No1 Yam !

[macca]

Looks like the readers of VisorDown have got it right. http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-top-10s/your-top-10-yamahas-revealed/24308.html

 

[Koinz]

I guess the secret is out. ???

 

[mingo]

oh yes, but it's so expensive and my mates won't think I'm a badass... I mean you didn't see Charlie and Ewan riding a SuperTen... can't be all that good then. I look much better admiring myself and my roundel in the glass at Starbucks.


All I can say is I hope Yamaha keeps the bike around and it will continue to catch on by word of mouth... It might help a bit if they sponsored and did some marketing.. but it's not to be.. especially in north america where they sell boatloads of cruisers and crotch rockets. My local dealer still doesn't stock it and isn't interested in selling it.. ::010::

 

[trikepilot]

Actually... early on in Long Way Down, Charlie goes to Australia to ride with Ewan who was there filming Star Wars. They ride 660 Teneres. Maybe not a "Super" but still in the family.

Boorman&McGregor with Tenere

 

[GrahamD]

oh yes, but it's so expensive and my mates won't think I'm a badass... I mean you didn't see Charlie and Ewan riding a SuperTen...

Which I think is the reason a lot of GS's sell, Charlie and Ewan is the end of the "homework phase" and its off to search for the nearest BMW dealer who have 100 articles gushing about the bike and the "legendary reliability" etc. Up sold to the highest price option package "for best resale" and out they go on finance.

They still got a great bike, and everyone will tell them that so it's all good, until..

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Actually... early on in Long Way Down, Charlie goes to Australia to ride with Ewan who was there filming Star Wars. They ride 660 Teneres. Maybe not a "Super" but still in the family.

Those guys sold a lot of BMWs. You have to wonder if KTM would be in a stronger position today if they hadn't made such a colossal blunder. Of course maybe they knew their bikes couldn't hold up to the challenge, then it was probably a good decision.

 

[snakebitten]

Didn't I read somewhere recently that KTM is now the second biggest producer in Europe? Don't know who all they've passed, but they are a long ways from the niche MX & Enduro maker now.

 

[GrahamD]

Didn't I read somewhere recently that KTM is now the second biggest producer in Europe? Don't know who all they've passed, but they are a long ways from the niche MX & Enduro maker now.

Probably the second biggest European Brand. The smaller stuff is now made by Bajaj in India and India probably makes a few sales, Expecially if they use Bajaj dealer network.

 

[tomatocity]

FZ-09?

 

[dcstrom]

Yeah but they still can't get the facts straight "managing an acceptable 42mpg." They are talking UK gallons, I've been getting 42 miles per *US* gallon for the 45,000 miles of this trip. Sure, it's easy to get less than that if you're heavy on the thottle, but most of us ride fairly sensibly (right?) and it's easy to get 42mpg.

So that should be 50.4 mpg imperial. Does that jibe with what you UK guys are getting?

 

[big dave]

55 mpg (imp) for me on my recent tour of Spain, interestingly my riding buddy on his Tiger 1200 matched the consumption almost to the cent.

 

[stutrump]

Big Dave...you can get 55mpg?? Oh my God..must be something wrong with mine then. I've never got more than 46mpg out of mine.

 

[MIKE R]

I got a high of 63mpg ::001:UK gallons) when pottering around Corsica, but a low of 36 when blasting for the ferry! ::005:: Trip averaged out at 52.8

Mike

 

[EricV]

Those guys sold a lot of BMWs. You have to wonder if KTM would be in a stronger position today if they hadn't made such a colossal blunder. Of course maybe they knew their bikes couldn't hold up to the challenge, then it was probably a good decision.

An interesting thought, but I can't help but note that the BMWs couldn't hold up either, the magic of TV goes a long ways, along with that support team.

 

[kmac]

Funny that on the top 10 list of Yamis 6 of them are not even sold in the USA.

On the LWR guys riding Yamis, I think they would have been better off riding the KTMs even without support...more fun than the GSAs. Probably not much less reliable and having a chase truck like they did...who cares. Just throw a spare bike in the truck and ride care free.

Are those Yamis they were riding really 660's? Those look like older 850s to me which were twins and would have been a nice choice. When they did LWR was the new S-Ten even for sale yet?

 

[GrahamD]

Are those Yamis they were riding really 660's? Those look like older 850s to me which were twins and would have been a nice choice. When they did LWR was the new S-Ten even for sale yet?

Yes.

No.

LWR 2004.

Previous Super Tenere Discontinued 1996 (XTZ750), The 660 Tenere 1999.
660 Revived 2008, S10 revived 2010.
YAMAHA had no skin in the game at the time.

I am sure that YAMAHA could have found some good XTZ750's for Ewan and the Camera man and I'm sure Charlie would have liked a real DAKAR bike but I don't think YAMAHA would bother because anything they could sell was years off, and YMAHA was missing of rlong enough that all you had was Stroms, GS's and KTM's at the time.

 

[kmac]

Thanks Graham for clearing that up. I am not overly familiar with earlier ADV bikes. I was all MX and road racing until about 2000 when I got seriously into dual sport riding and started liking the more adventurous style and that has led me through the GS and to the Ten.

I have seen the earlier Africa Twins,, Cagiva Elephant, Yamaha Dakar 750/850 and all BMW GS models but I am not overly familiar with anything but the GS's. A lot of the Yami models never made it here to the USA and if they did it was few and far between to see them. We never got any of the 660 models to my knowledge other than the XT dual sport...but I have been wrong before....

 

[GrahamD]

Actually... early on in Long Way Down, Charlie goes to Australia to ride with Ewan who was there filming Star Wars. They ride 660 Teneres. Maybe not a "Super" but still in the family.

Boorman&McGregor with Tenere

It's funny when you see them riding around where I live. The reaction about missing the Ferry is just a bit over the top.

It goes back and forth constantly. The maximum time to wait would have been about 3-4 minutes. Talk about hyping up the drama.

There is also a pub down the road off the dirt. Any bets that they camped out the back of the pub.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

The reaction about missing the Ferry is just a bit over the top.

Probably had to get people to watch a show about people reacting calm cool and collected all the time.

 

[stutrump]

Yep...TV eh!!! Fair enough though...they've gotta make it interesting viewing...and if shows like that get more people on two wheels then....good for them!