New perspective from a Tenere Rider

[DFW_Tenere]

Hey guys so I want to preface this by saying that I am a tenere rider. I am still in Portugal while writing this. My childhood friend is getting married to a sweet Portuguese lady hence he invited his friends back from Texas to come attended, so here’s i am. I wanted to do something special for him before the wedding day. I researched and found a company called motoxplorers who rented out fully equipped brand new bmw r1250gs and mapped out routes around the country of Portugal and Europe.

I packed my fiancé’s and I moto gear from Texas and we flew to Portugal. Words really can’t describe how amazing the riding is in this country. One thing about taking your lady to Europe to ride is it’s romance. In the states we have the most amazing frontier and off road riding, but in Europe you will ride through rolling hills and out of nowhere is a magnificent castle. That kind of charm is something you only find over in Europe
and it made my fiancé excited to ride.

I have to admit. The 2019 r1250gs is a far superior bike to my 2014 super Tenere Es. My fiancé’s immediate response was “this bike is way smoother” “it’s been 3 hours my butt doesn’t hurt” “my legs don’t feel cramped”

As far as how it handled, it’s much lighter, it’s faster, and it’s technologically far superior. The GPS integration into the handle bar controls were out of this world amazing. No aftermarket upgrade will allow you to do this. I will try and make a video on comparison when I get home.

I will say if you have the cash, buy the r1250gs without a doubt. If you don’t buy the Super Tenere because it will still do everything the r1250gs will do just not as refined.

Also If you are a shorter rider the r1250gs is the bike to go with. I spent 4 days two up riding I am 5’4 and handled this bike with ease. It’s biggest advantage over the s10 is it’s weight and slender profile. The s10 tends to spread my legs out further and is much heavier.

However that’s not to say the tenere is a bad bike. I still love it and plan to order some lowering passenger legs for her and a new seat. This trip has inspired me to plan out some more adventures in the us.

 

[Cycledude]

Very interesting, I have sat on a new 1200gs a couple different times and never noticed that it might work better for a shorter rider or that it was any lighter, how much lighter is it ? Now you have me thinking of trying to do a test ride on one. I live in Wisconsin where there are only 2-3 BMW dealers in the entire state so for that reason have never been very interested in buying one.
Visiting those castles sounds very interesting.

 

[DFW_Tenere]

The r1250 is 50lb lighter than the outgoing r1200 which was already lighter than the s10. To me every lb counts on these large adv bikes. I would highly suggest if you can afford it to go for the r1250. I see no reason why not if money is not a factor. In Europe there are far far far more bmw r1200/1250s around the streets than S10s. I believe the s10 is a great bike but Yamaha needs to update it to keep up with the competition. However I also understand that the s10 is cheaper and therefore a more budget friendly motorcycle.

It’s also not just the weight. The saddle of the bike is more narrow than the s10 which allows me to get my feet more planted on the ground.

I forgot to mention that the wind noise management on the bmw is far superior to the Yamaha in its stock form

 

[SkunkWorks]

Awesome pictures!
Memories to last a lifetime for sure!

 

[Boris]

Nice post, great pictures, agree with comments regarding the European roads/riding, interesting stuff around the GS.

Brace yourself though, I sense some of the Yamaha faithful having a meltdown

 

[Longdog Cymru]

The r1250 is 50lb lighter than the outgoing r1200 which was already lighter than the s10. To me every lb counts on these large adv bikes.

Hi, I believe that you are incorrect on this. The official wet, fully fuelled figures are below:


BMW R1200GS LC. 244kg.
BMW R1200GSA. 263kg.

BMW R1250GS. 249kg.
BMW R1250GSA. 268kg.

Yamaha S10. 261kg.

Yes, it is possible to find different figures if you look around, but the wet figures are allegedly with oil, water and “at least 90% of maximum fuel on board”.

 

[Sierra1]

Nice post, great pictures, agree with comments regarding the European roads/riding, interesting stuff around the GS.

Brace yourself though, I sense some of the Yamaha faithful having a meltdown

You're probably right. I would mind VISITING either Europe or BMW. But, I will continue to LIVE here with my Tenere. (old dog, new tricks and all)

 

[Don T]

Back in 2015 previous to buying my S10, I also considered a GS 1200 WC and took one for a test ride.
I agree that the GS is more nimble and faster than a S10. The reason that I ended up choosing the S10 instead was that I preferred its diesel like engine characteristic, the gearing, riding position and overall more sturdy feel.
Back in 2015 both bikes were priced very similar here in DK, so that part played no part in my decision.

The GS is a great bike and even the previous 1200 WC version made the S10 feel a bit outdated.
I can't wait to see which updates Yamaha makes to the next generation S10 to bring it up to speed with the competition.