After watching the Europeans get to play with the Super Ténéré a full year prior to its U.S. release, we were salivating to put it head-to-head against the adventure-touring class stalwarts.
It didn’t disappoint, proving that it was a better all-around motorcycle than either the BMW R1200GS or KTM 990 Adventure that we pitted against it in our “Ride There” comparison test. But that doesn’t mean we felt the big parallel-Twin-powered machine was perfect; it simply proved that the bike was a jack-of-all-trades.
Room for improvement? Definitely. One of our biggest complaints is the fueling provided by the ride-by-wire throttle system (particularly in Sport mode), which is something we hope to remedy via the aftermarket. Another peeve is a massive amount of buffeting from the windscreen, which we experienced exclusively with billed adventure-style helmets.
As we’ve discovered in the past, tires are a critical piece of the puzzle with adventure bikes. Running knobbies off-road is mandatory if the itinerary involves more than a mile or two of dirt; but if a lot of asphalt is on the menu, knobbies compromise handling, braking and wear. So, we’ll be experimenting with rubber, too.
After dodging a bullet or two during our shootout, we knew that we had to outfit the Super T with a skidplate to protect the vulnerable oil filter, exhaust headers and bottom of the engine. AltRider’s beautiful $358.97 unit just arrived along with $386.85 crash bars and a very trick $198.79 tail rack. More on those in our next update.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Total miles: | 4862 |
| Next service: | 8000 |
| Maintenance costs (including tires): | $395.00 |
| Repair costs: | $0 |
| Average fuel mileage: | 38 mpg |
| Price as tested (2012): | $14,500 |
| Related content: | Yamaha Super Tenere – Update #2 |
| Yamaha Super Tenere – Update #3 | |
