing bad to say about the Triumph, I'm just tall and anticipating a cross-country next summer the legs just weren't going to be happy. Experiencing some buffeting but I'm going to let that ride (pun intended). Overall I'm happy and still getting used to the bike but so far so good. If I had waited a couple of weeks I could have got a 2014 ES for about the same price but still would had to have bought bags and so the story goes ... spilt milk. Good quality built bike that will carry us tens, hundreds of thousands of miles down the road . . . that's my story. Bob.

 

[Magilla]

Hi Bob and welcome from another Masshole ::008::

I'm 6'5" and the Tenere is a great bike for tall guys. Where are you in MA?

If I can help you at all or if you want to see anything on my bike or have questions , reach out, I am happy to help!

 

[2112]

::004::

 

[chwhnd]

::004:: from Lewiston Idaho

 

[REDDOT55]

Thanks everyone, So far so good and really am enjoying this bike although not too many days left to ride. Tomorrow an expected 20 degrees drop in temperature to a high of 50 F. Rode today and when it started to rain pulled over and upped traction control to 2. At 600 miles I'll up RPM's to 5000. Not having had this bike for too long still not convinced there is that much troublesome buffeting although I may change my mind on that and although I do notice a "difference" i.e. hesitation perhaps at 3000 RPM in fourth or fifth??? it is so far not anything I cannot live with and don't know if that is the clutch issue I keep reading about here. Anyway overall I am very happy with this bike. Good riding to one and all. Bob.

 

[fredz43]

Hi Bob,

It would seem to me that if it started to rain, you may want to leave traction control on 1. The TC2 setting will let the tire slip a bit more than in TC1 before traction control engages.

 

[REDDOT55]

fredz43, you are absolutely correct, and I thank you for pointing that out to me. Bike was wonderful in the rain although I thought some of it was me, that's how good the bike is, in my opinion. Thanks for the right on information.