delivery dates

[racer]

I was hoping my september order date would get me delivery early in May. Apparently not. I'm in Daytona and talking with Yamaha reps this morning while waiting for a demo ride. He said delivery will begin in late May. I'm going on an annual group ride June 3rd, so its going to be touch and go. He told me not to hold my breath. Hoping for an early surprise. Sat on the bike today and it feels really light. Demo ride this afternoon IF it stops raining. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[pqsqac]

Great get that ride in and let us know ASAP, you lucky S10 waiter I mean owner. ;D

I was hoping my september order date would get me delivery early in May. Apparently not. I'm in Daytona and talking with Yamaha reps this morning while waiting for a demo ride. He said delivery will begin in late May. I'm going on an annual group ride June 3rd, so its going to be touch and go. He told me not to hold my breath. Hoping for an early surprise. Sat on the bike today and it feels really light. Demo ride this afternoon IF it stops raining. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[racer]

Full report tonight. I was up at six this morning and was first in line for demo rides. Unfortunately they don't do demos in the rain. :'( I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check out the traction control! I signed up for the last ride of the day so as let the rain move through. The demo rides are about 45 minutes long, so that will give a pretty good chance to evaluate the bike. The reps pushed one of the bikes under the tent this morning, and they showed me all about the bike. Had the seat off and the bags on and off. The bags look a little small compared to my FJR, but I like the one key system. Also, the bag mounting system is not obtrusive with the bags off the bike. They also had a bike set up with the rear seat off and the luggage rack extension system, which was pretty cool.

It looks like this bike is well thought out, with extra mounting tabs on the motor for crash bars or highway pegs. The bike came up on the center stand really easy. One of the reps has ridden the S10 quite a bit and he likened it to a 650 Strom with more power. He went on to say it handled a bit better than the strom with better parking lot manners. There is a tag on the bike that says it gets 45 MPG and they are burning regular in the demo bikes, however, I am pretty sure the test bikes are European models. One of the reps said the US models will be 50 state models as far as EPA goes, so you know what that means with our friends in California choking down the engines. So I'm sure Power Commander will enjoy a nice boost in business.

 

[Motorcyclisted]

Hey Racer,

If you get your Demo on, I would be interested to know about your height and the wind protection from the windshield and how much wind protection from the fairing for your knees?

 

[pqsqac]

Racer are the Yammi reps saying we can run regular gas in the US models as well with no damage? Also you said the side cases look small but they will hold a fair asmount of gear won't they? I will be hauling a laptop, backpack with personal gear in it back and forth to work.

 

[racer]

I came, I saw, I rode. Just got off the bike. The first thing I noticed was the bars felt really wide, but I've been on my FJR for about a week now, but the bars feel wider than my KLR too. Not a bad thing though and I think I will get used to it. I did notice there is plenty of room to cut at least an inch, maybe a tad more off each end and still have plenty of room for the controls. These demo bikes were definetly Euro bikes since the ambient temp read in centigrate, so I don't know if the US model will burn regular or not, but I'm guessing regular will be fine. There is an averae mileage per gallon indicator on instrument cluster and all three demo bikes were reading 47 and 48 MPG, which is bad for demoing in Daytona Bike Week traffic. I started out the ride in touring mode and it felt pretty smooth and laid back, almost like my KLR. As advertised, you can't switch over while moving, however, I flipped the switch at a stop sign and it went right to Sport mode. Big difference. Not FJR but it will get your attention. The exhaust note and power delivery is almost like a muffled Sportster and the engine reminded me a little of the KTM RC8 that I rode last summer at the Mid Ohio track day.

We were warned about wheelies and stoppies and weaving in the riders meeting, so I can't report on that, however, I could tell the front end was getting light in first gear sport mode in a sort of controlled way. I'm 6'1" and 220 lbs and I think the seat was probably in the low position, since I could feel the rear pillion was an inch or so higher. Out of room, go to next post

 

[racer]

About the height. The seat felt about right for me in the low position and I like a tall saddle. I was particularly interested in mounting highway pegs. However, tank and side cowling stick out quite far which would have the highway pegs sticking way out there so you could get your feet on them. I did notice that directly below the mid point of the tank, you could mount a highway peg that you could rest your calf on with your foot hanging off in front. The tank is quite narrow allowing for good protection for your legs.

The side cases looked to me to be very narrow. I don't think you could get a loaded backpack in there. When traveling I will definetly have to carry a bag on top in addition to the side cases. Don't even think about putting a helmet in there. It looks as though my First Gear Kilimanjaro Jacket would take up the whole case. I didn't see a helmet lock. I think I'll try to use my old Concourse o-ring as a throttle lock. Looks like it will roll right off the the bar end weight into the gap between the weight and the twist grip. Go to next post, I keep running out of room

 

[racer]

The other two guys on my demo ride had KLR's also. In fact they both rode the KLR all the way fron California to Daytona. We all agree the Super Tenere felt a lot like a KLR. I have a Wolfman Explorer tank bag on my KLR and it looks like it will quite at home on the S10 even the KLR mounting system looks like it will be a perfect match.

