Have you dropped your Super Tenere? Damage?

SHUMBA said:

Every bike I've owned, I have dropped from a static or stopped position. . . .

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I think all of mine have been at slower speeds while maneuvering, or stopped, off balance. On my last one, about five years ago, I wasn't even on the bike. I was stopped on the side of the road, and the bike was on the side stand. I was standing beside the bike, and opened the right side bag. The weight of the bag lid was just enough to cause the bike to fall over. . . . and smush my second toe on the left foot. Of all the years, and falls, this was the worse injury, and first broken bone. (yeah, I've been lucky)

Hey, Shumba, welcome back.

Yes. And I’ve been pretty lucky it’s not been a lot more often. Knock on the metal plate in my head. LOL.

One time: Ha- We were all out in Arkansas doing some pretty crazy back wood stuff and crossing rivers we should not have. The rivers are another story. At one one point we where literally putting down a Jeep road. And there was a huge water mud puddle in the middle of the road. The guy in front of me went to the left and almost fell. I slowed down to about 5-8 and went to the right. In one milli second the front tire washed out and I was thrown to the ground. Flipped over the bars and got a Hulk Hogan body slam right in the middle of the mud puddle. It was actually just hilarious. I was totally covered in mud the bike fell on the left side. And other than mud on the crash bars it was fine.
That was the problem I didn’t know at the time. I think it was two days later the mud is dry and falling out of the crash’s bars. I’m pulled up getting gas and poking at the mud and a big chunk falls out.
Then I notice the real damage. The mud pushed in on the radiator. The lower mounting nipple held the radiator but the radiator was pushed in. It tore the nipple 90* off center. It was super stretched and seriously compromised. I was still 6-8 hours from home.
I did make it back, got it into my shop and tore it all apart. I fixed the radiator and got that all resolved. But then, I made a side protector plate so this can’t happen again. It only takes a little mud / sand / rock to push on this area and it will rip that nipple off. Or crack it and you will loose coolant. Watch out !!! This is what I made and have never had another issue.

SHUMBA said:

what do you anchor to ratchet the bike up?

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I have been fortunate enough to not need it yet or the Super Tenere. But it can be anchored to the handlebar or crash bars. Mine comes with a bag that doubles as a velcro clamp to engage the front brake while lifting.

SHUMBA said:

Well, you must be a big strong guy
SHUMBA

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I wouldn't say that, but I'm only 66. If you ride solo off road, you need to know your limits. I turned around several times this year when it got sketchy. I've found it critical to get the bike into a good position before starting to lift, i.e. wheels on the ground, not in the air. I did make an emergency lift jack that stays on the bike, but it's a bit cumbersome to assemble.

I dropped mine in my driveway after coming back from a ride. LOL
Zero damage, easy pickup, ya zero speed involved it just laid over slipping out of my hands as i came to a stop, it surprised me. I guess she was tired from riding and needed a nap.

dumped on the right side in some mud. hit the crash bar, handguard and right side box. no damage. luckily was in soft ground. seems like it can take a hit pretty well considering how heavy it is.

Personally i don't find the Tenere difficult to pick back up, infact the first time i dropped it i thought this was going to be a bitch from all the internet posts. Not at all, didn't even break a sweat.
Yes its heavier then a trail/dirt bike but it ain't no single cylinder buzz box either, its a street bike. Dropping the bike and picking it back up is not in my worries, big deal. Its the damage that can occur, it just doesn't bounce back like a dirt bike, well its not a dirt bike.
You want heavy, try to get a snowmobile unstuck in 4ft of fresh snow, after the 4th or 5th time in half hour your ready to go home.
Having good lifting techniques makes a huge difference, watching videos on how its done doesn't give you any abilities, that comes from physical work experience and not having that fat gut makes a BIG difference boys.

No damage anyone noticed to the front forks or swingarm contacting the ground? I ordered some sliders but am reconsidering. I also know a lot of people run rear luggage racks; I've got the OEM panniers at the moment and am wondering if I'm missing out on some crucial protection.

parabomber said:

No damage anyone noticed to the front forks or swingarm contacting the ground? I ordered some sliders but am reconsidering. I also know a lot of people run rear luggage racks; I've got the OEM panniers at the moment and am wondering if I'm missing out on some crucial protection.

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When I dropped her with something like 10km/h it made contact with rear pannier, handlebar/mirror and the small OEM plastic crash thingie onder the radiator fairing. No serious damage, just minor scratches on the plastic and a new OEM crash thingie. But it started me thinking and made me buy altrider crashbars.

