XT500 To XT1200 Aka My New S10

[Purnong]

After riding my old 1981 XT500 mostly I decided I wanted something a bit bigger for on road work and after a lot of reading online I decided on a Super Tenere
I picked up a 2011 S10 on Friday and here are my first impressions
This bike is a rain magnet, I took it for two test rides before buying it and it was raining both times and the first two days at home it was raining any time I was on the bike and today was my first ride on dry roads, Haha I'm lucky like that

It's big & it's heavy
The seat seems hard
First gear seems to be very tall geared for slow paddock work, Compared to the 500 anyway
It doesn't have much traction on a wet grassy slope , the weight doesn't help much here either
I took it for a 250km (150miles) ride today on main bitumen roads, minor bitumen roads and some gravel roads as well and it handles them all just fine, Pretty impressive how it handles all of them really
I noticed within townships at low speeds the touring mode seemed to be better mannered, I found the sport mode hard to keep constant low speeds but maybe I just need to get used to it more or maybe something needs adjusting somewhere
One thing I did notice on the gravel roads in particular is that you have to watch your speed, I found myself travelling at some pretty high speeds unknowingly on some pretty ordinary surfaces at times, This thing just eats em up. haha
I noticed the rear tyre seemed to "Squirm" if that makes sense, particularly off road, I actually checked to see if there was any play in the swingarm but can't find any so assuming tyre related maybe
Rear tyre is a Michelin Anakee Wild and front is a Continental Twinduro, Not sure if this is a good combination or not but the bike seemed to bump steer a bit over patches in the road and wandered a little on loose gravel but maybe that's normal
Every time I decided to head for home I ended up turning away and going in the opposite direction, I just didn't want to get off it haha, These things are fun to ride and I'm really looking forward to summer this year and more time in the saddle
Some pics of the old and the new

 

[Cycledude]

Did u check air pressure in tires ?

 

[Jlq1969]

You picked up your S10….but…I guess you didn't sell/trade the XT500…..
if you did so, that would go against all the norms of the church, ….it would be a sacrilege. If we were in the middle ages, you would be condemned to the guillotine for selling the XT500

 

[Sierra1]

I don't think she's heavy since I never go off road. But, gravity is not her friend. Squirminess could be a tire, power, and throttle combonation. She has plenty of torque, and until you get use to the "twitchy" throttle, she could be trying to step out. For the record, I love the twitchy throttle that comes with tons of engine braking.

Oh, and welcome, from Texas.

 

[Purnong]

You picked up your S10….but…I guess you didn't sell/trade the XT500…..
if you did so, that would go against all the norms of the church, ….it would be a sacrilege. If we were in the middle ages, you would be condemned to the guillotine for selling the XT500

Haha, No I didn't trade in the XT500, It is safely tucked away in the shed
I've had that bike for so long I couldn't part with it now, It still runs and rides really well I just needed something to handle road speeds a bit better

 

[sheikyerbooty]

welcome mate, from across the ditch

 

[Purnong]

Did u check air pressure in tires ?

Yes, 42 rear and 36 front, It only seems to squirm on uneven surfaces, I initially let air out because it was slippery on wet grass thinking that might help

Squirminess could be a tire, power, and throttle combonation. She has plenty of torque, and until you get use to the "twitchy" throttle, she could be trying to step out. For the record, I love the twitchy throttle that comes with tons of engine braking.

Yeah the more I was on it the better it was getting, It might just be getting used to a new bike
It's been a long time since I've had a large bike so time will help here, Oh and thanks for the welcome

 

[Stantdm]

I ride a lot of dirt and gravel on my 2012. It has Heidenau K60 tires on it which are okay but not the best tire at times. One of the gravel roads I ride on is about thirty miles long in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Logging trucks use it too. They push the gravel to the outside of the curves and in some places it is deep, say 5 inches (127mm) in that area so I try to stay out of it as the bike can get to wallowing around. For me the bike is heavy when not moving but disappears when I get going. I dread dropping it as I cannot, at my age, pick it up very easily. Sierra1's comment is spot on I think.
Your comment about first gear being tall kind of surprises me as I don't think mine feels that way. If anything it is abrupt and I short shift a lot when taking off. I came to the Tenere from a cruiser and am quite happy with it. It is similar to a 1992 TDM 850 Yamaha I had back in the early 90's which is still the bike I measure all other bikes by.

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . Your comment about first gear being tall kind of surprises me as I don't think mine feels that way. . . .

I'm assuming that it's just the difference in bikes. '81 carbureted 500cc versus '11 FI 1200. Night and day. Like my '92 Jeep and my '13; not much in common.

 

[Purnong]

Your comment about first gear being tall kind of surprises me

I guess for me I'm used to riding slow across paddocks and rounding up cattle etc, It's definitely taller geared in first than any of my other bikes
On the road it's fine but it is new to me and wasn't bought for that purpose I was just a bit surprised that's all

'81 carbureted 500cc versus '11 FI 1200. Night and day

Haha, Most definitely not much in common

 

[Cycledude]

Yes first gear seems to tall for me also

 

[Purnong]

Interesting reading from another poster on here about the Michelin Anakee Wild tyres
This pretty much describes what I was noticing on my driveway which is a two wheeled track basically, it does tend to wander a bit

On one particular heavily rutted road, not deep ruts but lots of ruts crossing over each other, I found that the rear, a 150-width, had a nasty tendency to try to climb up the side of any rut it happened to fall into. The back end of the bike was dancing all over the place.

 

[Purnong]

Yes first gear seems to tall for me also

Yes first thing I noticed when I got it home, It's not an issue I was just a bit surprised by it

 

[Mak10]

I too would like a lower first gear.