What comes after the Super Tenere?

[EricV]

1) It has to provide a good solid platform for loaded two up touring, where the pillion has some level of comfort for long distances and isn't perched on the pillion saddle like a bird on a wire.

2) It has to have proven reliability. A thousand miles from home in the back of beyond is not a good place to be wrestling with a bike that has "character".

3) It has to have some capability for riding on dirt and gravel roads without a lot of scary moments.

4) It has to be maintenance friendly for a home mechanic. I realize that's a pretty subjective requirement, since "maintenance friendly" is determined by the skill of the mechanic, but I'd like to be able to do stuff like flush the brakes without needing a $400 proprietary scan tool in order to do it.

Shaft drive would be nice, but I feel like making that a criteria might limit the options too much.

The Super Tenere fulfils all those requirements.

You started this thread with:

When my Super Tenere crossed over the 100,000 mile threshold this past summer, I started to more seriously contemplate what to replace it with.

Why? The bike easily has another 100k in it. If you'd just like something lower miles, sure, buy another S10. When I crossed over 100k I did some suspension upgrades and was happy to keep on riding that bike, ('12 S10). My Beautiful Wife promptly bought a 1200GSA and stated a desire to spend a year on the road, more or less pushed me that she wanted me to have something under warranty again, just in case, so I bought a '15 and added full YES to it. Just like now, nothing else comes close to meeting the standards the S10 sets.

You said it, the S10 fulfills all of your requirements. So again, WHY?

I've had two BWM bikes in the garage. One cost more in warranty repairs than the cost new, over the first 80k or so. After all that, it was better sorted than new and hopefully the 2nd owner won't have to put another engine or transmission or stator or.... into it. The second one was stupidly expensive and still had it's issues, which is why the BW bought the stupidly expensive aftermarket warranty for both of them. Paid for themselves multiple times over.

Ignore the outliers. I'm sure the adrenaline guys are fine sorts to share stories with over a beer. I'm also sure that they don't understand what you do with motorcycles. When I sold Rumbux bars I dealt with a lot of different owners from different brands. The KTM guys were the ones that had more issues than the BMW guys, followed by the Triumph leader in bikes waiting for parts.

All the reasons why you bought the S10 still apply. You're not ready for a smaller bike and that's not going to do two up as well. It's not about the power, it's about the comfort and space.