One thing on the KLR, It leaves a lot to be desired for a tall guy to get up on the pegs especially with the Wolfman tank bag attached, since the bag tends to hit my thighs when standing. It was much easier to stand up on the pegs on the S10 and I didn't have to lean down to reach the bars. It also seems like there will be ample room for the tank bag when standing. I felt right at home on the bike and had it leaned over enough to where dragging a peg now and then will happen. The front end felt very planted for limited experience I had on the bike. I can't fault the suspension, however, we really didn't have a chance to test it that much, despite me trying to find every pot hole on the course we rode. Sit at a stop light with the front brake locked, there was plenty of plush travel front and back. Let talk about braking on the next page.

 

[racer]

Okay brakes....At the first stop sign, I nearly didn't stop in time. Mine you, I've been on my non ABS FJR all week and two fingers is all that is needed to lock up the front wheel. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of braking available on the S10, you're just going to have to work a little harder for it. It's not as bad as the KLR, but it doesn't have the rock solid hard feel of my FJR. I'm mostly a front brake only guy, but I felt more comfortable using both brakes during this short ride. I tried to get the ABS to engage unsuccessfully at one stop, but I didn't want to get too carried away with one of the demo marshals right behind me. I think the brakes are going to be a non-issue though, no personnality, they just work, period.

Over all impressions....I tend to over anticipate sometimes, then the reality is a let down. I ordered my S10 two weeks after they became available last September and have been eagerly reading and watching every Youtube segment like the rest of you. I remember demoing a Vstrom here several years ago and came off the bike laughing my ass off it was so much fun. I went back the next day and demoed it again and went home and bought one. I didn't get that feeling today with the S10. I thought I get up tomorrow early and wait in line for another ride, however, I'm thinking now I'll just head back home to Indiana.

 

[racer]

Sorry, ran out of room again. Don't get me wrong, this is still going to be a great bike. I liken the feeling I'm having right now to the first time I rode a KLR. I wasn't impressed with the bike on the way home. BUT, the more I rode the KLR, the more I liked it, to the point I sold all my other bikes and have had a KLR for the past 12 years. I never thought I'd ever be without a KLR, but now I know the S10 will replace both the KLR and FJR. BTW, the yahoo feeling with Vstrom went away after a few months.

Over all, the S10 is going to be a do all bike that we're going to like. Hope my rambling isn't too much, I just thought some of you might like to share the experience. Racer

 

[jajpko]

Thanks for that great report. I've not ridden the bike yet, but placed my order anyway. Mostly because of reports like yours.
Your report just confirms, and adds to, everything I've read to date.

 

[eemsreno]

Racer
Thanks so much for all your info on the test ride. I just can't read enough about it. Tell us some more if you can think of anything else.

 

[Combo]

Thanks Racer, you lucky dog getting a demo ride. :'(

My first and permanent ride will be in about 3 months, I hope! :question:

 

[TierHawg]

Thanks for the ride report Racer.

Have a question about the throttle response. Was it smooth like on a carb'ed bike, or did it have on/off spots like other FI bikes?

 

[fredz43]

Thanks for the report. About the Sport and Touring mode, it seems to me that you could switch on the fly if you closed the throttle after selecting. It has been two months since I rode one, but I thought that this experiment contradicted the owners manual.

Could one of our overseas owner friends comment on this please?

Thanks

 

[rem]

While I am but one of the many unfortunates still waiting for my Yamahog, I have read numerous reviews of this bike, and I distinctly remember in at least 2 or 3 of them that this was the case. Close the throttle and flip the switch. It makes senses that you should be able to do that without stopping. R

 

[racer]

Tierhawg, I didn't notice any harsh on and off throttle response issues. It just seemed smooth. I had a stop light conversation with one of the other guys on the S10 about whether or not the touring mode would produce better mile per gallon. At the next stop light my response was, probably since you wouldn't be so tempted to nail it through the gears. Oh, speaking of gears......the sixth gear is just right. I've missed a sixth gear on the FJR, however, just when you're thinging about another gear on the S10, its there! cool. Two finger clutch action, just flick and snick....it's really smooth, just as you'd expect from YaMama! So neat. This is gonna be a great ride! BTW, they only had the blue bikes and none of the reps had even seen a raven. I ordered the raven, and I'm expecting it will be quite a bit faster and definetely cooler, but that's just me. 8)

 

[tubebender]

Thanks for the great report. I got the same impression about the bars when I sat on one recently.
Your observations about the clutch and shifting is just what I wanted to hear.
What did you think of first gear? To high, low, just right?

 

[k woo]

Good ride report racer, thanks. I do worry about our "California compliant" bikes being a little anemic.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Nice ride report. In my own twisted way I'm encouraged you didn't not come away drooling for another ride tomorrow. I rode my big Vee Strom 3 hours home from the dealership, got off and thought, eh...it's fine. A few months later I grew to realize it was the best, most enjoyable bike I have ever owned. I'm willing to think the S10 will grow on me in the exact same way.

Thanks for posting, it was encouraging.