Stefan

lund said:

Personally i don't find the Tenere difficult to pick back up, infact the first time i dropped it i thought this was going to be a bitch from all the internet posts. Not at all, didn't even break a sweat.

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I will guarantee that you will be unable to lift up a Super Tenere by hand if it drops into a deep rut, rubber facing up off camber, or slid down the side of the hill. On smooth flat pavement just about anyone can get it back up with little effort. Off road is a whole other story.

ballisticexchris said:

I will guarantee that you will be unable to lift up a Super Tenere by hand if it drops into a deep rut, rubber facing up off camber, or slid down the side of the hill. On smooth flat pavement just about anyone can get it back up with little effort. Off road is a whole other story.

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you ever mess with a dirt napper for picking up the super t?

ballisticexchris said:

I will guarantee that you will be unable to lift up a Super Tenere by hand if it drops into a deep rut, rubber facing up off camber, or slid down the side of the hill. ...

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That's why somebody who's been off road much would never try what you mention. With or without a helper, I'd spin it around so the rubber's on the low side.

ballisticexchris said:

I will guarantee that you will be unable to lift up a Super Tenere by hand if it drops into a deep rut, rubber facing up off camber, or slid down the side of the hill. On smooth flat pavement just about anyone can get it back up with little effort. Off road is a whole other story.

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I have lifted my tenere off camber on dirt with the ruubber up. It sucks but i was able to do it.


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Same here. Not easy, but not out of the question either.

Depends on how green I get.

ballisticexchris said:

I will guarantee that you will be unable to lift up a Super Tenere by hand if it drops into a deep rut, rubber facing up off camber, or slid down the side of the hill. On smooth flat pavement just about anyone can get it back up with little effort. Off road is a whole other story.

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My buddy flipped his Tenere off a side of a mountain in AZ while we were on the AZBDR. Not only could we not budge his bike back up the ledge, when help eventually arrived it took a 15,000 Lb winch to pull it up and out. Even while pulling the bike up, it was pulling the truck towards the edge off the cliff. We had to re configure the winch a few times.
Long story- next day the bike fired up and he road it another 1500 miles home and the bike is still going strong with 125K miles. LOL.
This is a terrible angle of how steep the situation was. We were stuck for 13 hours or so. It took that long for them to find us.

Checkswrecks said:

That's why somebody who's been off road much would never try what you mention. With or without a helper, I'd spin it around so the rubber's on the low side.

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You are talking perfect conditions Bob. With it wedged between a boulder or one of the wheels on a ditch, you will not be able to spin it around without at least a good set of block and tackle and rope and something to attach it to. Sometimes it's just not possible to spin a bike around. And in some cases doing so will make it worse.

The smartest thing anyone can do is to take a breath, asses the situation and have a plan before making matters worse. Bottom line is these big 600+ lb bikes are very unforgiving when dropped or launched of the side of a hill.

~TABASCO~ said:

My buddy flipped his Tenere off a side of a mountain in AZ while we were on the AZBDR. Not only could we not budge his bike back up the ledge, when help eventually arrived it took a 15,000 Lb winch to pull it up and out. Even while pulling the bike up, it was pulling the truck towards the edge off the cliff. We had to re configure the winch a few times.

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Been in those situations on a dirt bike and it's pretty hairy.

My 2014 ST fell over last week when putting 50 lbs feed on luggage rack/back seat. It scratched the new crash bars and dislocated the rt rear Yamaha luggage from the bottom bracket. This caused the trunk to hit the rear brake line and created a brake fluid leak. I found a puddle of brake fluid the next morning under the rear wheel. I reseated the brake line on the caliper, bled the brakes and now good as new.

I guess if you use the bike for what it was never intended to do you can expect to have issues with picking it out of the bush. You don't need an s10 to need help or a winch to dig it out if you send it down some embankment. Any single cylinder 200lb bike can be unretrievable in certain circumstances.
The Super Tenere is a STREET bike, if you use it as a dirt bike.....well what can i say, you better buy a winch or take up bench pressing. Unfortunately social media can drive misinformation on a product leading to people misfortune, youtube is loaded with such and while most of us are not professionals riders we all think we are and then shit happens.
You just as well take a HD down a dirt road for the day.
Personally i have never taken my S10 down a dirt trail, single track or a ROUGH dirt road , it was never design for that. The most dirt it see's are generally maintained FSR, if i ride rougher off roads then the appropriate bike is used.
Some people fall for the BS and try to dress up a turd, just to end up finding out its just a turd, so leave it where it belongs no need to dress it up. The S10 is awesome for what it is intended to do.