This a companion post to yesterday's 100,000 mile Super Tenere report.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=16557.0
This one is about the accessories/add-ons/mods/farkles... whatever you want to call them.
The stock Super Tenere needs a bit of extra protection for a trip like this, so after reviewing all the options I installed;
Hepco Becker skidplate
Hepco Becker crashbars
Barkbusters handguards
Jesse luggage (panniers protect the bike, AND you can carry stuff in them. Bonus!)
The skidplate has been pretty bashed around but nothing to damage the parts it's supposed to protect. The rear steel mounts got bent at one stage - it might have been possible, with some heat, to straighten them but I went to H&B in Germany and they gave me a new mounting kit.
The bike has taken a nap many times but only one crash, sideswiped by a van in Moldova. A 80kph slide down the road left the bike with some scratches on the left pannier, crash bar and Barkbuster, and a broken mirror - nothing else. Very happy with all these items.
I added some Denali lights from Twisted Throttle, they are not the most powerful available but are nice and compact and I like the way they have a high and low power setting tied into the low and high beam. I don't do much night riding anyway but I think they work well to get attention in daylight too. There was an early problem with water infiltration in the the early controllers boxes, but that's fixed now.
A set of $20 CR-HI steel handlebars from Moose, mated with ROX pivoting risers, are much more comfortable for me than stock bars.
I have a mid-size V-Stream shield from National Cycle - perfect for me, tall enough that wind just hits the top of my helmet, low enough that I can see over the top of it in slow going. It's taken a few knocks too, and no cracking. Recommended.
Jesse Luggage is very solid, there's been times when the bike has been over and the bags have taken the entire weight... not unscathed, but protected the bike with no real damage to the bags. One big problem I had after one tipover... I continued after picking the bike up, and 100 miles later stopped for gas... and the pannier was gone. Never did find it (luckily insurance covered contents). The clamping system must have come loose when the bike tipped over, and after some time the pannier fell off without me hearing or feeling it. I'd like to see Jesse use two clamps in future. Alternatively, I should check the bloody things for tightness after a tipover!
Other main piece of luggage is a tank bag - a Bags Connection GS. Great, holds a lot, has lasted well, tank-cap mounting is solid and is easy to fit and remove - but not easy for a casual thief to figure out.
SW-Motech footpegs are stronger than stock - I've heard of a couple of examples of stock pegs breaking - but apart from that, nothing special about them.
A nice loud Steibel air horn was good and necessary, but after a year or so started sounding like a strangled goose. Replaced with a Bosch electric horn ($16 in La Paz), just as good and less installation hassle. That died just recently, but for $16 I'm not gonna complain.
My biggest disappointment was the Hepco Becker top box - plastic, kinda heavy, wobbled on its mount. I liked the convenience and kept the laptop in there, but after reducing my load a bit I figured I could fit the laptop in a pannier, and do without the topbox. Now I just use a drybag in its place, saving the 5kg weight of the topbox.
All in all, pretty happy with the way the farkles have performed...
The crash was in Moldova when a white van passed me too close and too fast, and sidewiped me. Bike came out of it with nothing more than some scars, and I had one bruise - but so light it hardly even rates. Very lucky.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=16557.0
This one is about the accessories/add-ons/mods/farkles... whatever you want to call them.
The stock Super Tenere needs a bit of extra protection for a trip like this, so after reviewing all the options I installed;
Hepco Becker skidplate
Hepco Becker crashbars
Barkbusters handguards
Jesse luggage (panniers protect the bike, AND you can carry stuff in them. Bonus!)
The skidplate has been pretty bashed around but nothing to damage the parts it's supposed to protect. The rear steel mounts got bent at one stage - it might have been possible, with some heat, to straighten them but I went to H&B in Germany and they gave me a new mounting kit.
The bike has taken a nap many times but only one crash, sideswiped by a van in Moldova. A 80kph slide down the road left the bike with some scratches on the left pannier, crash bar and Barkbuster, and a broken mirror - nothing else. Very happy with all these items.
I added some Denali lights from Twisted Throttle, they are not the most powerful available but are nice and compact and I like the way they have a high and low power setting tied into the low and high beam. I don't do much night riding anyway but I think they work well to get attention in daylight too. There was an early problem with water infiltration in the the early controllers boxes, but that's fixed now.
A set of $20 CR-HI steel handlebars from Moose, mated with ROX pivoting risers, are much more comfortable for me than stock bars.
I have a mid-size V-Stream shield from National Cycle - perfect for me, tall enough that wind just hits the top of my helmet, low enough that I can see over the top of it in slow going. It's taken a few knocks too, and no cracking. Recommended.
Jesse Luggage is very solid, there's been times when the bike has been over and the bags have taken the entire weight... not unscathed, but protected the bike with no real damage to the bags. One big problem I had after one tipover... I continued after picking the bike up, and 100 miles later stopped for gas... and the pannier was gone. Never did find it (luckily insurance covered contents). The clamping system must have come loose when the bike tipped over, and after some time the pannier fell off without me hearing or feeling it. I'd like to see Jesse use two clamps in future. Alternatively, I should check the bloody things for tightness after a tipover!
Other main piece of luggage is a tank bag - a Bags Connection GS. Great, holds a lot, has lasted well, tank-cap mounting is solid and is easy to fit and remove - but not easy for a casual thief to figure out.
SW-Motech footpegs are stronger than stock - I've heard of a couple of examples of stock pegs breaking - but apart from that, nothing special about them.
A nice loud Steibel air horn was good and necessary, but after a year or so started sounding like a strangled goose. Replaced with a Bosch electric horn ($16 in La Paz), just as good and less installation hassle. That died just recently, but for $16 I'm not gonna complain.
My biggest disappointment was the Hepco Becker top box - plastic, kinda heavy, wobbled on its mount. I liked the convenience and kept the laptop in there, but after reducing my load a bit I figured I could fit the laptop in a pannier, and do without the topbox. Now I just use a drybag in its place, saving the 5kg weight of the topbox.
All in all, pretty happy with the way the farkles have performed...
The crash was in Moldova when a white van passed me too close and too fast, and sidewiped me. Bike came out of it with nothing more than some scars, and I had one bruise - but so light it hardly even rates. Very lucky.
(Though I suspect this thread will be moved to the nether-regions of the gear section.)
